Sokrates, martelaar van de filosofie

by Plato, Hans Warren (Translator), Mario Molegraaf (Translator)

Wie was hij, Sokrates, de man met de stompe neus en het scherpe intellect? Een moedige rebel of een gevaarlijke onruststoker?
Hij heeft zelf geen woord geschreven, des te meer is er over hem geschreven. Eerst en vooral door Plato (ca. 427-347 v.Chr.), wiens oeuvre één grote hommage aan Sokrates is. Hij was diep verontwaardigd over het doodvonnis van Sokrates, in 399 v.Chr. voltrokken toen hij een man van zeventig was.
In dit boek zijn Plato's werken over het proces tegen Sokrates en diens laatste dagen bijeengebracht: Euthyfron, Apologia Sokratous (Sokrates' verdedigingsrede), Kriton en Faidon. Indrukwekkende en ontroerende meesterwerken die ons heel dicht bij Sokrates brengen, de enige man uit de Oudheid die we allemaal zouden herkennen wanneer we hem op straat tegenkwamen. Maar we belanden ook midden in de woelige, maar waarachtige democratie die Athene was, en worden door het doodvonnis tegen Sokrates onvermijdelijk geconfronteerd met uiterst actuele vragen over de onbehaaglijke grenzen tussen democratie en rechtsstaat.

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.
Along with his teacher Socrates, and Aristotle, his student, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years—unlike that of nearly all of his contemporaries. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. Through Neoplatonism, he also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Reviews

[Myrthe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eerste drie geweldig, bij de Faidon halverwege afgehaakt. Ging niet meer over Socrates.