Socratic Questions: New Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates and Its Significance

Socrates is still an enigmatic figure of enormous importance in Western culture. This book introduces both some of Socrates' own problems and some of the problems about him. It seeks at the same time to advance new views, arguments and information on Socrates' mission, techniques, ethics and later reception. Composed of new essays by different scholars, some of them primarily Hellenists, some philosophers, it illustrates both the variety of Plato's literary portrayals of Socrates and the diversity of later and present-day approaches to him. "Socratic Questions" thus confronts the difficulties, philosophical and biographical, presented by dialogue such as "Protagoras and Crito" and by the "Apology of Socrates". From civil disobedience to ethics, this collection sets out to provide stimulating discussions of Socrates' life, thought and historical significance.