Plato

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has revised its long-running entry on holes, first published in 1996, prompting discussion among readers of technology and philosophy forums. The piece explores whether holes are genuine entities, mere absences, or depend on their material hosts, a classic puzzle in metaphysics and ontology. Commenters are debating the question of how nothing can be something, and what the update signals about ongoing work in analytic philosophy.

A renewed look at Plato's argument that girls and boys should receive the same education is drawing attention. Writing in ancient Athens more than two millennia ago, Plato argued in the Republic that women were capable of ruling and should train alongside men, a position far ahead of his time. The idea remains striking today for how early it framed debates on gender equality in education.

A line attributed to Plato's dialogue with Protagoras — that the useful matters more than the truth — is being shared and discussed in book-focused online circles, alongside a photograph credited to Marcus Cederberg. Readers are engaging with the aphorism's challenge to our everyday assumption that truth always comes first, debating what it means for rhetoric, pragmatism and philosophy.