Theodoros Skaltsas
«Abroad we are judged by our work. In British universities, every five years there is an evaluation of research in all departments. The philosophy department at Edinburgh, where I teach, has the highest grade, along with London, Oxford and Cambridge. So if I leave here, where should I go in Greece?» asked Skaltsas, who has bitter experience of working in his homeland. Skaltsas was behind the Archelogos data bank on the works of Plato and Aristotle (www.archelogos.com), which has contributions from the best contemporary philosophers in the US and Europe and is visited by 700,000 people every year. It has an international reputation as a leading academic source. Skaltsas has received many offers from foreign universities to fund the program, but he has insisted on maintaining its Greek identity, despite the many difficulties encountered in his contacts with the Greek State in his search for funding for the plan. Now he hopes a new chapter is beginning for Archelogos, although he does not intend to come home. «My greatest fear is the partisan character of the Greek academic sector. In Greece, political parties set the rules for students and professors. Yet teaching has nothing to do with political parties.»
