Abstract

The publication of Weiss's extensive, multivolume philosophical diary, therefore, is important not only for its intrinsic philosophic virtues, but also for what it reveals of the self-definition of a philosopher. The current political tribulations of universities are bringing home Socrates' lesson that philosophy is not just an academic role; nor is it exhausted even in a discipline of knowledge; it is a way of life, a commitment of body, mind, and heart akin to religion in its demands on integrity; but perhaps unlike religion the form of philosophy's commitment is unique to each professor, his own responsibility to create. Perhaps the greatest value of Weiss's diary is its making public part of the process by which he has defined himself as a philosopher. I know no more admirable model of a philosopher who has attended in published work to the whole range of philosophical issues, who has criticized his own work with a candor most of us reserve for our enemies, who has taken public and vulnerable stands on issues of practical import to his philosophy, and who has done all this persistently for so many years.