Plato, widely regarded as the foundational figure of Western philosophy and whose ideas profoundly shaped early Christian theology and metaphysics, is at the center of an educational joust this week. Martin Peterson, a professor at Texas A&M University at College Station, has announced that his readings of Plato have been banned.
According to Professor Peterson, the philosophy department reached out to him this week, informing him that the readings for his “Contemporary Moral Issues” course – which includes readings on race and gender – could not move forward with its Plato readings. If not, the class would be reassigned.
Professor Peterson shared that he was not surprised by the news regarding the race and gender readings, but said the notification about Plato’s readings was a shock.
“What kind of university, or what kind of philosophy department, do we have if I’m not allowed to talk about Plato?” Professor Peterson questioned in an email to department head Kristi Sweet. “Plato invented the concept of the university, founded the Academy. Of course philosophers should be allowed to talk about Plato.”
The email from Sweet notified Professor Peterson of two options moving forward. The first: “you may mitigate your course content to remove the modules on race ideology and gender ideology, and the Plato readings that may include these.” The second: “you may be reassigned” to teach other courses.
The Platonic readings in question were from the Symposium, a philosophical dialogue wherein a group of Athenian thinkers discuss the nature of eros – love – exploring its relationship to beauty, desire, virtue, and the pursuit of truth.
In response to the ban, Professor Peterson issued a comment to KBTX’s Rusty Surette, saying, “I speak for myself, not the university, when I say in my opinion, Texas A&M is not on the right track. Censorship is not a viable path to academic excellence.”
In an email response to the department head, Professor Martin shared his syllabus, reminding, "Please note that my course does not 'advocate' any ideology; I teach students how to structure and evaluate arguments commonly raised in discussions of contemporary issues."
