When thoughtful Greeks experienced distress at the disorder within and the warfare between their societies, some of them, such as Socrates, Plato and others, began to question its causes and then to enquire as to the right way to live as individuals and in societies. It was for this reason that Plato established the Academy.
Today the word ‘Academic’ does not convey any of that human or societal concern, but rather an obsession with exactness and rigour, which are useful as means but not ends in themselves. It must be beyond time for new academics motivated by concern for themselves and others and utilising the skills of careful scholarship to serve that purpose.