Socrates spent a lifetime analyzing ethical issues, and the "Euthyphro" finds him outside the court-house, still debating the nature of piety with ...
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Sep 21, 2007
David
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When he was tried, convicted and ordered to death in 399 B.C.E., Socrates was already seventy years old: he had lived through the imperialistic spread of Athenian democracy and culture under Pericles, twenty-five years of first cold and then heated war with Sparta, the defeat of Athens in 404 B.C.E., the short-lived oligarchy imposed on that city by the Spartans, and finally the reestablishment of democracy in his homeland. During all of that time, the former bricklayer was known for practicing
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Dec 05, 2011
I wish I had read these 4 dialogues before they made us work through The Republic back in school. Plato can seem so distant and archiac so much of the time, but here there is an actual sense of human urgency: Socrates is about to die. A lot of times the dialogues feel completely neutered from any real world concern, you just see these people walking around, having their abstract little discussions as Socrates schools them all. But here you see those discussions finally grounded by a frank acknow
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Jan 19, 2011
Daniel
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Socrates is a little bit like Superman. As a young man, both are very appealing for their heroism and pristine behavior. As one ages, however, they begin to dissatisfy - there is no way these people could be real.
This is obviously due to Plato's portrayal of the man, an homage so complete that Socrates becomes pure ideal and ceases to be human. He stands for intellectual honesty and curiosity, morality and justice, without any compromise.
This book is about as good an exam More...
This is obviously due to Plato's portrayal of the man, an homage so complete that Socrates becomes pure ideal and ceases to be human. He stands for intellectual honesty and curiosity, morality and justice, without any compromise.
This book is about as good an exam More...
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Feb 06, 2012
Dialogos I de Platón comprende la Apología de Sócrates y Fedón.
La Apología de Sócrates narra el juicio de muerte que se le imputa al mencionado personaje por "penetrar en los misterios del cielo y de la tierra", y enseñarlos públicamente. Sócrates es acusado de corrupción de menores y de creer en los demonios, siendo condenando a muerte. Pero para él, morir así era la suprema sanción a su doctrina y el último acto necesario de su destino. Sócrates pensaba una de dos cosas: More...
La Apología de Sócrates narra el juicio de muerte que se le imputa al mencionado personaje por "penetrar en los misterios del cielo y de la tierra", y enseñarlos públicamente. Sócrates es acusado de corrupción de menores y de creer en los demonios, siendo condenando a muerte. Pero para él, morir así era la suprema sanción a su doctrina y el último acto necesario de su destino. Sócrates pensaba una de dos cosas: More...
Nov 14, 2011
Douglas
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I didn't actually read this particular volume, but it's a convenient way of reviewing my recent re-reading of The Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. It's been almost twenty years. I don't very well remember what I thought of them in college, but this time around, I loved the first, nodded off for the second, and wanted to object to the third.
My primary gripe with Socrates is his suggestion (made in the Phaedo) that the philosophic life is, essentially, learning to die; that philosophy is t More...
My primary gripe with Socrates is his suggestion (made in the Phaedo) that the philosophic life is, essentially, learning to die; that philosophy is t More...
Sep 19, 2011
Giovanni
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Required to read for PHL100Y1, Introduction to Philosophy.
It's not even that hard of a text, right? It's a flimsy, 58 page book and a good portion is in script format. However, its contents are rather important, because they detail the logic surrounding the final days of what I can only think of as the father of philosophy, Socrates.
In the Apology, he justifies his actions, to the point of saying, "actually, you should reward me, because I'm getting you to examine yo More...
It's not even that hard of a text, right? It's a flimsy, 58 page book and a good portion is in script format. However, its contents are rather important, because they detail the logic surrounding the final days of what I can only think of as the father of philosophy, Socrates.
In the Apology, he justifies his actions, to the point of saying, "actually, you should reward me, because I'm getting you to examine yo More...
Sep 17, 2011
David
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In the Last Days of Socrates Plato delivers two powerful dialogues, one interesting one, and then there is the Crito, which is not so interesting. The Apology is great rhetoric, his defense (as he doesn’t apologise) for his conduct which led to his arrest, is passively aggressive, nonchalant and full of irony. Developing his Socratic method, you can read Socrates as a sharp deconstructionist, mocking those who claim authority and knowledge over him (given the option to offer the court an alter More...
Sep 29, 2011
The strengths of Socrates’ argument, it is not wise to fear death, are the tow expectations that death can be; either a great advantage or an adventure. First, it can be a great advantage if death is no more than an end of life. It is just one restful sleep with no waking up. Second, death can be an adventure of testing, examining and comparing experiences and thoughts. In another words, there can be a life after death were normal and wise people live. Therefore, meeting them is a way to share t
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Apr 23, 2009
David
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This should be mandatory reading for all in the Western World. This is Plato's account of Socrates' trial and subsequent death. I thought the courtroom drama was fantastic; however, after the death sentence was pronounced on Socrates, his dialogue with his followers regarding death got too philosophic at points for my taste. Socrates seems to be at peace with death and the destination of his soul.
One thing I found to be humorous and profound was that after Socrates gave his disserta More...
One thing I found to be humorous and profound was that after Socrates gave his disserta More...
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Mar 02, 2011
Eric
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When your Introduction to Philosophy (or to Humanities, or to Rhetoric, or to...) course had you read this your first semester of college, it was presented as the origins of Western thought. With all that reverence paid, reading it a decade and a half later, I either didn't remember or didn't understand that "The Apology" is downright funny. Socrates is a man daring a court to put him to death and he is very keen on putting them in their place.
Alas, the other dialogues ar More...
Alas, the other dialogues ar More...
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Sep 17, 2010
Anom
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Aku sedang membaca buku ini dan sedang menerjemahkannya. Ada empat teks Plato di sana yaitu Euthyphro, Apology, Crito dan Phaedo. Semuanya teks teks yang luar biasa, dan jika direnung-renungkan ada banyak hal yang tetap relevan hingga saat ini. Lebih lebih jika kita kini sedang sibuk sibuk punya perhatian terhadap kekerasan berbasis agama, maka teks Euthyphro sangat menarik untuk dibaca. Pada teks ini Socrates berdebat dengan Euthyphro, salah seorang jaksa pemeriksa untuk Pengadilan Socrates. In
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May 18, 2010
Jim
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The Last Days of Socrates consists of four dialogues that, while discussing different philosophical issues, cover the end of Socrates' life from just before his trial to his condemnation and death of poison by drinking hemlock. In the end, the philosopher's pupil Crito says, "Such, Echecrates, was the end of our comrade, who was, we may fairly say, of all those whom we knew in our time, the bravest and also the wisest and most upright man."
Euthyphro and Crito are the lesser More...
Euthyphro and Crito are the lesser More...
Jan 06, 2010
Jesse
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I've probably read these three dialogues more than any other philosophical text. Almost every intro and ancient Greek philosophy class will have you read some or all of these texts and it's for a reason. This is the perfect intro to what philosophy is and what it fights against. Against complacency and against assumptions, for life and for death. Whenever I need to feel more impassioned about philosophy, this is the place I go. I strongly suggest it to anyone thinking of getting into philos
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Sep 02, 2010
Laura
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Read this for my Intro to Philosophy class at UNCC (perk of the job - for 2 1/2 hours each week, I get to pretend that I'm young again and not jaded with the big Disappointment that is called Life After College - for free!). I am in all ways a philosophy novice. So, Socrates ended up surprising me, for all his preceding reputation. He seemed quite absolutist, which is a bit at odds with my belief system in general I suppose (and, apparently, most modern humans..), but it was 400 BC, so I'll g
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Oct 09, 2009
Matthew
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I bought this book years ago, though I wish I hadn’t. The Dialogs themselves were good, but this edition isn’t. There is no scholarly apparatus at all: no introductions, no footnotes, and no references to the Greek text, only a paragraph of unhelpful biography. The translation seemed off, too, but I haven’t read any other versions of these dialogs so I have no basis of comparison. Still, I’m never going to buy another book from Prometheus Books’ Greek Books in Philosophy.
I liked t More...
I liked t More...
Mar 19, 2009
Kevin
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I wish I could give this a 5 star rating but I'm just not that good a person. I read this after my friend attempted suicide, I was searching for meaning in life that I no longer understood and I guess I felt Plato was in there. Reasoning out our connection to the gods and how a pantheon of gods doesn't work. How if a person was doing good for one god might be doing bad for another and why judge Socrates for corrupting the youth when he may very well have been doing the bidding of one of the g
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Dec 18, 2009
Bram
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Euthyphro: Tricky. May need to reread this one a couple times.
Apology: Here we get an impassioned plea for intellectual freedom plus the promotion of ethical and civil disobedience. Great stuff.
Crito: A little too much law and authority worship.
Phaedo: This is the ultimate existential dialogue. Plato's Socrates makes death seem even more enticing than do the monotheists (who seem to have taken a good deal from Plato). I find it easy to like a work that re More...
Apology: Here we get an impassioned plea for intellectual freedom plus the promotion of ethical and civil disobedience. Great stuff.
Crito: A little too much law and authority worship.
Phaedo: This is the ultimate existential dialogue. Plato's Socrates makes death seem even more enticing than do the monotheists (who seem to have taken a good deal from Plato). I find it easy to like a work that re More...
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Oct 09, 2009
Jim
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Read this for AP English my senior year of high school, and it was probably the most challenging thing I ever read for a school assignment. I remember five or six of us from that class getting together on a Saturday afternoon and trying to decipher this book together, because none of us were getting it by ourselves. I liked the parts we were able to unlock, though, and I remember some of Socrates' comebacks being very clever. Maybe someday I'll go back and re-read it now that I'm older, and see
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Sep 21, 2009
Den
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Socrates, arguably one of the wisest men to ever walk on this earth, lived by a humility that a man is only ready to begin learning when they have a consciousness of ignorance. Through his line of questionig with the very people who sentenced him to death, he was able to draw out their ignorance on the very things they accused him of.
I am in awe of these historical figures who, similar to what Sir Thomas Moore did (told in a great play by Robert Bolt in a Man for All Seasons, gave More...
I am in awe of these historical figures who, similar to what Sir Thomas Moore did (told in a great play by Robert Bolt in a Man for All Seasons, gave More...
Jan 29, 2012
John
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I should write reviews as I go through a book, for each chapter has a way of snowing under the former ones. I absolutely loved the dialogs in the first half of the book but the latter, were little more then long rant and his friends agreeing with every point as he logically "proved" the immortality of the soul, and i must say his reasoning was pretty absurd, I imagined he could have used "logic" to prove the mood is made out of blue cheese.
What I loved was to see More...
What I loved was to see More...
Jan 19, 2011
Galicius
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The story of Apology told by Socrates at his trial is how a friend of his went to the Oracle at Delphi and asked if there is anyone wiser than Socrates and was told there is no one wiser. Socrates did not believe it when he was told this and was trying to understand if this was perhaps a riddle with some hidden meaning. He goes on a lifelong quest searching for someone wiser than himself. This quest leads him to awareness not only that no one he meets is wiser than he but that his “wisdom is rea
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Jan 26, 2011
Allen
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1. The Euthyphro is dashing and exceedingly clever and contributes to philosophical logic and scientific discrimination and classification.
2. The Apology is magnificent and heart-rending, sublime in its exposition of a Great Man confronting a dubious Court - this episode ought to be understood in the tradition of Greek tragedy. Compare Xenophon's account.
From the near-end of the Apology:
"What do I deserve for behaving this way? Some reward, gentlemen, if I am More...
2. The Apology is magnificent and heart-rending, sublime in its exposition of a Great Man confronting a dubious Court - this episode ought to be understood in the tradition of Greek tragedy. Compare Xenophon's account.
From the near-end of the Apology:
"What do I deserve for behaving this way? Some reward, gentlemen, if I am More...
Jun 10, 2009
Julenew
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There are some books that are beyond "liking" or "not liking." They exist on a completely different plain than the rest of literature. This is one of those books. You don't read "The Trial and Death of Socrates" to be entertained; whether you like it or not is completely immaterial. By reading it, you gain an appreciation for one of the greatest thinkers of all time, and a valuable window into the soul of humankind.
How can one possibly quanitfy and e More...
How can one possibly quanitfy and e More...
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Dec 04, 2009
Ryan Patrick
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I have taught Crito for a long time because I am interested in thinking about the relationship of the individual to the state. Plato offers some intriguing propositions to think about in that dialogue. I only more recently began teaching the Apology, for similar reasons, but particularly for its critique of the Athenian democracy. These two dialogues together offer up much food for thought, as Socrates practically openly mocks the citizens of Athens (i.e. the jurymen) and yet shows the utmost re
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Jun 19, 2007
AJ
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Definitely "worth the time" - Fromm would be rolling in his grave if he read that. Honestly, it is a wonderful book that gives insight into one of the most brilliant intellectuals that ever lived. He is one of the few men that holistically lived according to his canon of reason in both word and deed, even when deed manifested itself as poison.
I love his dialogues with his friends and the philosophical discussions on death, the soul, and the Socratic Method evident through More...
I love his dialogues with his friends and the philosophical discussions on death, the soul, and the Socratic Method evident through More...
Jun 06, 2011
Jeremiah
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Plato has to be the first active philosopher/writer. Old father Parmenides is the only other guy I can think of that comes close, but again Plato was actually active, while Parmenides only wrote a poem. Plato's work is not only the first philosophical system of Western philosophy, but it is also imbued with fiction. His work is literature, it's philosophy, it's literary theory, it's the oeuvre of Western civilization, etc, blah blah blah. This collection is a representative of that philosopher/w
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Nov 13, 2011
Wael
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My first real foray into philosophy, The Trial and Death of Socrates is a good beginning.
He offers insight into basic questions and paradoxes plaguing young thinkers; questions involving what wisdom truly is? who is wise? and what are the limitations of wisdom? As he faces his death, Socrates explains his reasons for living and for dying.
The final fourth, the Phaedo, begins to hypothesize more on the nature of life and death and of the soul, and is therefore a lot more d More...
He offers insight into basic questions and paradoxes plaguing young thinkers; questions involving what wisdom truly is? who is wise? and what are the limitations of wisdom? As he faces his death, Socrates explains his reasons for living and for dying.
The final fourth, the Phaedo, begins to hypothesize more on the nature of life and death and of the soul, and is therefore a lot more d More...
Aug 25, 2011
Jon
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This is a very good, heavily footnoted edition of the Platonic dialogues dealing with Socrates' death. A fairly clear translation, although when I checked it against others, there were often fairly large differences. Sometimes imports modern ideas--for example when Socrates is made to say that belief in an immortal soul is "a risk worth taking," I got suspicious, since "risk" was not an idea that was available to people in the ancient world. Another translation has "the
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Nov 26, 2011
Rob
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I haven't read much Plato since my college years. I loved the Apology, and the first 2/3 of Phaedo and I enjoyed the rest (Euthyphro, Crito, and end of Phaedo). I loved coming across phrases and quotes that I've heard again and again: "The unexamined life is not worth living... is there not one true coin, for which all things ought to exchange?--and that is wisdom... As for me, all I know is that I know nothing..." Amen.
