ON SALESMANSHIP, BULLYING, AND TEACHING VIRTUE IN PHILOSOPHY Reflections on Three Socratic Dialogues of Plato Marlon Jesspher B. De Vera General Introductory Remarks I start with the outright assertion that one of the key struggles for philosophy in the 21 st century is the struggle for relevance. In our increasingly globalized capitalist and consumerist culture, the relevance of something is defined by its value proposition, or in other words, it’s response to the question “What are you worth?” For philosophy, responding to this question in defence of its own relevance in the 21 st century is a difficult philosophical challenge in itself. Double-clicking on this question necessitates the invocation of several other associated philosophical questions, such as what it means to be worthy, what are the important contexts of valuation that need to be elaborated on, and given these meanings and contexts of valuations, how can philosophy become relevant in the 21 st century. In the opening paragraphs of his book “The Grand Design,” Stephen Hawking proclaims that… “…philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics. Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.” 1 This statement can be interpreted not only as an antagonism against philosophy but also as an assertion of the value proposition and relevance of science in the 21 st century. According 1 See Hawking, Stephen and Leonard Mlodinow. The Grand Design. New York: Bantam Books, 2010. 1