The Socrates Express

Acknowledgments

Socrates believed philosophy is a group activity. So, too, is writing a book about philosophy, as I discovered. Throughout my journeys, from New Delhi to New York, friends and strangers alike provided insight and inspiration, support and succor. I am deeply grateful to each of them.

In the early stages of my research, Stanford University professors Ken Taylor and Rob Reich graciously offered their time and wisdom. Later, Tim LeBon channeled the ancient Stoics over lunch in New York, and Rob Colter kindly agreed to enroll me in Stoic Camp in the wilds of Wyoming. In Concord, Massachusetts, Richard Smith, Michael Frederick, and Tom Blanding generously shared their insights into all things Thoreau. New York University professor Moss Roberts enlightened me about Confucius.

Farther afield, in Paris, Gunter Gorhan and Catherine Monnet shared their philosophical insights with me over café au lait and croissants. In Athens, I was fortunate enough to break bread with the savant Brady Kiesling, as well as a pair of top-notch Epicureans: Christos Yapijakis and Elli Pensa. In Switzerland, Roland Kaehr helped me follow in Rousseau’s footsteps, and Peter Villwock in Nietzsche’s. In Tokyo, the great Junko Takahashi provided guidance, translations, and good company.

Authors, like philosophers, need a place to think, and write. I am grateful to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts for providing just such a place. In New York, David and Abby Snoddy graciously supplied me with a room of my own, as well as sake and camaraderie.

My research assistants, Alyson Wright and Alec Siegel, dug tirelessly, finding the right person in the right place, and unearthing hidden philosophical gems, too. John Lister and Josh Horwitz read early drafts of this book and offered valuable suggestions.

No less important was the moral support proffered by friends and strangers. My informal clutch of writer-friends, the Writers Who Lunch, supplied a steady diet of encouragement and curry. Friends Stefan Gunther, Lisa Goldberg, Laura Blumenfeld, and Jacki Lyden steadied me whenever the winds of self-doubt reached gale force. A special shout-out to my Bulgarian publisher, and friend, Neyko Genchev, for painstakingly translating my words and attracting so many readers in his corner of the globe.

My agent, Sloan Harris, believed in the project from the outset, and never wavered in his support. I am grateful for that, as well as his wise counsel. I owe a particular debt to Ben Loehnen, my editor at Simon & Schuster’s Avid Reader Press, for his faith in me and my book, and for wielding his razor-sharp editorial knife with skill and kindness. Avid Reader’s Carolyn Kelly expertly shepherded my manuscript through the editorial gauntlet. Thank you to Simon & Schuster’s president and publisher, Jonathan Karp, for being Jonathan Karp.

A big thank-you to my daughter, Sonya. She tolerated my absences from home, as well as my many annoying philosophical questions. On the road, she was a good sport, even when the sport was not of her choosing. She is my foil and my muse. This book is for her, too.

Most philosophers were unlucky in love. I could not be luckier. My wife, Sharon, stood by me during thick and thicker. She read rough first pages and, with her love and encouragement, gave me my second, third, and fourth winds. I could not have written this book without her.