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Philosophers are famous for their contentiousness, so it’s no surprise that the 149 contestants who entered our winter Last Word contest formed themselves into rival factions over clue No. 8.
The topic of the dispute: Was it teacher Socrates or pupil Plato who said: “The unexamined life is not worth living?” We confess to a little trickery here. Though Socrates may well have uttered these words (possibly with his dying breaths), it was unequivocally Plato who committed them to papyrus in his Apology. Authorities tell us that Socrates never wrote anything down (on the theory that writing distorts ideas). Therefore, he certainly wasn’t the thinker whose “writings [took] the form of dialogues,” as described in the clue. Sorry, Socratics. Remember, the chief tool of philosophical inquiry is close reading of texts!
Of the 62 Platonists who got clue No. 8 and all the others right, the following winners were chosen randomly: David S. Robinson ’52, James Stramel MA ’85, Mark Weissman MBA ’63, Lawrence B. Starr MBA ’61 and Gail Hicks Ostergaard ’57. Spend your Borders bucks wisely.
The correct answers to “Phil It Up” are listed below. For a puzzle that truly bolsters Plato’s argument for philosopher kings, check out our “Misfit Monarchs” quiz on p. 80.
1. Immanuel Kant
2. Jean-Paul Sartre
3. Aristotle
4. Thomas Hobbes
5. René Descartes
6. John Stuart Mill
7. Blaise Pascal
8. Plato
9. David Locke
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