{"title":"2. Socratic literature and the Socratic problem","authors":"C. W. Taylor","doi":"10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"‘Socratic literature and the Socratic problem’ asks what access sources give us to the historical Socrates. The only Socratic literature known to have been written before Socrates’ death is comedy, which provides a contemporary caricature. Various authors produced ‘Socratic conversations’, commemorating Socrates and defending his memory against the charges made at the trial and against hostile accounts. The Socratic writings of Xenophon and Plato’s Socratic dialogues are the only bodies of Socratic literature to have survived complete. In Plato’s portrayal of Socrates there is no sharp line to be drawn between ‘the historical Socrates’ and ‘the Platonic Socrates’ who assumes the depersonalized role of spokesman for Plato’s philosophy.","PeriodicalId":216659,"journal":{"name":"Socrates: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125042268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"4. Socrates and later philosophy","authors":"C. W. Taylor","doi":"10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"‘Socrates and later philosophy’ examines the legacy of Socrates, the most important aspect of which was his influence on Plato. Antisthenes, another personal associate, adhered to some of Socrates’ ethical doctrines and his austere lifestyle. The Stoics accepted the cardinal doctrines of Socratic ethics—that virtue is knowledge and that virtue is sufficient for eudaimonia—while the Epicureans were consistently hostile to his ideas. The major medieval philosophers showed little interest in Socrates, but the revival of Platonism in the late 15th century changed that. The tradition of adapting the figure of Socrates to fit the general preconceptions of the writer is discernible in his treatment by three 19th-century philosophers: Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.","PeriodicalId":216659,"journal":{"name":"Socrates: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117249185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"5. The iconic Socrates","authors":"C. W. Taylor","doi":"10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"‘The iconic Socrates’ considers Socrates’ role as a gay icon and an icon for civil disobedience. In the Platonism revival of the Florentine Renaissance, the high-minded picture of Platonic/Socratic love focused on the spiritual and intellectual perfection of the beloved, but in an alternative ancient tradition Socrates was presented as a sexual enthusiast, with a penchant for attractive boys. The context of Socrates’ emergence as a major political icon of the 20th century was provided by the US civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement, but there is no evidence that Socrates ever actually espoused civil disobedience as a political ideology or performed any act of civil disobedience. Socrates remains a pioneer of systematic ethical thought and a paragon of moral and intellectual integrity.","PeriodicalId":216659,"journal":{"name":"Socrates: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"89 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126217197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"1. Life","authors":"C. Taylor","doi":"10.1093/actrade/9780198835981.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780198835981.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"‘Life’ explains that virtually nothing is known about the first half of Socrates’ life, but details of his later life, with his wife Xanthippe and his sons, are provided. Socrates was seen as an arguer and questioner, who went about challenging people’s pretensions to expertise and revealing inconsistencies in their beliefs, but also as a religious deviant and a subverter of traditional religion and morality. In 400 or 399 he was accused of not recognizing the gods of the city, introducing new gods, and corrupting the young—a charge that probably had a political dimension. He was sentenced to death. Though there is no record of the actual trial, accounts were provided by Plato and Xenophon.","PeriodicalId":216659,"journal":{"name":"Socrates: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125031184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"3. Plato’s Socrates","authors":"C. C. W. Taylor","doi":"10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ACTRADE/9780198835981.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"‘Plato’s Socrates’ considers the portrayal of Socrates’ doctrines and methods of argument in twelve dialogues plus Apology. It shows that Socrates is predominantly characterized, not as a teacher, but as an enquirer. He disclaims wisdom and seeks, normally in vain, elucidation of problematic questions from his interlocutors, by the method of elenchus. All the dialogues are concerned with ethics in the broad sense of how one should live. Many focus on the attempt to define a virtue or other ethically significant concept. The discussion invariably ends in failure. Others take the form of a confrontation between Socrates and various sophists and/or their pupils and associates over the aims of education.","PeriodicalId":216659,"journal":{"name":"Socrates: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126097021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}