13+ David Roochnik Quotes On Education, War

David Roochnik is a professor of philosophy at Boston University. He is the author of several books on ancient philosophy, including “The Tragedy of Reason: Toward a Platonic Conception of Logos” and “Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy”. He has also written numerous articles on Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient philosophers. Following is our collection on famous quotes by David Roochnik on leadership, education, war.

First and foremost, note that Plato always wrote dialogues, and never attempted to produce a theoretical or scientific treatise. This is a big clue for me. From beginning to end, Plato was aware of the limits of theoretical and technical reasoning, and his dialogues are a massive exploration. — David Roochnik

Anyone who studies the contemporary phenomenon of global warming, or who fears the insidious impact that the smartphone is having on our lives, or who remembers that there are enough nuclear warheads on enough intercontinental ballistic missiles to destroy human civilization with some ease, understands that modern technology threatens, indeed is likely, to overwhelm us. — David Roochnik

If you want to understand what it means to be afraid, what fear as experienced by human beings is, then your focus must shift. No longer will you be satisfied with mechanical, physiological, neurological accounts. For this inquiry will require you to observe closely what human beings feel, sing, think, write and say to one another. — David Roochnik

The earth is, of course, not the geometric center of the universe. But it is certainly the center of our lives. — David Roochnik

Postmodernism - and is that term used much any more? - is simply a reiteration of the sophistic or the rhetorical worldview. — David Roochnik

Even before Plato, techne was conceived as knowledge of a determinate field that could be mastered by "the expert". Such a person becomes an authority to whom laypersons should, in their dealings with that field, defer. Techne typically results in a useful result. — David Roochnik

We live in a technocratic culture. We worship at the altar of technology. Our lives are increasingly shaped by the machinations of the techies. It is vital, therefore, for all of us to think hard about the role the technical plays in our lives. — David Roochnik

In our lives a dog is a dog rather than a former wolf, and it surely is not a cat, a difference that means an enormous amount to some people. — David Roochnik

What makes defeat so painful is just the awareness that the other has won. It hurts to lose because it feels so good to win. — David Roochnik

Mathematics is realm altogether, one that is cold, hard, objective, necessary, clear and thus utterly non-human. Nonetheless, it is enormously useful as a means, to "turn the soul around from becoming to being." — David Roochnik

It may well seem that Plato does suggest techne is the best model for moral knowledge. In other words, it may seem that his goal is to establish an expert or authority in the field of the good-bad, just-unjust. — David Roochnik

Modern science is a vast attempt to homogenize the universe. Aristotelian science, by contrast, remains faithful to our lived experience, and thus conceives of the world as essentially heterogeneous; composed of different kinds of beings. — David Roochnik

The great virtue, I think, of studying Aristotle - and, more importantly, taking him seriously as a possible teacher - is that he presents an alternative view of both science and the world. — David Roochnik

Life Lessons by David Roochnik

1. David Roochnik emphasizes the importance of understanding the history and context of a text when interpreting it, rather than relying solely on one's own preconceived notions.
2. He encourages readers to appreciate the complexity of a text, rather than reducing it to a single, simplistic interpretation.
3. He also emphasizes the importance of engaging in dialogue with the text, rather than merely consuming it passively.