I. The solitary Our word ‘idiot’ originates from the Greek Idiōtēs, which in its most basic form means as much as that which is peculiar to itself, that which distinguishes something from everything else. Idiōtēs is that which makes something singular and unique, as opposed to common and shared. Idiōtēs is what is singular, as opposed to what is regular. In its form as ἰδιώτης, idiōtēs comes to refer to people, meaning a private person, as opposed to a communal person living in a shared society with shared customs and opinions. ‘Idiot’ refers to those people who do not live and think by way of what is common, but live and think from themselves only. The idiōtēs are those whose lives are fully marked by ἴδιος. Thus, in Ancient Greece, idiōtēs has a political meaning in the broad sense. Those who do not share in the life of the polis, but decide to live by themselves, are idiots. Solitary people, outsiders, these are idiots. However, it is not clear that the Ancients meant the word itself in any derogatory sense. We must steer clear in giving to idiōtēs the meaning that we commonly attribute to ‘idiot’.