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Quote by Rebecca Goldstein

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Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away

In 'Plato at the Googleplex,' the author investigates the timeless nature of philosophy by imagining conversations between the ancient Greek philosopher Plato and modern figures such as Google employees. The book delves into the enduring significance of philosophical concepts and their applicability to today's society. more

Author

Rebecca Goldstein
Rebecca Goldstein

Rebecca Goldstein, born on February 23, 1950, is an American novelist known for her profound psychological insights and philosophical explorations. Her works, such as 'The Mind-Body Problem' and 'Natural History', are celebrated for their blend of literature and philosophy. more

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“Participation in the collective life of the polis both restrains the extraordinary individual and enlarges the ordinary individual, allowing him to participate in the extraordinary. An individual can achieve participatory excellence via the accomplishments of the polis and need not always be caught up in the agnostic struggle to outdo his peers.”

“In fact, the answers that religion, as we have come to know it, provides to the question of human worth have played so dominant a role in the preceding centuries that believers often cannot conceive how non-believers can muster sufficient commitment to their own lives to get out of bed each morning, let alone the ethical wherewithal to regard others as deserving of moral regard. Once one "comes out" as an atheist, these are the inquisitions to which one is often subjected.”

“And then there is Pythagoras. The legend is that the founder of theoretical mathematics was so outraged when one of his students, the haplessly gifted Hippasus, discovered irrational numbers that he sent the poor fellow out on a raft to drown, initiating a venerable tradition of professors mistreating their graduate students.”

“Colleges seem to want candidates that are so well-rounded they'd have to be two different people use together with mutually exclusive characteristics! They have to be gung ho athletes and sensitive artists, studious nerds and gregarious social networkers, future rulers of the universe and selfless altruists.”