Book Description

James Rachels's philosophical writings address key questions of contemporary life and the classic dilemmas of moral philosophy. A leading figure in the development of applied ethics, James Rachels became an influential and sometimes controversial thinker on issues concerning animal rights, euthanasia, bioethics, and moral objectivity. This final collection of James Rachels's work brings together fourteen essays that best summarize Rachels's philosophical positions. The essays also shed new light on the depth and breadth of Rachels's work and its importance for contemporary philosophy.

Written in Rachels's characteristically lucid, literary prose, these essays address the relationship between morality and reason, the duty to relieve both human and animal suffering, the independence of morality from religion, the rejection of relativism and egoism, and the role of ethics in a democratic society. Rachels offers an argument for vegetarianism, examines a controversial case involving a surrogate mother, and speculates on the ethics of political killing. Other essays range from Rachels's interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy to his appreciation of movies.

Rachels was a strong believer in the ability of moral philosophy to improve our lives. This collection, which brings these important works together for the first time, is a testament to both the value of moral philosophy in understanding our world and the richness of Rachels's contributions to this understanding.

Book Description
As far as we know, the 5th Century BC Greek philosopher Socrates himself wrote nothing. We discover his thoughts and deeds entirely through the writings of his followers; disciples who accompanied him on his walks through the Athenian Agora or engaged in dialogue with him in the Stoa Baileios. Rather than examining his ideas in abstract, this stimulating little book aims to place Socrates in his physical setting, using textual references to follow his progress through the material remains still visible. The author not only sheds new light on the great philosopher's life, but also provides a vivid reconstruction, through following the career of one of its most famous citizens, of daily life at the center of Classical Athens. ... Read more

Book Description
Socrates' parents have been snatched up by the dogcatcher, leaving him an orphan alone on the streets. Abandoned, hungry, and shunned by the other street dogs, Socrates wonders if he'll ever have a home of his very own. And even more importantly, he wonders if he'll ever have a friend. Then one day Socrates finds a curious object, and from that moment on, everyone looks at him quite differently. Heartwarming and uplifting, the simple text is magnificently complemented by bold, textured oil paintings in this story of the universal search for friendship and acceptance that also works to initiate discussions on topics such as loneliness and homelessness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Marx Meets His Match
Peter Kreeft is professional philosopher, a prolific author, and an avid Christian apologist. He has written a number of books using the Socratic method of dialogue and questioning to stimulate thought, correct fuzzy thinking, and challenge our unexamined presuppositions.

He is now in the midst of a new series of volumes, entitled Socrates Meets.... The series is designed to help introduce the reader to the major thinkers and their writings. In this book we have Kreeft (via Socrates) analyse and dissect The Communist Manifesto.

This book, of course, belongs to that group of books which almost everyone knows about but very few people have actually read. Works by Darwin and Freud could also be mentioned (and one suspects that Kreeft has these authors in the pipeline as well).

So it is quite important that someone who actually knows these Great Books quite well can make them accessible and understandable to the average layperson. These volumes do a very good job of distilling the contents and ideas of the Great Books, making them easy to understand and digest. The format of a debate or dialogue between Socrates and his antagonist makes for enjoyable and illuminating reading.

Indeed, the format makes the book fun while helping the reader discover discerning and penetrating insights into the subject of the debate. By uniting a Christian worldview with the probing Socratic method, Kreeft is able to clarify an opponent's position, and point out the inconsistencies and fallacies therein. He is then in a position to show the superior claims of the Judeo-Christian position, over against that found in their works.

This volume applies solid logic and the timeless truths of the Judeo-Christian tradition to one of the most influential of modern thinkers. It makes for a great introduction to this thinker, as well as an incisive critique of his thoughts. One can only look forward to future volumes in this excellent series.

Karl's Glaring Mistake...
After having approached the economic arguments against socialism (and its subordinate -isms like Marx-, Commun-, Naz-, Lenin-, Mao-, etc.) from the perspectives of Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, Thomas Sowell, and most especially Friedrich Hayek, it didn't take much to be convinced that Marx was, well, just plain wrong.We have the empirical evidence of something like 80 years of actual practice to point to, to assess, and from which to draw conclusions.

Not until I read Prof. Kreeft's work did I come to comprehend the more important question: *why Marx was wrong*.Socialism was not just hampered by a flawed execution ("everyone" says that Russia should not have been the first nation to try socialism), but fundamentally crippled by a flawed premise.And thereby fated to fail.

I won't give the lesson away - you'll enjoy getting there yourself.I will say, though, that if Marx had been right, our world would be a much more horrifying place than any Matrix-like "Dis-topia" that Hollywood could contrive. ... Read more

Book Description
Socrates is one of the most important yet enigmatic philosophers of all time; his fame has endured for centuries despite the fact that he never actually wrote anything. In 399 B.C.E., he was tried on the charge of impiety by the citizens of Athens, convicted by a jury, and sentenced to death (ordered to drink poison derived from hemlock). About these facts there is no disagreement. However, as the sources collected in this book and the scholarly essays that follow them show, several of even the most basic facts about these events were controversial in antiquity, and the questions persist today: How and why was Socrates brought to trial? Why did the jurors, members of the world's first democracy, find him guilty? When he was given an opportunity to escape execution, why did he refuse to do so and instead accept the punishment that he and his friends agreed was unjustly assigned to him? How exactly did Socrates die? Differences of opinion on these and other issues continue to arouse our curiosity and to challenge new generations of students and scholars. The Trial and Execution of Socrates: Sources and Controversies is the first work to collect in one place all of the major ancient sources on Socrates' death--those of both his critics and his defenders--as well as recent scholarly views. Part I includes new translations of Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and the death scene from Phaedo, as well as other ancient sources that shed light on Socrates' trial and execution. Part II features some of the most influential recent scholarship on this historically momentous event with work by M. F. Burnyeat, Robert Parker, Mark L. McPherran, Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith, Richard Kraut, Christopher Gill, and Enid Bloch (whose essay is published here for the first time). Ideal for undergraduate surveys of ancient Greek philosophy and upper-level courses on Socrates and Socratic philosophy, this unique collection provides an unprecedented look into the many perplexing questions surrounding the trial and execution of this remarkable man. ... Read more

Book Description
A comprehensive introduction to the history of Western political thought written by a line-up of internationally renowned scholars from four continents. This definitive collection provides an overview of the canon of great theorists from Socrates and the Sophists to contemporary thinkers such as Habermas and Foucault. Each contributor critically discusses the ideas and significance of each thinker and gives a summation of the best contemporary scholarship in the area. This volume will become the major resource for all students of political thought over the next generation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

not that easy
very academic, hard to read, English is my se4cond language, always though i did ok but wow.do like the fact that Nietzsche has a section though ... Read more

Book Description
Socrates, as he is portrayed in Plato's early dialogues, remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of philosophy.This book concerns six of the most vexing and often discussed features of Plato's portrayal: Socrates' methodology, epistemology, psychology, ethics, politics, and religion.Brickhouse and Smith cast new light on Plato's early dialogues by providing novel analyses of many of the doctrines and practices for which Socrates is best known.Included are discussions of Socrates' moral method, his profession of ignorance, his denial of akrasia, as well as his views about the relationship between virtue and happiness, the authority of the State, and the epistemic status of his daimonion.By revealing the many interconnections among Socrates' views on a wide variety of topics, this book demonstrates both the richness and the remarkable coherence of the philosophy of Plato's Socrates. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very insightful modern view
Brickhouse and Smith go directly to the relevant issues in today's Socratic studies.Following the arguments of Vlastos, Kraut and others, this collection of six essays is both well-thought andinsightful.Theirdocumentation or counter arguments and commentaries is very thorough, andlends itself well to deeper investigation.A great book for scholors aswell as for those reading Plato for the first time. ... Read more

Book Description
Socrates' Education to Virtue argues that Plato's account of Socrates offers the fullest account of virtue and of the place of virtue in political life. Focusing on Platonic dramas such as the Symposium, Alcibiades Major, and the Republic, Lutz recounts how Socrates came to understand the longing for the "noble" and to believe that this longing is best satisfied by the search for knowledge or wisdom. By scrutinizing how Socrates' conversations allow him to acquire, extend, and confirm his knowledge of eros and of noble virtue, the book recovers a powerful, concrete, and nondogmatic Platonic reply to ancient critics of philosophy such as Aristophanes and suggests a further Platonic response to modern critics of classical rationalism such as Nietzsche and Rorty. Moreover, it shows how Socrates' education to virtue teaches him that the philosopher must always respect and examine alternative accounts of nobility and excellence. The book argues that the recovery of Socratic education can strengthen liberal democracy not only by broadening and invigorating political, moral, and religious debate but also by serving as an example of virtue in an open society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of the best contemporary books on philosophy.
This book succeeds in bringing out the very core of Socrates' philosophy and makes a powerful case for its importance for our time. When I first picked up the book, I thought that it was overly ambitious. But I am veryimpressed by the subtelty and rigor with which it shows how Plato answersNietzsche and Rorty. Anyone who wishes to know what the philosophesactually know should read it. It may be the best book about Socrates orPlato in the last twenty five years. ... Read more

Book Description
Plato is the most important philosopher in the history of Western philosophy. This guidebook introduces and examines his three dialogues that deal with the death of Socrates: Euthphryo, Apology and Crito. These dialogues are widely regarded as the closest exposition of Socrates' ideas.

Plato and the Trial of Socrates introduces and assesses:

* Plato's life and the background to the three dialogues
* The ideas and text in the three dialogues
* Plato's continuing importance to philosophy

Plato and the Trial of Socrates will be ideal for anyone coming to Plato or the three dialogues for the first time. ... Read more

Product Description
The problem of Socrates concerns the nature of the philosophy and personality of a major thinker who did not himself write anything. While this fact confronts anyone considering his intellectual biography, compensation comes by way of the particularly authentic sources, such as Plato's Dialogues and Xenophon's Apology.The early dialogues of Plato, who was born around the same time as Xenophon, are concerned with the portrayal of Socrates as a character and a philosopher. It is from Plato that Socrates has come down to us in familiar form as the great thinker with an ugly body but a beautiful mind, a man who was sociable and convivial, with a lifestyle that not exclude the erotic but yet was austere and morally compelling. Socrates is presented as a talker, a thinker who thought and taught through the spoken word. Plato's dialogues bring Socrates the conversationalist to life while presenting scholars with complex problems of differentiating the views of Socrates from those of Plato himself.A biography of the Socrates must begin with an account of the social and political world in which he lived. The ancient world of Greece is the broader canvas with which one needs some acquaintance. The social, political and cultural currents flowing through fifth century Athens are inseparable from an understanding of the events and attitudes that Socrates examined and intellectually dissected. ... Read more

Book Description
Socrates has a unique position in the history of philosophy.It is no exaggeration to say that had it not been for his influence on Plato, the whole development of Western philosophy might have bee unimaginably different.Yet Socrates wrote nothing himself, and our knowledge of him is derived primarily from the engaging and infuriating figure who appears in Plato's dialogues.In this book, Christopher Taylor explores the relationship between the historical Socrates and the Platonic character, and examines the enduring image of Socrates as the ideal exemplar of the philosophic life - a thinker whose moral and intellectual integrity permeated every detail of his life, even in the face of betrayal and execution by his fellow Athenians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Good Book.
Good book. Helps you understand Socrates a little better than by just reading his works.

A Comprehensive but Complex Introduction
This is book presents a comprehensive and very detailed introduction to Socrates. The book provides an overview of Socrates' life as well as an overview of the primary and secondary literature regarding Socratic scholarship. Socrates is one of most elusive philosophers of the Western tradition, given that he never wrote a single word. Primary knowledge of Socrates is derived from the Socratic dialogues of Plato and Xenophon, Aristophanes' comedy "The Clouds," and less significant references and fragments. Although I agree with other reviewers that this text is indeed too advanced for the introductory reader, it contains so much detailed information that it will prove to be a useful reference to be consulted over and over again for guidance.Taylor's navigation of Socratic literature (Ch. 3), although perhaps too ambitious for a short introduction, is impressive and shows the signs of true scholarship. As an "introduction for advanced readers," so to speak, the book is a success, given that it is saturated with detailed information regarding Socratic literature. However, for the introductory reader, such detailed information may be too overwhelming.

Very good introduction to Socrates, with qualifications.
Prof. Taylor teaches philosophy at Oxford University, and clearly knows his subject.However, his writing style leaves much to be desired.He tends to be convoluted and verbose, with too many parentheses.This is fine for an academic paper, but not for "A Very Short Introduction".He is worst in the first three chapters, in which he reviews Socrates' life and historical context.His discussion of "the Socratic problem" in chapter 3 drags at times, but if you plow through it, ends up being actually pretty good.However, it does not compare for clarity and crispness of reasoning with the discussions of the problem by Prof. Vlastos.

Taylor's style does not improve in Chapter 4, on the Socrates of Plato, but I found that in spite of his occasional incoherence there is something of value in this chapter.He does a good job of laying out Plato's approach to the problem of the nature of morality, and his ultimate failure in that project.His comments on Plato's defense of Socrates against the Sophists are quite good,although I've just started The Republic myself, so I may have to revise this opinion later.

Chapter 5, Socrates' influence on later philosophers, including the Skeptics, Cynics, and Stoics in the Hellenistic period, and then in the 19th century Hegel, Kierkegaard,and Nietzsche, was quite illuminating.All three 19th century philosophers were obsessed with Socrates, and each saw him and used him in his own unique way.He emphasizes the kinship between Socrates and Nietzsche in particular.This is clearly the area that interests Prof. Taylor most, where he put in most of his effort, with good and useful results.His style is noticeable tighter and clearer in this chapter.

Those who have no background in philosophy at all should not start with this book.Those who are in the process of learning some philosophy, perhaps at an intermediate level, should with a little patience find something of interest here.Those who wish to have a deeper understanding of Socrates life and thought should, after reading this book, by all means go on to read the two volumes of the master, Prof. Gregory Vlastos, Socrates:Ironist and Moral Philosopher, and Socratic Studies.

This Classicist Does Not "Get It."
Like so many classicists, Taylor's writing style will repel all but the most pedantic scholar.Instead of a book that engages general readers as well as scholars (it is possible to do both), this book is a dry summary. Taylor's narrow, unimaginative approach fails to capture the greatness of Socrates.The book also does not provide the historical context of ancient Athens that is important in understanding Socrates, the most inspiring philosopher in history.Interest in the classics has declined considerably in recent years.Sadly, this book will only contribute to the decline.

This book should not have been published
Chris Taylor has produced an apalling book. Impossible to read, convoluted and meandering, 'Socrates' appears designed to make philosophy less accessible to the average reader than more. It is strange that Oxford would publish such a jargon-filled book as an introduction. Most of the text deals with Socrates' background and his historical context. This is fine in theory, but leaves little space to explain the philosopher's work. When Taylor finally gets around to Socrates' position, he seems to assume that the reader has a full understanding of the philosophical lines of thought of the time (eg. the sophists, the cynics). I finished the book having no idea of the meaning of Socrates' key belief, that "knowledge is virtue". Taylor uses visual language that confuses rather than clarifies his arguments, such as "a keystone of the arch". The conclusion is a good example of Taylor's absurd style: "Every age has to recreate its own Socrates. What is his significance for a post-Christian, post-idealist epoch for whom neiher the figure of a precursor of Christ nor that of the embodiment of the world-spirit in its development of a higher form of consciousness has any meaning?" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Socrates
Socrates, who was born in Athens, Greece 550 B.C., was considered a prominent and respectful philosopher of the time. The author brought the liveliness of Socrates and his many accomplishments into understanding passages. From birth to unfair death sentences, he accomplished more than anybody of that time. For instance, his meticulous views on intelligence (represented by a tree of many branches.) He also held influence on mathematics, including geormetry and alegbra. Then, to the accused contradictory views on the church, Socrates was sentenced to death. Expressing his ideas and sincere thoughts about life and religion, it was enough to put this brilliant life above many others. ... Read more

Book Description
Socrates was born during the Golden Age of Greece. He grew up during the exciting days of Pericles in Athens, in the midst of drama and poetry, the creation of architecture and sculpture, and the writing of literature. The glory of Athens lasted less than 50 years. Socrates lived to see his city conquered by the Spartans from without and by a terrible plague from within. He tried to convince his fellow citizens to examine their own beliefs and behavior. The Athenians arrested Socrates. They accused him of corrupting his students. He refused to run away to save his life and was tried and executed. ... Read more

Book Description
Written by an outstanding international team of scholars, this Companion explores the profound influence of Socrates on the history of Western philosophy.

Product Description
A Modern-Day Journey of Discovery through World Philosophy ... Read more

Book Description
  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

Fascinating.
*If you're a doubter, you belong to a very old tradition!
This book is excellent: it's exhaustive and interesting, the onlyimperfection being that some sections are overly detailed (and thus LONG).

*I found areally clumsy mistake towards the end of the book. On page 472, the author quotes two very different Zen masters, both with the same family name, Suzuki (first Daisetz Teitaro, then Shunryu), erroneously thinking they are one and the same person!

*Read this book if you want to know about your intellectual ancestry.

I Enjoyed This Book!
This is my first review for [...], but I feel like I need to share my thoughts on Jennifer Michael Hecht's survey of doubt because of my response to how she has done us a great favor in putting this before us.
This is not intended to be a complete, in-depth treatise on the entire history of doubt. What Hecht has done is to illustrate the surprising ways that doubt has informed our societies over the past 2600 years.Doubt has led to change, to revolution, to enlightenment and to freedom.None of these things could have been achieved by faith in revealed religion.
Hecht includes the philosphers we have never heard much of, people who lit candles in the darkness and said "Wait, this doesn't make sense!"It is a history of challenge, courage and seeking further answers than provided by our priests, gods and kings.
And it is a survey.It can't be all-inclusive, but what it has inspired in me is to seek out further readings of the men and women who came before us and dared to ask what the universe was made of if not the manifestations of gods.So, read it and keep it as a reference.
The author lets in glimpses of her own personal beliefs and so it is not a purely scholarly work; but I hope it does for you as it has done for me in opening up pathways of exploration that may never have occurred to you in the past.And finally, a brief excerpt from the final chaper:
"People should be able to speak to each other about doubt without having to establish all of the old arguments every time the conversation begins again.Doubters and believers alike should know that Epicurus and Lucretius, the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, and the teachings of the Buddha have been remarkably constant resources in the history of unbelief.So has the whole history of Skepticism and doubt in our ability to know the world from the Carvaka, Socrates, Pyrrho, Sextus Empiricus, Montaigne, Charron, Hume, Bayle, through to all of the modern skeptics."

Good overview, but uneven.
This book has been called 'magisterial' (Publisher's Weekly) and the ever interesting-and-quirky Garrison Keillor calls it 'bold and brilliant'. This praise is deserved, I think, because Hecht addresses an important, neglected subject. And she's hot, in a nerdtastic way -- I love her photo on the back of the HarperSanFrancisco paperpack.

'Doubt' is an excellent ramble through history, and the bibliography gives you a good source for further reading. Hecht hits most of the high points ably, and she manages to pull off the difficult trick of being both passionate and objective.The index is well-done.She writes very well, if sometiimes *too* simply.

I have only a couple quibbles with the book. First, maps should have been included -- especially when she discussed the clockwise migration of doubt around the Mediteranean from the fall of Rome until the Renaissance. Here, here 'hands of the clock' metaphor is a bit strained, and without maps it's downright vapid. Second, she perhaps over-corrects, emphasizing women free-thinkers. Although I think this correction is needed, sometimes it drifts free of context, and the book seems to be about the role of women in free thinking, rather than free thought itself -- especially in the 17 and 18 hundreds. Finally (and significantly, I'd say), Hecht totally misses the boat on Darwin: a few scant sentences are granted him, and as his biographers have compellingly argued, he was a quintessential doubter. I would have been perfectly happy if she'd said something like 'Darwin, great doubter, see other sources', but she ddn't. She just breezed by. Fundamentally, I think she is much more comfortable in letters than in science, and it tells here. (Yes, her discussion of Einstein is better than that for Darwin -- but less essential, and therefore it compounds the omission).

Overall, a well-orgainzed, lucidly written overview. My copy won't be going to the library book sale.

Great book
I was excited to read this book after reading the review on it and I wasn't disappointed. This book is a must read for all atheists, free thinkers, brights, or humanist. It makes you feel proud to know that us skeptics or unbelievers, have a great history of people who have been skeptics about religious claims. You hardly ever hear about the history of atheism and its a shame because we really do have a a great history to be proud of, and this book tells you about it.

PS- It's not surprising that the people who gave this book a bad review are religious people. It's hard to read about the history of atheism and realize its more beautiful then the history of religion.

Rich and beautifully written - must read for skeptics of all stripes
This book is excellent.

The Freethought Society and Humanist Association in Philadelphia co-sponsor a Secular Book Club, and Doubt: A History was the first book we discussed. Surprisingly, the moderator said the book wasn't recommended to him, but rather, he found it by browsing in a book store. That's a shame because this book is such a wonderful survey of religious doubt in the Western World, that also touches on some aspects of doubt in the Eastern World as they influenced and related to the West.

Jennifer Hecht is a historian and award-winning poet. Her writing style is narrative, clear, and full of personality. At my book club meeting we spent several minutes just raving about how much we enjoyed the writing style.

The story begins with the ancient Greeks, then moves into ancient Judaism, Rome, and early Christianity. Jesus himself becomes an important figure in the history of doubt because by emphasizing faith in a way that Judaism never did, Christianity invented the doubt of the believer and the concept of doubt itself as a grave sin. (Jews, Greeks, and Romans were fine with you as long as you practiced religion. Genuine belief was secondary.) From there it moves into Buddhism and some lesser Eastern schools of thought, Islam, and relates them all to how Christianity and Judaism evolved over the middle ages and into the Enlightenment and modern times. Of course it discusses the role of religion in politics, especially in the era of the secular state, covering the French revolution and the foundation of the United States. The book touches on so many figures in the history of Doubt that even the seasoned freethinker is sure to encounter some new names and stories.

Because the book focuses exclusively on doubt, we get to read about all the arguments among doubters, such as Cicero's fictional story of three debating philosophers: an Epicurean, and Stoic, and a Skeptic. Later comes the long line of doubters who go about their doubting with quiet respect toward believers, in contrast to the doubters who view religion as a scourge that should be removed for the sake of bettering the human condition.

In her conclusion, Hecht states why she wrote this book: "The only thing such doubters really need, that believers have, is a sense that people like themselves have always been around, that they are part of a grand history. I hope it is clear now that doubt has such a history of its own, and that to be a doubter is a great old allegiance, deserving quiet respect and open pride." I confidently declare that she provides this. Doubt: A History is a wonderful resource for doubters of all stripes to have on their shelves. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is a rereading of the early dialogues of Plato from the point of view of the people with whom Socrates engages in debate. Existing studies are thoroughly dismissive of the interlocutors and reduce them to the status of mere mouthpieces for views that are hopelessly confused or demonstrably false. This book takes interlocutors seriously and treats them as genuine intellectual opponents whose views are often more defensible than commentators have generally thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Look At The Losers Of Plato
This book is, by far, the single best-written book about the interlocutors of Socrates as they appear in Plato's dialogues.When studying Plato or Socrates it is important to understand something about the person whom Socrates is arguing with.These people were well known in Athens and well known by the Athenians Reading the Dialogues.Plato wrote to incorporate the personalities of the interlocutors, and it effects how Socrates forms the arguments within the dialogues, so understanding the interlocutors is crucial. This book seriously deals with the issue of who these people are and gives the reader a better understanding of ancient Athens, Plato, Socrates, and the interlocutors themselves ... Read more

Book Description