New-York tribune., 1886-08-23
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

TIE EtSI nhror' Apology Critic. and Phsdo OF Paso
TSsnsis,sd iaio En,'h nell yl';,s: ny =; j. cSoh0H co ."
rh. Golden Treasury series 10 enriched oy
.,,rm;ns volume in which the four dialogues o.
plato specialiy relating to the trial and dea'o VI
Socrates are brought together and introduceo W
an excellent essay. The TRANSLATION IL nov nov.
hut il has been extensively revised Slice i'' ~
apnearance and tho Introduction has been 'c""'
ten. Mr. Church has turned the GreeH oris,"a'
into simple clear, compact and graceiui Ine"s.'
which beautifully reflects the calm ana h's'o''-S
spirit of the philosopher. while 1t exhio'.s s'a''
the finest qualities of a good literary style -
sioually we stumble upon a surprising olen"'"'
aThose whom we say are learning 'p' To-,
solec,sm which we should not expect i'o"'
scholar ike Mr. Church. II one of your PoSS''
sions were to kill itself should you ~
angry with its Should you not punsh !" T" p
ishment were possibleT lr. 1l3) is pretty o"u
ample of the coinrnon confusion oetwee" '~sao.
and would These however. are OH" ST.
faults; IL Is easy TO forget them n ""'"' Tho
substantial merits of the work as """.o'
philosophical discussions. whcn arc 49,
tremely subtitle are translated Win ~on"D =, tho
.,,cuitv. 40 that even the close arsuneh's u '"o
Is rhmdon are pleasant and easy 'e"''"s -,
a,r 90 o,dinary Intelligence. AS "a sPcc''no" VI
.-..,,,. composed and -tdi0matic niahuei'
% ,aka 4. massage almost at rahdoui ''"in '"0 ''
We '"Ao =" phmao :, in which Plato describes
A.. oos,ug scenes n :hc prison. lie u sPeahi"s Vi
oora,os. aWith these words he rose ana went
ano,her room to battle himself: Crlto went
.,;,b him and told to wait So we waited. talking
y. the argument, and discussing IT, ana tDeh agaln
S.nIIiog on the greatness of the calamity which
had fallen upon us it seemed as II we were gong
a lose "A father and 10 be orphans for the rest OF
4 h.dh hatheH and his children baQ
heen brought 10 him-hc had two sons quite httie'
,a ono grown up-and the women OF his family
,rere come he spoke with them in Critos presence
and oave them lis last commands 'then lie SEM
me women aud children away. and returned 10 us
nv that time il was the hour OF sunset ior hc
had been IA long while within wien DC eai"0
hack TO us from the bath ne sat down. but noi
much was said after that" The simplicity ol thlS
passage is the result Of high polish.
Mr.. Churchs Introduction gives good account OIL
what we know OF the life ci Socrates, ana ah
admirable ANALYSIS of his theory of knowledge aud
method of scientific inquiry lie constructed no
rhilosoohjcal stem I" He possessed no connected
.vsteu Of knowledge: he was ohly conscious. and
be ,vas the first man to be conscious OF the nec@s-
sitv of H." He aimed at tue reconstruction ol
human opinion basis OF reasoned tiuIh'
Conduct is not virtuous unless II pioceeus from
reason lie spent his life III the search after kho"i-
a1g. uaintaininC that know ledge - not merely
condition of virtue but that II literally is virtue.
A man who knows what is right must always 90
,ight Rnt he fonnd himself confronted with
eeneralabsence. not of knowledge only, hut oil the
very idea Of knowledge and he made 1t his task
IN clear the ground by convincing his coatemro-
rories of their ignorance. This was the meaning OF
his ipccssant cross-examining of everybody who
wonld listen to him bringing to the test the cIirent
commonplaces the unexpressed popular judgments
about f., which we're never examined or revised
and the truth of which was taken for granted bV
every one An excellent example Of the Socratlc
method of examination Is given in tie }" Euthy-
phron which. although 1t refers but nghty 10
the trial Of Socrates Mr.. Church has wisely lncud-
ed IN the present volume, and some idea OF 1t may
also be obtained from tho CrtO" in which
Socrates discusses a proposal for his escape from
prison The chief substance of the volume is con-
tained of course in the renowned "Apology," upon
which il would be supcrfiuous TO COMMENT ana the
sPhedo," IN winch Plato so beautifully describes
his masters last hours and death. AS history
of events this composition is no doubt To be tusteu
hnt il ia the one dialogue of the four which we may
be sure does not give either the language or the
thonpht of Socrates The wellknown arguments
ior the immortality of the soul placed in the mouth
,f that philosopher are not his. but fiat0s. MI.
Cbnrch gives a satisfactory analysis and abstract
Df all the dialogues. and adds Whatever may be
necessary to explain illusions in them and hl out
;pcom etc sIatements.