SOCRATES is hailed as one of the greatest thinkers of all time and is oftern called the father of philosophy. Yet he left no writing of his own, so what we know of his life and ideas we know from the works of his student Plato and other contemporaries. And what these accounts tell us is as important today as it was then. Socrates taught-and indeed strove to embody-his credo that how each of us chooses to live and die has great meaning. By constantly examining one's life and actions, a philosophy of ethics is born. As Plutarch observed, 'He was the first person to demonstrate hat life is open to philosophy at all times, in every part, among all kinds of people, and in every experience and activity.'
In this brilliant biography, renowned author Paul Johnson situates Socrates in fifth-century B.C. Athens, delving into the geopolitics of the time, the wars and Socrates' service as a soldier, his family, and his wide range of acquaintances, from the local grocer to the leading politicians, dramatists, and scholars. Socrates loved Athens-he never left it except to fight for it-and he was shaped by it democratic ideals and its zeal to be the most powerful and forward-looking city-state. There Socrates devoted his life to learning, because he believed that education, by making one virtuous, was the surest road to happiness. He spent his life questioning and teaching, though in his later years, as Athens slid into civic unrest, there was a blacklash against him, and he was tried and condemned to death. He faced death courageously and, in accordance with his precepts, refused to leave the city he loved. By studying his life and times, we benefit from hi philosophy, for as Cicero said, 'Socrates was the first to call Philosophy down from the skies, and establish her in towns, and introduce her into people's homes, and force her to investigate ordinary life, ethics, good and evil.'
