In Plato's "Republic" (V), Socrates tells Glaucon that anyone "can feel both secure and confident when one has the truth about the dearest and most important things and speaks about them among those who...

In the middle of Joseph O'neill's 2008 novel "Netherland," Hans, the main character, sits down at his computer. His wife has just left him and taken their only son with her to London. Hans, lonely and...