Moshe “Moshiko” Hamo attended St. John’s College, a “Great Books School,” in Annapolis, Maryland. He studied significant works in Western thought from Homer through Heidegger. Ultimately, he received his B.A. in liberal arts, with the equivalent of majors in philosophy (including metaphysics, ethics, and political theory) and history of mathematics and science and minors in classical studies and comparative literature.
Moshiko wrote annual essays during his four years: about the relationship of recollection, myth, and logos in Plato’s Meno, Phaedo, and Republic, Aeneas’ shield, freedom and the moral imperative in Kant’s philosophy, and on Ecclesiastes. For his final essay, he wanted to explore this difficult and mysterious work from the ancient Hebrew tradition. He used his proficiency in Biblical Hebrew to address the text directly. His essay was a finalist for the St. John’s College Annual Essay Prize. His junior year essay on Kantian epistemology and ethics was also a finalist.
Moshiko’s driving question is an ethical one: how ought we live? In particular, how were ancient Greek and Hebrew ethics and values created (or discovered)? Focusing primarily on ancient philosophy, he is also interested in the role of poetry in shaping or revealing values. Accordingly, he enjoys studying Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and the Bible. Email Moshiko Hamo.