Six Questions of Socrates: A Modern-Day Journey of Discovery Through World Philosophy - Hardcover

Phillips, Christopher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393051579 ISBN 13: 9780393051575

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2004

Synopsis

The author of Socrates Café explores the various ways in which people around the world--from different cultures and backgrounds--interpret six important questions originally posed by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, including their diverse interpretations of virtue, moderation, justice, courage, good, and piety. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author:

Christopher Phillips is the founder and director of the nonprofit Society for Philosophical Inquiry, and the author of Socrates Café. He lives in Virginia and in Mexico.

From Publishers Weekly:

In his first book, Socrates Cafe, Phillips charmingly recounted how he roamed the country starting philosophical discussion groups inspired by the Socratic method of questioning. Here, Phillips ventures to many lands, including Greece, Japan, South Korea and Mexico, and stages dialogues with people from many backgrounds: Navajo, Confucian, Islamic, Jewish, Catholic. He discusses six questions, each in a separate chapter: What is virtue? What is moderation? What is justice? What is good? What is courage? What is piety? His hope is to "discover an array of timely answers" that may help us achieve "human excellence." The author's own ruminations, and an eclectic selection of published ideas from Tom Sawyer to Thich Nhat Hanh, supplement the 20 or so dialogues. In a final chapter, Phillips argues that the Socratic "pursuit of the virtuous life" may provide a way of countering the "downward [moral] spiral" he sees prevailing in today's world. Phillips's idealism remains refreshing, and the book is valuable for its inclusion of non-European points of view. But as in Socrates Cafe, the philosophy often feels superficial. For example, a discussion in Mexico of "What is justice?" turns into a catalogue of government injustices with nothing more to say philosophically than, "We have to make sure that justice serves all of us in an impartial way." Such insights are obviously not without value, especially for those new to philosophizing, but they make this very much a book for beginners.
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About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0393051579
• ISBN 13: 9780393051575
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256