Xenophons Socratic Discourse [Hardcover]

Leo Strauss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 1998

Xenophon's only true Socratic discourse, the Oeconomicus, is a dialogue between Socrates and a gentleman-farmer on the art of household management and the art of farming as practiced on a gentleman's estate. It is generally acknowledged to be the oldest surviving work devoted to "economics," and it constitutes the classic statement of "economic" thought in ancient Greece. The dialogue examines the roles of husband and wife in the household and the division of labor between them, and considers the duties of the farm steward and the housekeeper. It discusses the goals of efficient management and the means for attaining these goals.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A sufficient understanding of Strauss' interpretation would necessitate a capacity for both the Socratic life and a careful reading of the Oeconomicus and Xenophon's other works. No contemporary scholar meets these requirements so well as Mr. Strauss." -- Harry Neumann, Journal of the History of Philosophy

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: St. Augustines Press; 1 edition (January 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890318965
• ISBN-13: 978-1890318963
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,630,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Strangeness of Ancient Household Management, July 11, 2003

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Christopher Kirk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Xenophons Socratic Discourse (Hardcover)

Allan Bloom, Strauss's most famous and perhaps most brilliant student, once stated that we do not understand Plato because we do not understand Xenophon, who to us seems a fool but to older thinkers seemed wise. Xenophon is far simpler than Plato, and in my experience his books are good introductions to the world of Socratic philosophy. However Xenophon's works are often on topics one might consider prosaic from the standpoint of high philosophy. Besides his more famous works on the Persian emperor Cyrus, Xenophon wrote treatises on hunting, horsemanship, and running a family household.

Interestingly, this last book, the Oeconomicus, is a Socratic work; in it Xenophon presents Socrates speaking with a country gentleman, Kritobulus, about running a family and a large farm. Financial arrangements, relations with the city, the benefits and difficulties of rural plantation life, finding good overseers, and the role of the wife and children in maintaining one's household are all discussed here. On a surface level, then, the book seems to be less about economics and more about economizing or family budgeting. Because Socrates is presented in Plato's works as not much of a family man or as a lover of the country living (Socrates hardly ever goes outside the city of Athens except under compulsion), his interest in Kritobulus' life is unexpected and peculiar to say the least.

I came to this book because the family seems a great rival to the city as a way of living for people, but Plato's Socrates hardly investigates it. The family is dissolved in Plato's Republic, and no dialogue of Plato's deals directly with the family or the country household. To him, it seems, city life is where the action is. By contrast, the Hebrew Bible seems almost entirely concerned with the fortunes of families, or rather the premier family, the children of Israel and their heavenly Father Jehovah. I had gotten a taste of the Bible's rejection/ignorance of philosophy and cities, so I wanted to know what the quintessential representative of philosopy--Socrates--thought about the family. Plato helped me little, so I turned to Xenophon's Oeconomicus. I won't tell you what I found out, but it was amazing how much insight I gained into the Bible from reading Xenophon's little book on household management.