About this title: Stone set out to discover how a so-called "free" society, such as existed in Athens, could try and condemn to death its most renowned philosopher. He examines what Plato does not tell us - the Athenian side of the story - to see whether he can mitigate the city's crime and thereby remove some of the stigma the trial left on democracy and on Athens. Stone cannot defend the decision the Athenians made, but aims to unravel some of the mystery.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780385260329ISBN:0385260326
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. some wear at spine and corners of cover; otherwise fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 304 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Date Published: 1988
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket may have chips and close tears. Previous owners name inscribed inside front. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Good. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fine. Almost in new condition. Book shows only very slight signs of use. Cover and binding are undamaged and pages show minimal use. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"So you think that Socrates is deservedly one of civilization's culture heroes for his pioneering use of the dialectic method in philosophy and for being a martyr for philosophic inquiry when he ran afoul of the Athens city fathers, who sentenced him to death by swallowing hemlock? I.F. Stone doesn't think so, and in this book he lays out evidence to explain why the democratic government of Athens tried and executed him. Stone may not excuse the decision to execute Socrates but he makes a case for why it happened. Analyzing a variety of ancient sources, he demonstrates that Socrates had great contempt for Athens' democratic form of government and continually ridiculed it to his young tutees; energetically advocated an "enlightened" rule by autocratic dictators; did little or nothing to speak out against or stand up against the dictatorial regimes that periodically took over Athens; and points out that his tutees, who were all from the aristocratic class, included two of the main dictators.
Stone also argues that had Socrates wished to, he could have persuaded the jury to give him a lesser punishment. Instead, because Socrates wanted to die, he baited the jury and goaded them into imposing this unusually severe sentence. Stone comes out swinging on the first page of this book and never lets up. He fires away: Socrates loved to poke holes in others' reasoning to make them look stupid but did not offer a viable alternative to others' thinking; furthermore, he didn't take his wife and children's well-being into consideration when he goaded his captors into making him kick the bucket. The book moves a little slowly in some places, but all in all, it offers an enlightening analysis of Greek philosophy, politics, literature, political history, and legal practices as he explicates the most memorable legal case of 5th century B.C.E."
"This is an example of why i love used bookstores. Zero chance I would have risked this new, but, hey, for $1.98, it seemed reasonable.
And it was. It reminded me of just how much I've forgotten about classical history -- inconceivable amounts. (I was really good at the Peloponnesian Wars in 9th grade.) The real use of the book is it does a wonderful job of telling a story of what life was like in ancient Greece. He argues the reason so many ideas are traced back to the Greeks is not just efforts to look pompous, but because Athens was a site of truly free and amazing intellectual ferment. It was a place that looks a lot like we might wish a college town to look like now -- people lived to their 70's, people survived on ideas, widely ranging debate and discussion was what folks did for fun, and people took the ideas seriously.
Now some of this gets loaded on with some arguing about this interpretation or that intrepretation of Socrates, which I'll leave to the classical scholars to debate. Honestly, I ain't ever read Plato's Dialogues, so I'm not the man to arbitrate that. And it can be sort of heavy going. But the vibrancy of ideas as an end in and of themselves, that's what Stone does really nicely here."
"Informative and interesting study of Greek philosophical thought, especially as pertains to Socrates and Plato. I.F. Stone is himself a fearless seeker of the truth."
"The writing is quite accessible. It's a well told story. Not everyone will agree with Stone's assertions, but he makes a valiant effort at showing an alternative side to Socrates."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
