Tobacco and the Soul

Many of us have read this before. But, something this good ought to be read again. The following link is to an amusing article which connects Plato's philosophical analysis of the human soul (the "tripartate soul") with the the three most common uses of tobacco. While the analysis may be somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I think it accurately highlights some characteristics of humanity, especially in light of the culture in which we live today. So, here's a link to the article (at First Things). And here are a few choice excerpts:

A cigarette is inhaled: it must be fully and internally consumed in order to give pleasure. And a cigarette, with its quick buzz, is also instant gratification.

A cigar is visually impressive: with its large size and great billows of smoke, it often leaves a greater impact on the spectator than on the smoker.

Unlike cigars and cigarettes, a pipe endures. Similarly, the questions of the philosopher far outlast the passing concerns of physical desires on the one hand and human ambitions on the other.

If the pipe epitomizes the intellectual way of life, then is it any surprise that it cannot be found where schools substitute politically correct ideology for real philosophy, or where the intelligentsia, instead of engaging in serious thought, pander to the latest activist fads? Is it any surprise that America’s most famous pipe-smoker in the last thirty years has been Hugh Hefner, pajama prophet of the trite philosophy of hedonism?