Many will arrive here with a preconception about philosophy–that it is a an abstract, intellectual discipline divorced from the messy world of embodied existence. In fact, however, philosophy has been from its beginning a specific way of being engaged in and with the world. Socrates, of course, has long embodied the manner in which philosophy has understood itself to be an engaged, dialogical activity. In the Republic (at 435d and 504c-d) Socrates suggests that the search for justice involves “a longer road” undertaken over the course of an entire life. The philosophical life for which he advocates is a lifelong endeavor oriented by an insistent desire to integrate the pursuit of truth, justice and beauty into our relationships with one another and the world in which we live. In a world that we all too often experience as false, unjust and ugly, the “longer road” of which Socrates speaks is made at once more difficult and more urgently necessary.

On this site you will encounter my attempt to put a philosophical life into practice with my family, my students, my academic and professional colleagues and the wider world in which we find ourselves. Such a philosophical life is at root dialogical, which means it is by nature collaborative. As such, I invite you to lend your voice to this endeavor by commenting on the blogs or through one of the many social media venues you see on that long row of icons at the bottom of the page.

Thank you for visiting, enjoy your stay, and please come again.