An Inquiry begins with a question and ends with many more. Dialectic, or the Socratic Method, is that method of learning where people learn by asking questions. It is a dialogue, as opposed to a monologue or speech, where assumptions are challenged, ideas are reflected upon, and books are engaged with and evaluated.
We believe that truth is found through asking questions, and through engaged learning. We will share quotes, reflective essays, illustrations, and other media in order to continue conversations that have lasted for thousands of years. As such, we will make use of, and refer to, those great thinkers and individuals who, perhaps, can shed more light in the darkness than we can hope to. So inspired, we promise to wander—and wonder—accordingly through the great books, ideas, and thinkers.
The goal of this publication—as part of the Polyphemus Project—is to create and curate a digital environment where questions are sustained and rejuvenated rather than forced into disciplinary boxes, budgets, or quotas. On one hand, we are creating a digital reference library (the Syntopi.com) and on the other we are creating a digital publication to reflect upon those resources.
We will create, solicit, and publish essays and articles which address those important questions that great thinkers have addressed. Our opinions and understandings are our attempts to find truth, and share it with others in hopes that they will engage with and respond to our ideas.
Our shared, joint inquiry will focus on questions like: What it means to be human? Who is God? And What is the soul? Our essays are not lectures, they are invitations. We invite you to consider and respond to the ideas we consider and the authors we quote.
Socrates once claimed that the unexamined life was not worth living. We consider this to be self-evident, and we understand it to be absent in the world today. A true life of inquiry never ends. It is a constant journey and an ongoing conversation.
The People of the Polyphemus Project:
Publisher: Tom Cohen
Writer: Nat Brown
Web Developer: Stephen O’Malley
Logistics: Mary O’Malley
Art: Chloe Badner