Author: Plato
Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 39
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Book Description
Apology, a foundational text by Plato, presents a compelling account of Socrates' defense during his trial in 399 BC, where he faces charges of corrupting the youth and impiety. Through a series of eloquent arguments and thought-provoking dialogues, Socrates defends his philosophical beliefs and way of life, emphasizing the importance of virtue and the examined life. The narrative unfolds as Socrates addresses the Athenian jury, challenging the conventions of his time and urging them to reflect on their understanding of justice and morality. He famously asserts that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” advocating for a life of inquiry and self-reflection. His interactions with fellow citizens highlight the tension between societal norms and personal integrity, as he remains steadfast in his pursuit of truth. Apology is renowned for its philosophical insights and rhetorical brilliance. It serves not only as a defense of Socrates but also as a critique of Athenian democracy and the philosophical ignorance that often underpins public opinion. Plato’s masterful portrayal of Socratic irony and ethical inquiry invites readers to consider the nature of knowledge, wisdom, and the moral responsibilities of individuals within society. Readers are drawn to Apology for its profound exploration of ethics and the courage to stand by one’s convictions. This book is essential for anyone interested in philosophy, law, or the principles of democracy. Engaging with Socratic thought encourages readers to question their beliefs and fosters a deeper understanding of the importance of intellectual integrity. Owning a copy of Apology not only enriches one’s knowledge but also inspires a commitment to personal and societal betterment, making it a vital addition to any literary collection.
Author: Vivil Valvik Haraldsen
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498550002
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
In Plato’s Apology of Socrates we see a philosopher in collision with his society—a society he nonetheless claims to have benefited through his philosophic activity. It has often been asked why democratic Athens condemned a philosopher of Socrates' character to death. This anthology examines the contribution made by Plato’s Apology of Socrates to our understanding of the character of Socrates as well as of the conception of philosophy Plato attributes to him. The 11 chapters offer complementary readings of the Apology, which through their different approaches demonstrate the richness of this Platonic work as well as the various layers that can be discerned in its presentation of Socrates. While the contributions display variety in both topics and angles, they also share common features: An awareness of the importance of the literary aspects of Plato’s courtroom drama, as well as a readiness to take into consideration the historical context of the work. Thereby they provide contributions to a manifold understanding of the aims and impact of the work, without losing sight of the philosophical questions that are raised by Socrates’ confrontational and unrepentant defense speech. Allowing the character of Socrates to take center stage, the chapters of this volume examine the philosopher in relation to ethics, and to politics and democracy, as well as to the ideology, religion, and virtue shared by the Athenians. Readers will also find reflections on classical Platonic subjects such as the nature of Socratic philosophical inquiry and of philosophy itself, as well as on the notoriously ambiguous relationships between philosophy, sophistry and rhetoric, and their several relationships to truth and justice. The anthology emphasizes and explores the equivocal and sometimes problematic aspects of Socrates as Plato presents him in the Apology, illuminating why the Athenians let the verdict fall as they did, while drawing out problematic features of Athenian society and its reaction to Socrates’ philosophic activity, thereby encouraging reflection on the role philosophy can play in our modern societies.
Author: John Russon
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 9780810125872
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
An oracle was reported to have said, "No one is wiser than Socrates." And in fact it was Socrates’ life’s work to interpret these words, which demanded and defined the practice of philosophy. Each of these original essays attends carefully to the specifics of the Apology, looking to its dramatic details, its philosophic teaching, and its complexity as a work of writing to bring into focus the "Socrates" of the Apology. Overall, the contributors, distinguished scholars of ancient philosophy, share a belief in the unity of the letter and the spirit of Platonic philosophy: the conviction that the Platonic text cannot be reached except through reading and cannot be read except through thinking. In this way, the readings in this volume mirror Socrates’ own hermeneutical practice of uniting the demands of the mind and the demands of the text—the Socratic "examination." The result, true to the Socratic injunction that the unexamined life is not worth living, continues that practice of examination, here offering a reexamination of Socrates in the Apology.
Author: A.D. Irvine
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442692545
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 145
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Book Description
More than 2,400 years after his death, Socrates remains an iconic but controversial figure. To his followers, he personified progressive Greek ideals of justice and wisdom. To his detractors, he was a corruptor of the young during wartime and one of the reasons Athens had suffered a humiliating defeat to Sparta in 404 BC. Socrates' story is one of historic proportions and his unyielding pursuit of truth remains controversial and relevant to the present day. Socrates on Trial presents the story of Socrates as told to us by Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon, and others. The play uses fresh language to emphasize what is important in the works of these ancient authors, while at the same time remaining faithful to the general tenor and tone of their writings. Andrew Irvine has created a script that not only fits comfortably into the space of a single theatrical performance, but is also informative and entertaining. Suited for informal dramatic readings as well as regular theatrical performances, Socrates on Trial will undoubtedly appeal to instructors and students, and its informative introduction enhances its value as a resource. Complete with production and classroom notes, this modern recasting of the Socrates story will make riveting reading both inside and outside the classroom.
Author: Zina Giannopoulou
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199695296
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 216
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Book Description
Zina Giannopoulou offers a new reading of Theaetetus, Plato's most systematic examination of knowledge, alongside Apology, Socrates' speech in defence of his philosophical practice, and argues that the former text is a philosophical elaboration of the latter.
Author: Sandra Peterson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139497979
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 311
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Book Description
In Plato's Apology, Socrates says he spent his life examining and questioning people on how best to live, while avowing that he himself knows nothing important. Elsewhere, however, for example in Plato's Republic, Plato's Socrates presents radical and grandiose theses. In this book Sandra Peterson offers a hypothesis which explains the puzzle of Socrates' two contrasting manners. She argues that the apparently confident doctrinal Socrates is in fact conducting the first step of an examination: by eliciting his interlocutors' reactions, his apparently doctrinal lectures reveal what his interlocutors believe is the best way to live. She tests her hypothesis by close reading of passages in the Theaetetus, Republic and Phaedo. Her provocative conclusion, that there is a single Socrates whose conception and practice of philosophy remain the same throughout the dialogues, will be of interest to a wide range of readers in ancient philosophy and classics.
Author: Peter Kreeft
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 9780898709254
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 156
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Book Description
The popular author and Boston College philosophy professor, Kreeft, presents this introduction to philosophy to help beginners not only to understand philosophy but to fall in love with it. In his forty years of teaching philosophy, Kreeft says the most effective way to accomplish this purpose is to read Socrates. Philosophy means "the love of wisdom." Kreeft uses the dialogues of Socrates in this book to help the reader grow in that love of wisdom. He says that no master of the art of philosophizing has ever been more simple, clear, and accessible to beginners as Socrates. He focuses on Plato's dialogues, the Apology of Socrates, as a model partner for the reader to dialogue with. Kreeft calls it "the Magna Carta of philosophy," a timeless classic that is "a portable classroom."
Author: Lorraine Smith Pangle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022613668X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 287
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Book Description
The relation between virtue and knowledge is at the heart of the Socratic view of human excellence, but it also points to a central puzzle of the Platonic dialogues: Can Socrates be serious in his claims that human excellence is constituted by one virtue, that vice is merely the result of ignorance, and that the correct response to crime is therefore not punishment but education? Or are these assertions mere rhetorical ploys by a notoriously complex thinker? Lorraine Smith Pangle traces the argument for the primacy of virtue and the power of knowledge throughout the five dialogues that feature them most prominently—the Apology, Gorgias, Protagoras, Meno, and Laws—and reveals the truth at the core of these seemingly strange claims. She argues that Socrates was more aware of the complex causes of human action and of the power of irrational passions than a cursory reading might suggest. Pangle’s perceptive analyses reveal that many of Socrates’s teachings in fact explore the factors that make it difficult for humans to be the rational creatures that he at first seems to claim. Also critical to Pangle’s reading is her emphasis on the political dimensions of the dialogues. Underlying many of the paradoxes, she shows, is a distinction between philosophic and civic virtue that is critical to understanding them. Ultimately, Pangle offers a radically unconventional way of reading Socrates’s views of human excellence: Virtue is not knowledge in any ordinary sense, but true virtue is nothing other than wisdom.
Author: Plato
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0359861083
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 122
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Book Description
Provides an account of Socrates' trial, jury verdict, and sentencing; explores the philosopher's views on his punishment; and offers his thoughts on death, immortality, and the nature of the soul.
Author: Gregory Vlastos
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801497872
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 356
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Book Description
"The author shows us a Socrates who, though he has been long overshadowed by his successors Plato and Aristotle, represented the true turning point in Greek philosophy, religion and ethics. In his quest for the historical Socrates, the author focuses on Plato's earlier dialogues, setting the Socrates we find there in sharp contrast to the Socrates of later dialogues, in which he is used as a mouthpiece for Plato's own doctrines, many of them anti-Socratic in nature." [Back cover].
