Plato Gets the Boot: Texas A&M Bans Philosophy’s OG, Professor Teaches Censorship Instead
What happens when a university bans its philosophy professors from teaching Plato—the original “think for yourself” guy? Apparently, you get a masterclass in irony, a campus-wide Streisand Effect, and a Reddit thread that reads like a Socratic dialogue between meme-lords and armchair philosophers.
Recently, Texas A&M made headlines (and waves of disbelief) by telling its philosophy department to nix Plato from the syllabus, reportedly to comply with new state rules on curriculum content. Dr. Martin Peterson, chair of the department, responded with a move so slick it deserves its own spot in a textbook: he swapped out Plato for lectures on academic freedom… using the actual New York Times article about the ban as required reading.
If you ever doubted that real-life philosophy is more entertaining than any sitcom, buckle up.
Don’t Teach Plato? Let’s Teach About Not Teaching Plato
When faced with absurdity, some comply with a sigh. Philosophers, however, comply with a wink and a nudge. Dr. Peterson’s letter to administration, gleefully shared by u/Epigrammatic on Reddit’s r/MaliciousCompliance, reads like a Socratic lesson in trolling-with-purpose. He writes:
“To comply with the new censorship requirements, I have replaced the affected module with lectures on free speech and academic freedom. The censored material is marked in red in the attached document. The required text for the new module is:
‘Texas A&M, Under New Curriculum Limits, Warns Professor Not to Teach Plato’, The New York Times, January 8, 2026.”
The meta-ness of it all wasn’t lost on Redditors. u/MrSpiffenhimer quipped, “Since I can’t teach the students about star-bellied sneetches, I’ll teach them about why I can’t teach them about star-bellied sneetches instead.” It’s Dr. Seuss meets Socrates—a tale for our times.
And, as u/WhataboutBombvoyage pointed out, the Streisand Effect is alive and well: “The Streisand Rule is handy in times of censorship.” In other words, the surest way to make students curious about Plato? Tell them they can’t learn about Plato.
Why Ban Plato? The Internet Investigates
The big question—echoed by u/Overall-Lynx917 and many others—was: What’s so dangerous about Plato? Isn’t he the foundation of Western philosophy? As u/Looonity put it, “You don’t have philosophy without him. It’s so fundamental it shaped most of western religion and history. It’s like trying to drive a car without wheels.”
Several Reddit detectives dug into the specifics. The likely culprit? Plato’s exploration of love, gender, and “controversial” ideas, especially in works like The Symposium, where Aristophanes’ speech describes original humans as three sexes and introduces concepts of same-sex love. As u/chipplyman summarized, “Probably Aristophanes' comedic speech... describing original humans as creatures with two faces, four arms, and four legs, split by Zeus into two halves (male/female/androgynous)... leading to the human quest for their ‘other half’ or soulmate.”
Teaching this, as u/Specific-Squash elaborated, means acknowledging that gay people have existed for millennia and that ideas about sex and gender weren’t always what modern conservatives would like them to be. “Teaching this, of course, would involve acknowledging to students that gay people exist and have been around forever, and that the conservative Christian ideas of sex and gender are neither universal nor historically stable.”
But it’s not just about Plato’s “wokeness.” As u/felis_magnetus noted, Plato’s political philosophy is actually pretty conservative—he literally advocates for a society ruled by philosopher-kings and a rigid class structure. But even that’s apparently too spicy for Texas in 2026.
Forbidden Fruit, Academic Irony, and the Philosophy of Censorship
The irony wasn’t lost on anyone. As u/Tikki_Taavi observed, “One of the fastest ways to get something on the top read list is to list it as ‘banned Material’ lol.” If you want students to read Plato, just ban him. The forbidden fruit effect is alive and well, and now Plato’s works are probably being downloaded on more Aggie laptops than ever.
Meanwhile, u/mjavon quoted Dr. Peterson’s own bewilderment: “A philosophy professor who is not allowed to teach Plato? … How can we possibly teach philosophy without being allowed to discuss Plato, even if some of Plato’s ideas are a little bit controversial?”
Others saw this as a sign of the times. “Academia is dead and we have killed it,” lamented u/EnvironmentMission74. Some commenters, like u/OkExternal7904 and u/tempest_87, laid the blame squarely at the feet of state politics and culture wars, with a uniquely Texan flavor of sarcasm: “We are proud independent people. Now do what the governor tells you to do.”
Perhaps the best summary comes from u/dontmakemewait: “Learning about Plato, even his beliefs on love, is not gonna convert someone. But learning about philosophy without learning about Plato—that should convert you into someone who will sue their education provider for doing a shitty job.”
The Gadfly Returns: Why Plato Matters Now
What’s at stake isn’t just a reading assignment—it’s the very purpose of higher education. Banning the founder of Western philosophy from philosophy class is like banning Newton from physics, or numbers from math (as u/janosaudron hilariously put it). It’s anti-intellectualism dressed up as curriculum management.
As u/Looonity reminded everyone, Socrates—the main character of Plato’s dialogues—described himself as “the gadfly” attached to the state, constantly provoking, questioning, and challenging. “You will not easily find another like me,” he warned the Athenians before they executed him for corrupting the youth. (History, as always, repeats itself—sometimes as farce.)
So, if you’re a student at Texas A&M, don’t be surprised if your philosophy professor spends class time teaching you about why you can’t learn about Plato. Or better yet, why you must.
Conclusion: Your Turn to Challenge the Shadows
What do you think—should universities ban foundational thinkers to avoid controversy, or is that the ultimate betrayal of education itself? Is banning Plato just a modern-day Allegory of the Cave, with students chained to the shadows of what they’re allowed to know?
Let us know in the comments: What would you do if your class banned the classics? And, most importantly, who’s in for a rogue Plato reading group?
Plato would be proud.
Original Reddit Post: Texas A&M bans philosophy department from teaching Plato. Professor gets creative.