The Socratic Way of Life

The Socratic Way of Life PDF

Author: Thomas L. Pangle

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2018-04-03

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 022651692X

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The Socratic Way of Life is the first English-language book-length study of the philosopher Xenophon’s masterwork. In it, Thomas L. Pangle shows that Xenophon depicts more authentically than does Plato the true teachings and way of life of the citizen philosopher Socrates, founder of political philosophy. In the first part of the book, Pangle analyzes Xenophon’s defense of Socrates against the two charges of injustice upon which he was convicted by democratic Athens: impiety and corruption of the youth. In the second part, Pangle analyzes Xenophon’s account of how Socrates’s life as a whole was just, in the sense of helping through his teaching a wide range of people. Socrates taught by never ceasing to raise, and to progress in answering, the fundamental and enduring civic questions: what is pious and impious, noble and ignoble, just and unjust, genuine statesmanship and genuine citizenship. Inspired by Hegel’s and Nietzsche’s assessments of Xenophon as the true voice of Socrates, The Socratic Way of Life establishes the Memorabilia as the groundwork of all subsequent political philosophy.

The Memorabilia

The Memorabilia PDF

Author: Xenophon

Publisher: The Floating Press

Published: 2014-05-01

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1776535030

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The Greek philosopher Socrates was accused of and ultimately put to death for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. This extraordinary volume from his friend and follower Xenophon offers a spirited defense of the philosopher, including a summary of Socrates' own closing argument to the court.

The Framing of Socrates

The Framing of Socrates PDF

Author: Vivienne Gray

Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9783515073134

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Xenophon's Memorabilia is a principal source for the image of Socrates. Xenophon's argument about Socrates is here examined in its entirety for the first time in English as a product of his personal knowledge of Socrates, his use of rhetoric to persuade his audience, and of literary traditions which had already set in place the 'frame' for the acceptable image of the wise man. Xenophon innovates within these traditions to present a Socrates who innovated in the traditions of philosophy. The work is proven to have a unified and sustained rhetorical argument. It imitates the philosophical process that it attributes to Socrates. Xenophon's literary techniques and artistry, the nature of rhetoric and the literary traditions concerning the wise man are illuminated. Comparison with Plato is not a major focus, but the investigation increases awareness of the complexity of the 'Socratic problem'.

Xenophon's Socratic Education

Xenophon's Socratic Education PDF

Author: Dustin Sebell

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2021-03-11

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 0812252853

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It is well known that Socrates was executed by the city of Athens for not believing in the gods and for corrupting the youth. Despite this, it is not widely known what he really thought, or taught the youth to think, about philosophy, the gods, and political affairs. Of the few authors we rely on for firsthand knowledge of Socrates—Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plato, and Aristotle—only Xenophon, the least read of the four, lays out the whole Socratic education in systematic order. In Xenophon's Socratic Education, through a careful reading of Book IV of Xenophon's Memorabilia, Dustin Sebell shows how Socrates ascended, with his students in tow, from opinions about morality or politics and religion to knowledge of such things. Besides revealing what it was that Socrates really thought—about everything from self-knowledge to happiness, natural theology to natural law, and rhetoric to dialectic—Sebell demonstrates how Socrates taught promising youths, like Xenophon or Plato, only indirectly: by jokingly teaching unpromising youths in their presence. Sebell ultimately shows how Socrates, the founder of moral and political philosophy, sought and found an answer to the all-important question: should we take our bearings in life from human reason, or revealed religion?

Memorabilia

Memorabilia PDF

Author: Xenophon

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2014-06-14

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0801471745

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An essential text for understanding Socrates, Xenophon's Memorabilia is the compelling tribute of an affectionate student to his teacher, providing a rare firsthand account of Socrates' life and philosophy. The Memorabilia is invaluable both as a work of philosophy in its own right and as a complement to the study of Plato's dialogues. The longest of Xenophon's four Socratic works, it is particularly revealing about the differences between Socrates and his philosophical predecessors. Far more obviously than Plato in the dialogues, Xenophon calls attention in the Memorabilia to his own relationship with Socrates. A colorful and fully engaged writer, Xenophon aims above all to convince his readers of the greatness of Socrates' thought and the disgracefulness of his conviction on a capital charge. In thirty-nine chapters, Xenophon presents Socrates as an ordinary person and as a great benefactor to those associated with him.