Terence Hoyt earned an MA in Economics from Fordham University in 1984, and a PhD in Philosophy fromTulane University in 2000. Between 1993 and 2012, I lived in New Orleans. Earlier on, I lived in Paris and Berlin for one year each. In 2012, after teaching philosophy for 15 years I returned to school to earn an MSW and then returned to upstate New York where I grew up. My hope is for this site to increase understanding of the American political-economic system. I believe that the brighest among us do not adequately understand or appreciate American civilization. Too many among us take "the system" for granted, focus on a particular "cause" and then ignore what would keep our political-economy running well. I take the position that this problem needs to be viewed as a crisis of philosophy. It was good political philosophy that was responsible for our system and it is dysfunctional political philosophy that influences many activists to take stances undermine our economic as well as moral-spiritual well being. We can say without exagerration that we are in a period of intellectual, moral and spiritual crisis. This crisis is both cause and effect of a misunderstanding of the basic purpose of America's political system and a manipulation of this confusion by the usual suspects. With Plato, we are concerned that unless sober philosopher-types get involved in the daily affairs of public life, there will be no end to troubles. It is time to go back to the cave!

Given that I have not obtained a tenure track position in philosophy, I am transitioning to a career in mental health. In the meantime, I have been working on a book project for three years, and recently launched the Society for the Renewal of American Politics and web site "www.backtothecave.org". The purpose of SRAP and its journal is to bring together writers and acaemics in order to clarify the American system to the public. If I were independently wealthy, I would devote all my time to working on my writing and SRAP. If I am able to obtain financial support for this work, I will be able to focus on it exclusively. You can donate with the Pay Pal button below. If you would like to talk with me personally, please email me at "terence@practicalphilosophy.net". I have posted the first sections of the book on the "Book Project" tab at the top of the home page.