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Socrates Meets Kant: The Father of Philosophy Meets His Most Influential Modern Child

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Peter Kreeft always informs in his well written books on philosophy and theology. This book, like the others in this series, has Socrates in heaven using the Socratic method on a famous philosopher with both insight and humor. In this book, he questions one of the three most influential Western philosophers, Immanuel Kant. Since Kant is famous both for his metaphysics in "Critique of Pure Reason" and his Categorical Imperative, Socrates asks him questions about both topics, making this book about twice as long as others in the series. I recommend this book for anyone interested in philosophy and for bewildered philosophy students like myself who are intimidated by Kant's heavy prose.

Peter Kreeft imagines a "conversation beyond the grave" in which Socrates, History's great questioner, cross-examines Immanuel Kant on his two landmark books, the "Critique of Pure Reason" and "Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals." Especially if you are among the many people who have started but never had the intestinal fortitude to finish Kant's turgid tomes, this book is a godsend. Kreeft's Socrates is sympathetic but unrelenting, just like Plato's. But he also has the benefit of hindsight.

Kant is one of the most influential thinkers of the modern age, a true "maker of the modern mind;" many of our contemporaries are his unwitting disciples and intellectual descendants. Like it or not, we live in the aftermath of his self-described "Copernican revolution in philosophy." Given, then, that it is foolish to ignore him and painful to read him, we owe Dr. Kreeft a great debt of gratitude for this lucid critical explication of his thought. As in the earlier volumes, Dr. Kreeft is careful to engage Kant in his own words and on his own terms; this is no strong man vs. straw man contest. An excellent addition to the series.