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Socrates in Love: Philosophy for a Passionate Heart

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"Philosophy" means LOVE of Wisdom -- a form of love which this author exemplifies in his world-wide work to spark and nurture Socratic conversations. This book vividly portrays such conversations which range widely and go deep -- deep into an emotion which is referred to promiscuously, but rarely understood. By anchoring the book in these conversations which any of us can imagine participating in, Phillips brings his subject alive in an amazing way. There is a notable literature on Love (Fromm's Art of Loving, Tennov's Love and Limerance), but no previous one that is as involving as this one. Just a wonderful read by a person you would love to know, and do, through this remarkable book.

In "Socrates In Love," Phillips has stayed true to his previous books and his mission--making philosophy approachable, relevant, and action-oriented. If you liked his other books or like that approach to philosophy, you'll like "Socrates in Love." I think this approach is under-developed in today's culture and it's refreshing to see it done here in an universally relevant area: love.

Like any good philosopher, Phillips tries not to convince us of a specific point of view, but to enlighten us and allow us to explore this for ourselves. He draws from an amazingly rich array of sources, employing research and theory from disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, psychology, religion, history, science, art, and of course, philosophy.

As per his other books, Phillips interviews a wide array of "lay people" amidst his more academic research. He does a tremendous job of connecting these conversations with our beloved "first theorist of love" Socrates and with other known philosophers and theories surrounding the different types of love. He provides incredible breadth in his investigations, extending his exploration to numerous varied locations throughout the world, people of all ages and religions, varying socio-economic classes, and a motley array of professions (or lack thereof).

Of course, some of this investigation results in more questions than answers (a virtue, I believe). Is love universal? Cross-cultural? What does it mean to love "unconditionally"? What affect do taboos have on our love/sex lives? How does love change us? Is love reducible to something logical or biological? Can love be rational in the first place (and if not, is it then irrational? And if irrational, then what?)

The greatest advantage of this book is that it provides the reader with both an accessible though thorough academic approach to the topic of love (and to sex...) and a catalyst for personal growth in this area as well. (And all without being preachy or "self-helpy").

Wonderful. Informative. Reassuring. Inspiring. Chicken soup for what ails humanity. The answer is simple. Arete. Ubuntu. Compassion and the courage to express it fully. Put love at the center of life. The price to live so is high. To wit Socrates,Jesus... Not to live so, we suffer more. Here is the core of what we should be teaching our children, as we clarify our own awareness and renew our own commitment.

I was a huge fan of Christopher Phillip's "Socrates Cafe," so when I found out about this book - I had to get it. It was even better than his first! Mr. Phillips has a way with putting things in words. It's philosophy for the average person, and yet it leaves no rocks overturned. I also loved that he incorporated more about the ideologies of Socrates and Plato in this book.

Mr. Phillips travels the world to discuss the subject of "love" with people of all different backgrounds. With every question that is brought up, you feel like you're present for the conversation. It's a beautiful insight to the similarities that we all share: the urge to love and to be loved. It's definitely a must-read.

Make no mistake about it, throughout the course of the Socrates Cafe series of encounters, Phillips has been looking, like Demosthenes for honesty. It is to be found ever and always in the manner in which those engaged in his discourses present their angular views of this life and accommodate the angular views of others. What seems on the edge now for Phillips is the conduct of the US in particular as it adopts a xenophobic self absorption that translates into intolerance, greed, hypocrisy, much as ancient Greece did after its pinnacle achievements in democracy, philosophy and the rule of law. We all know or should know that Socrates was put to death for corrupting th eyouth, i.e., inspiring them to take nothing from those in power and authority on its face value, to question, to think on their own, to accommodate dissent and to consider the world and one's duty to it in common bond.

Cheney would have had Socrates sent to Gitmo in a heartbeat. Phillips knows that and cites as the critical turning point in Greece's collapse that moment when it went from an open and engaged society to one cultivating interests instead of understanding. As Cheney noted in 2004, "We have no time for friends, only interests." Well, the death knoll is sounding and the US has swallowed its own hemlock.

This is a book about love from the view point of Socrates and Plato. Phillips covers the erotic and romantic, the civic, the familial, the xenophilic, and the conversation always comes back to the ideal Socrates and Plato stood for: that all we have is our concern and compassion for each other and the earth we live on. That is what defines us as humans. Before going on his mis-informed stereotypical rant about Heidegger (you and I need to have a conversation, Christos), he notes that Heidegger stated that the essential quality in our being is CARE. It's our karma, our darma, our alpha and omega, and extends to the earth that we live upon and depend upon and the fellow beings with whom we are engaged in the course of our existence.

There is no having one kind of love and not having the other. This is an all or nothing proposition, anything else is Ayn Rand's enlightened self interest (can you say neo-con? sure you can), which ultimately feeds on itself and swallows its own tail in time. The oil industry would say, "Yeah? So?" As such, enlightened self interest is the philosophical underpinnings of Islamic, Nazi and Industrial fascism. Any type of terror you want, especially on an anniversary like today, is fueled and driven by said self absorption. It uses fear as a bit of stick to be put about, and fear is the mother of violence (thank you, PG).

As Phillips and the folks with whom he engages note, they feel like they are in the midst of some seismic shift. So did Socrates. It is the awakening of a broader planetary view that the age of nations has passed. Sadly, those who seek to exploit both the earth and the humans living on it already disregard any rule of lw recognizing sovereignities over their interests. What is at hand as the question for our times is how the rest of those who would effect a reverence for each other accomplish a rule of law that would hold said exploiters to account and safeguard the earth, its resources, and its people for the common good. That requires Love and Compassion.

In the beginning of the book, Phillips meets an old friend in a park in NYC where there is a statue of Socrates. Right in the mouth of the beast of conspicuous consumption, Socrates stands. Read carefully the comments by Phillips' friend regarding the Greece of toady. The oracle hat Delphi has spoken. The rest is up to you.