Pussy Riot and Philosophy

"Meanwhile in Moscow, the three members of the punk rock group Pussy Riot, including philosophy student Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, were sentenced to two years in prison for, among other things, “the insult and humiliation of the Christian faith.” If that sounds like an echo of the condemnation of Socrates for “impiety,” it’s no surprise to learn that in her closing statement, Tolokonnikova alluded specifically to the similarities between the two cases.

Tolokonnikova’s grasp of Socratic irony and humility shows in her assertion that “the philosopher is the one who loves wisdom and yearns for it, but does not possess it.” She claims that Socrates, far from being “an enemy of the gods,” in fact “had a living connection with the divine voice.” And throughout her remarks, which also included references to Dostoevsky and Pythagoras, Tolokonnikova stresses that Pussy Riot’s quarrel is with what they see as the Putin regime’s abuse of political power, and not with the Orthodox Church, or with Christianity, which she considers to be allied with philosophy as it “supports the search for truth.”"

The Stone Philosophy Links - NYTimes.com