Socrates: The Best of Socrates: The Founding Philosophies of Ethics, Virtues & Life

Only wish it contained more info but apparently Socrates recorded very little if any of his writings, which is a shame. I recently purchased Plato's Republic - Plato was a student of Socrates so I'm hoping to learn more via this route.

It is an excellent introduction to Socrates' philosophy as he did not write anything. A good look at the foundation of ethics in use still today based on the virtues. I recommend this book to someone who is interested in early Greek philosophy

Ordered this book. Irrelevant, poorly written. Would not recommend. Returned for credit.

I just got started reading this book and must comment; I love it already. First, I hope the next edition will have numbered pages. Microsoft can do it easily and automatically. I am numbering the pages as I go so I can find pages for which I have made notes. I suspect that there may be more than one author, given the knowledge of Socrates evident in these pages. It appears that Socrates believed in God. I recall that in The Republic he said "the absolutes are the image of God". Now in this book I read that Socrates expressed "the good" as if it were a noun. Socrates believed that people commit crimes only out of ignorance, never out of intent to do harm. In other words, people always wish the best and act accordingly. Socrates also said it is better to suffer a bad deed that to commit one. I hope the author(s) will explain this in the next edition. The explanation given in the book is, "Socrates then claims that if something is worse, then it exceeds in both immorality and pain. Because committing an evil deed is not worse than actually experiencing one then it can't exceed the pain in experiencing an evil deed. As such, it is better to endure a bad deed that to commit one." pg 20. I have trouble following that explanation. But I am struck by the similarity of that belief by Socrates with what Jesus Christ said, "blessed are they who are persecuted for my sake...." We can ask, is belief that sin is never done on purpose or only out of ignorance? Using the Socratic Method what would we find? Socrates believed that Hellene society should be controlled and protected by a guardian class, who would be educated philosophers. I do not know why Socrates was executed, but it might be that the guardian view is that humans do commit crimes knowing that what they are doing is wrong. This would be the common and reasonable view today. The common view today is that jails are needed to protect the citizenry, which was the intent of the guardian class as Socrates often argued.Socrates believed that virtue comes by knowledge and careful self-examination. But even small children who have little knowledge possess a keen sense of justice and can fine tune between justice and injustice. How the Second Law of Thermodynamics Shows that God is Real, by Jon Rod Christie.Socrates thought that the soul could be damaged by sin, but he also thought that the soul is "immortal and imperishable". pg 197 of Republic. He also said that the residue of sin would pile up on the soul, but it would come through untarnished.I am further along in the book and see why Socrates was exicuted, He expressed distaste for democracy. He preferred a "good King" type of government. But where do you find a good king, and who will make the selection. The trouble with democracy, as Socrates said, is, it is open to "mob rule". In the USA the majority will disenfranchise the minority by one vote. Nevertheless, democracy is the best we can get. Democracy works well where the citizens are of one mind, where the culture is singularly united.The book presumes a lot by title suggesting that the only source of virtue is philosophy. In fact, religion is the prime source. Just because religion conjures up spiritualism does not mean it is foundationless or unsciencific. See the book How the Second Law of Thermodynamics Shows That God is Real. Socrates thought that only by knowledge and self-examination, ie, reason, could virtue and truth be discovered. But in fact, his method was circular, in that at no point in the process did reason alone discover knowledge about the moral codes. Socrates, like all people, probably felt the truth in his soul or in his conscience and mistook pure reason as the source. Some things in life require hard work, like getting an education, building a house with your hands, or saving a marriage. But becoming a good person is easy if there is a will and thought given to it (we will become what we think about). Once these are in place, then the conscience and soul will do the rest, for the Lord talking to the conscience is helping and pushing. Why should it be any different with Socrates? Socrates did tacitly admit to divine assistance when he said the "The Word" is a noun, not an adjective. That is, The Word is a thing, a spiritual entity that reveals the moral code to the soul or conscience.It has been said that Socrates had a bad wife, for he did not provide for her and his three children as he spent his time going in bare feet in tattered clothes making himself virtuous.

It is a gift fir my grand daughter.