The professor of philosophy and public intellectual of the digital age, Agnes Callard, shows how Socrates can influence the way we live our lives—from love to politics.

A new and dynamic understanding of Socrates, his work, and his unique approach to learning. Socrates has been hidden in plain sight. We call him the father of Western philosophy, but what are his philosophical views? He is famous for his humility, but readers often find him arrogant and dismissive. We use his phrase that 'the unexamined life is not worth living,' but we do not take steps to live examined lives.

Callard recovers the radical energy at the center of Socratic thought and shows why this remains the path to a good life. She highlights Socrates' discovery that we do not know how to pose the most important questions—about how we ought to live and how we might change. Even before we can begin to think, bodily desires or forces of social conformity have already answered on our behalf.

Callard argues that the true ambition of the famous 'Socratic method' is to reveal what one person may be to another. You can use someone in many ways—for survival, for pleasure, for comfort—but you engage another human being in the depths when you invite them to help you answer your questions and challenge your answers.

Callard shows that the method of Socrates allows us to advance in thinking about how to manage romantic love, how to grapple with our own death, and how to approach politics. In this process, she clearly offers us a new ethic to live by.

Pages: 416, Dimensions: 16.4x16.4cm