Socrates

The Giants of Philosophy

by Thomas C. Brickhouse, Nicholas Smith, Lynn Redgrave (Narrator)

THE life of a great man, particularly when he belongs to a remote age, can never be a mere record of undisputed fact. Even when such facts are plentiful, the biographer’s real business is with their interpretation; he must penetrate behind mere events to the purpose and character they disclose, and can only do so by an effort of constructive imagination. And in the case of both the historical figures whose influence on the life of humanity has been profoundest, Jesus and Socrates, indisputable facts are exceptionally rare; perhaps there is only one statement about each which a man might not deny without forfeiting his claim to be counted among the sane. It is certain that Jesus ‘suffered under Pontius Pilate,’ and no less certain that Socrates was put to death at Athens on a charge of impiety in the ‘year of Laches’ (399 B.C.). Any account of either which goes beyond such a statement is inevitably a personal construction.

©1995 Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. / Knowledge Products

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Biography

Audible Audio

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good crash course style audiobook.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and Packed. Maybe like Socrates himself?
For someone who never wrote anything down and lived so long ago, it’s amazing that in this day and age we still look to him. Maybe the mystery of who he was has something to do with his hold on us… this provides a great overview of someone we know little about and are still, to this day (and beyond), learning about.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"Human wisdom is of little value."
A brief (two and one half hour) introduction to Socrates, the Athenian philosopher born 469 BC, both his life and ideas - at least, as much as can be deduced from the works of others and, notably, Plato.
Certain main points of his beliefs are highlighted, the main text read by the effective and lovely voice of Lynne Redgrave with interjected quotations spoken by an alternate, male voice which added greatly to the clarity and interest.

Exactly what the beliefs of Socrates were is apparently speculative but working with plays and characters based on and around Socrates, a good basic understanding seems to emerge. Mmmm, well...
An interesting listen, well produced, and available currently as a free download from the Audible Plus programme

[Bikram · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." Socrates.
The book starts with the early life of Socrates and often presents the authors' perspective. It does a fine job of assembling scattered literature on Socrates and writing a comprehensive collection. The book dwells around Plato's view on Socrates and Euthyphro's conversation with him.
Overall, a good one.

[Sean-Paul Kosina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and brief overview of Socrates early life and the main arguments that he covered against the Athenian democracy, specifically against the formation of the Greek statehood, and the concept of virtue.

[Tara T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible - great listen with Lynn Redgraves excellent narration

A great intro and overview of Socrates as a personality, whether you consider him to be real or legend. This account uses a range of ancient sources to examine Socrates’ historicity, his beliefs, his ‘method’, and so forth.

[Christopher Hellstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio version (NYPL)

[Danielle Mccoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this as an audiobook from the library to help me sleep. Didn't work so well because I kept getting into the history. Luckily it was short.

[AttackGirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed discussion of Socrates end of life events, including the one who cast the stone demanding death.

If you already know Socrates you will enjoy this discussion

[Todd Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent short and compact read.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, informative and well structured!
Tasty overview.

[Duke DeLaet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent.

[Melanie Mansfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent intro to Socrates. I’ve come across better in podcast form. I’ll likely skip the others in this series.

[bimri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Socratic method has always been suspect to me. Makes you wonder why conduct it in the first place to flaunt one's intellect to folks who even hardly care for such spectacles. As an exercise to sharpen one's wit - there is some utility there. (Other than that, one won't ever get much insights maybe all in perchance.)

[James Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually found some common ground with the dead philosopher that I hadn't expected.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10