By Stella Feenstra, Digital Social Media & Advertising Editor
On Mar. 16, students, faculty, and philosophy enthusiasts gathered in Isaacs Auditorium for a lecture delivered by this year’s recipient of the John C. Horn Award for Distinguished Scholarship and Creativity: Dr. Coleen Zoller.
Zoller is a professor of philosophy at Susquehanna University and has been teaching philosophy for 25 years. She is the author of several published works, including her most recent monograph, Plato and the Body: Reconsidering Socratic Asceticism.
She has also been and continues to be a dedicated student of philosophy. According to President Johnathan Green, Zoller is a “prolific scholar.”
Zoller revealed her journey into her field, describing how she had gone to college wanting to become a government lawyer, yet it was not until she started studying Plato’s dialogues that she found her passion for philosophy and the ancient world.
The John C. Horn Award for Distinguished Scholarship memorializes former member and chairperson of Susquehanna’s Board of Trustees, John C. Horn. Each year, the recipient of the award has the opportunity to present a lecture on their topic of choice.
Zoller’s interest in Plato’s dialogues followed her throughout her career and inspired the topic of her lecture for the evening: Resisting Tyranny with Plato’s Socrates.
Both Zoller and Green noted the timeliness of this lecture, as universities in the United States have begun refusing to teach Plato’s works. Zoller encouraged the audience to understand the value of Plato’s dialogues, as they “yield the richest rewards” and do so “across 2.5 millennia with surprising endurance.”
Zoller’s lecture consisted of context on Plato’s upbringing; particularly how he lived to observe the fall of two democracies. Though he was not involved, Plato even closely knew members of the “Thirty Tyrants” in Athens.
Through Plato’s Apology, Crito, Republic, Laws, and the Seventh Letter, Zoller comprised a list of ten steps for resisting tyranny.
Zoller opened with a crucial step, stating: “It is never too late to withdraw one’s support from something that once seemed like a good idea.”
The list included many other pieces of advice, such as “heed any warnings from those most familiar with a leader’s private behavior” and “bravely resist unjustified state violence because tyranny’s ability to harm is limited without conformists.”
Finally, Zoller used some of Plato’s own lingo, reminding the audience to “leave nothing unexamined, escape the cave, and be grateful to gadflies for helping us think for ourselves.”
The event concluded with a Q&A session, followed by refreshments in the hall, where audience members had a chance to pose any lingering questions to Zoller.