The New Acropolis

When I first read Socratic dialogues, my impression was that I'd already heard these thoughts. I heard them while on train rides in Russia with some shabby-looking fellow travelers, in arguments with reservist soldiers in the Israeli army while guarding some godforsaken road at night, from random YouTube videos, from conversatins in a grassroots Socrates Cafe in Atlanta, GA... in short, from non-academic sources. After bouncing this revelation back and forth with my wife and giving it more thought, I understood that was one of the main points of Socratic greatness. As he so brilliantly demonstrates in Meno, any free human who understands your language can be taught anything you know - since the true knowledge is discovery, not information exchange. Real gems of thought can be found anywhere. We just need to pick them up and appreciate.

Recently, looking for an online course in Indian philosophy, I discovered New Acropolis - free association of private individuals who see value in picking up the thread of the philosophical practices of the ancients. And lo and behold: they have a course in Atlanta called The Path To Wisdom: Indian, Tibetan, Platonic and Neo-Platonic philosophy. After attending the first two lectures dealing with the thought of the ancient Egyptians and Indians, I can attest to the high quality of the course and the dedication of the inhabitants of the new Acropolis. I hope to include it in my INO program.

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