Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher [Paperback]

Gregory Vlastos (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0801497876 | ISBN-13: 978-0801497872 | Publication Date: April 1991

This long-awaited study of the most enigmatic figure of Greek philosophy reclaims Socrates’ ground-breaking originality. Written by a leading historian of Greek thought, it argues for a Socrates who, though long overshadowed by his successors Plato and Aristotle, marked the true turning point in Greek philosophy, religion and ethics. The quest for the historical figure focuses on the Socrates of Plato’s earlier dialogues, setting him in sharp contrast to that other Socrates of later dialogues, where he is used as a mouthpiece for Plato’s often anti-Socratic doctrine. At the heart of the book is the paradoxical nature of Socratic thought. But the paradoxes are explained, not explained away. The book highlights the tensions in the Socratic search for the answer to the question ‘How should we live?’ Conceived as a divine mandate, the search is carried out through elenctic argument, and dominated by an uncompromising rationalism. The magnetic quality of Socrates’ personality is allowed to emerge throughout the book. Clearly and forcefully written, philosophically sophisticated but entirely accessible to non-specialists, this book will be of major importance and interest to all those studying ancient philosophy and the history of Western thought.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Vlastos is the greatest living writer on Greek philosophy, and his book on the historical Socrates--many years in the making--has been eagerly awaited. Although the main arguments have appeared in previous articles, their synthesis produces a remarkably cohesive and original philosophical portrait. Vlastos illuminates Socrates' irony, elenchus (means of refutation), disavowal of knowledge, religion, moral radicalism, and eudaimonism (the theory that right actions produce happiness). The book displays the verve, lucidity, rigor, erudition, and imagination that have made Vlastos's work a model for several generations of scholars. Indispensable for both academic and larger general collections.
- Richard Hogan, Southeastern Massachusetts Univ., North Dartmouth
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

This long-awaited study of the most enigmatic figure of Greek philosophy reclaims Socrates’ originality. Written by a leading historian of Greek thought, it argues for a Socrates who marked the true turning point in Greek philosophy, religion and ethics. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801497876
• ISBN-13: 978-0801497872
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > History > Europe > Greece

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Customer Reviews

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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating, February 15, 2005

By 

Epops (usa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher (Paperback)

As a beginning student of philosophy, I had to take my time with this book and read it carefully. Prof. Vlastos writes very clearly and makes his arguments step by step so that there is no mistaking his point, which you are then able to judge for yourself. He is persuasive, not dogmatic, but you have to be able to follow his train of reasoning.

In my opinion, it is unfair to accuse Prof. Vlastos of "special pleading", that is, presenting only evidence that supports his own arguments. Vlastos spent his life studying Socrates, and no doubt developed strong feelings for the object of his study, but it seems to me that he goes to great lengths to acknowledge evidence contradicting his own conclusions. But Vlastos makes his points very thoroughly, so if you want to quibble with him you have to have your own ducks in a row.

Vlastos covers the following topics:

- Socratic Irony.
- The "Socratic problem" - what we can know about Socrates as an actual historical figure, as opposed to the various impressions handed down to us by Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon, and others.
- The shift from the Socratic method ("elenchus") to mathematics in Plato's middle dialogues.
- Does Socrates cheat? (Yes, but only in jest.)
- Socrates' religious beliefs. (He believed in his "daimonion", but was not a mystic.)
- Socrates' rejection of the "lex talionis". (I found this to be by far the most interesting chapter, Socrates articulating the "Golden Rule" 400 years before Christ.)
- An explication of Socrates' theory that Happiness and Virtue are identical.

Vlastos concludes that Socrates, believing what he believed, died a happy man.

Anyone interested in philosophy will benefit from spending a few hours with Professor Gregory Vlastos and his friend, Socrates.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best study of Socrates available at present, March 6, 2004

By 

cvairag (Allan Hancock College) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology) (Hardcover)

Gregory Vlastos was the most celebrated scholar of classical Greek philosophy in the last third of the twentieth century, if not the most important of the past hundred years. Virtually every major project in Platonic studies since 1960 has been in some way informed by him. For the reason of the maginitude of his scholarship alone, one really cannot go wrong with this book, in my opinion, one of his best.
What made Vlastos such a seminal figure is demonstrated abundantly in this study: 1) his ability to identify, elucidate, and interpret, in the light of the relevant contexts, the defining issues; 2) his closely reasoned justification for those interpretations.
The book is really a collection of papers and lectures extending from the late 1950's through the 1980's which illumine Vlastos' position that Socrates was "... the first to establish the eudaemonist foundation of ethical theory which becomes common ground for all the schools that sprung up around him, and more; he is the founder of the non-instrumentalist form of eudaemonism held in common by the Platonists, Aristotelians, Cynics, and Stoics, i.e. of all Greek moral pholosophers except the Epicureans."
As noted, Vlastos gives detailed insights into the elements of Socrates' moral theory and method of argument. The famous paper, "Socratic Irony", which opens the book (23 pages) is by far the most informative I have read on the subject, and, as Vlastos shows us, indispensible for understanding both Socratic moral theory and method of argument. A perfect source for undergraduate papers on these subjects, as well.
Chapter 7, "Socrates' Rejection of Retaliation" is very likely the most important work on this crucial subject at the heart of Socratic moral theory and sine qua non for any deeper understanding of Socrates and his "mission" (he articulated the "Golden Rule" 400 + years before Christ). In it (page 198), Vlastos claims: "In saying that it is never good to do a wrong, and making this the foundational reason for breaking with the accepted morality, Socrates must be using the word in its most inclusive sense. He must be saying: 'If an act of yours will wrong another, then it is bad for you, the agent, so bad that no good it offers could compensate you for its evil for you.'"
The final chapter "Happiness and Virtue in Socrates' Moral Theory", is the cumulation of nearly half a century of research, and again, a benchmark in Socratic studies. The same is felt universally by those professionally involved in such work: here is seminal, accessible scholarship on a subject which nearly 2,500 years since its original articulation still imperatively commands our attention.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic whether you agree with Vlastos' views or not, November 30, 2000

By 

Howard Go (Baguio City, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher (Paperback)

A deeply profound scholarly work that is both well-written and a pleasure to read is hard to find, but Vlastos achieves this in this wonderful book. Although i do not agree with some of Vlastos' points concerning Plato, i must acknowledge the fact that most, if not all, of my ideas on Plato were either improved or disproved by either agreeing or disagreeing with Vlastos' interpretation of Plato. This book is one of the best ways for any reader of the Plato to be initiated into the various interpretations of his thought. The various theses raised by most scholarly works on Plato today can be traced to have developed either in agreement or in disagreement to this book. Some ideas that you will find in this work are: -a theory on how to chronologically arrange the Platonic corpus -an influential approach to understanding the reasons behind and the limits of the Socratic method -a theory on how to separate Plato's thought from Socrates' thought