[15] Unfinished business or unfinished symphony?

     Is the project one best left like Schubert's Unfinished
Symphony?  Is that the best way to honor it and show respect
for John Plott's vision?  On the other hand, if the project
were to be completed, in what form and by what means?  Should
we contemplate extending the volumes as they were already
evolving?  Or should completion take place in some completely
new way, by creating an electronic encyclopedia of world
thought with hardcopy supplements, for example?
     If the project were to be concluded in some form, John's
own files would help recover or create some appropriate
balance in coverage, for example, of South American
philosophers.
     Whether the project is an unfinished symphony or
compellingly unfinished business, it surely can counteract
what some are calling the dumbing of America.  The
intellectual, spiritual, and cultural shock produced by
contact with the Plott project can effectively offset much
human provincialism, educational dumbing, and other similar
genres of mediocrity or global dysfunctionalism.