Open Socrates by Agnes Callard
'Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life' by Agnes Callard
Socrates must have annoyed most of his fellow Athenians. Little wonder that he was condemned to death by a jury of his peers. He asked too many questions, and he probably asked the men who voted “death”: “What’s so great about the jury system?”
With Open Socrates, University of Chicago philosophy professor Agnes Callard gets to the heart of the ancient philosopher’s mission. The “unexamined life isn’t worth living” is a maxim attributed to Socrates, and he meant it. With no apparent false humility, he confessed that he knew little and was on a lifelong quest to find answers to his questions. Callard points out that unlike Socrates, most of us who claim to be on that journey already think we know the answers—we’re just looking for data to confirm our assumptions.
Being truly Socratic is hard work. Callard suggests that it might be necessary work if we hope to disentangle ourselves from our web of personal, social and political delusion.
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