Socrates
Subtitle: a guide for the perplexed
By: Sara Ahbel-Rappe.
Series: Guides for the perplexed
Publisher: Continuum
Published: 2009
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 187
ISBN-13: 9780826463777; 9780826433251
Subjects: Socrates
Description: Socrates is regarded as the founder of Western philosophical inquiry. Yet he left no writings and claimed to know 'nothing fine or worthy.' he spent his life perplexing those who encountered him and is as important and perplexing now as he was 2500 years ago. Drawing on the various competing sources for Socrates that are available, Socrates: A Guide for the Perplexed guides the reader through the main themes and ideas of Socrates' thought. Taking into account the puzzles surrounding his trial and death, the philosophical methods and ethical positions associated with him, and his lasting influence, Sara Ahbel-Rappe presents a concise and accessible introduction. She concludes by suggesting that it is in fact the Socratic insistence on self-knowledge that makes Socrates at once so pivotal and so elusive for the student of philosophy.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Socrates: the man and the myth; title: The life and death of Socrates; title: The sources for Socrates; title: Plato's Socrates; title: Socratic method and epistemology; title: Happiness and virtue; title: The Socratic schools; title: Socrates in the modern world; title: Citizen Socrates; title: Socrates and self-knowledge.