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The Last Days of Socrates

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Chronicling the life and death of the father of western philosophy, and charting his influence on the most influential ancient Greek philosophers, Plato's The Last Days of Socrates is translated from the Greek by Hugh Tredennick, revised with an introduction and notes by Harold Tarrant in Penguin Classics.

The trial and condemnation of Socrates on charges of heresy and corrupting young minds is a defining moment in the history of Classical Athens. In tracing these events through four dialogues, Plato also developed his own philosophy, based on Socrates' manifesto for a life guided by self-responsibility. Euthyphro finds Socrates outside the court-house, debating the nature of piety, while the Apology is his robust rebuttal of the charges of impiety and a defence of the philosopher's life. In the Crito, while awaiting execution in prison, Socrates counters the arguments of friends urging him to escape. Finally, in the Phaedo, he is shown calmly confident in the face of death, skilfully arguing the case for the immortality of the soul.

Hugh Tredennick's landmark 1954 translation has been revised by Harold Tarrant, reflecting changes in Platonic studies, with an introduction and expanded introductions to each of the four dialogues.

Plato (c.427-347 BC) stands with Socrates and Aristotle as one of the shapers of the whole intellectual tradition of the West. He founded the Academy in Athens, the first permanent institution devoted to philosophical research and teaching, and the prototype of all Western universities.

If you enjoyed The Last Days of Socrates, you might like Plato's The Symposium, also available in Penguin Classics.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 401

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About the author

Plato

5,227 books7,335 followers
427 BC-347 BC

The Republic , the best known of these many dialogues with Socrates, mentor, as the central character, expounds idealism of noted Greek philosopher Plato and describes a hypothetical utopian state that thinkers rule; he taught and wrote for much his life at the Academy, which he founded near Athens around 386 BC. Platonism, the philosophy of Plato, especially asserts the phenomena of the world as an imperfect and transitory reflection of ideal forms, an absolute and eternal reality.

Plato said that Atlantis, a legendary island, west of Gibraltar, in the Atlantic Ocean sank beneath the sea during an earthquake.

Aristotle began as a pupil of Plato.

Plotinus and his successors at Alexandria in the 3rd century developed Neoplatonism, a philosophical system, based on Platonism with elements of mysticism and some Judaic and Christian concepts.

Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinascombined Neoplatonism with the doctrines of Aristotle within a context of Christian thought.

This classical mathematician and student started the first institution of higher learning in the western world. Alongside his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the western science.

Plato of the most important western exerted influence on virtually every figure and authored the first comprehensive work on politics. Plato also contributed to ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. Aristotle, his extremely influential student, also tutored Alexander the Great of Macedonia.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,272 reviews
Profile Image for David.
Author 94 books1,138 followers
June 12, 2012
When he was tried, convicted and ordered to death in 399 B.C.E., Socrates was already seventy years old: he had lived through the imperialistic spread of Athenian democracy and culture under Pericles, twenty-five years of first cold and then heated war with Sparta, the defeat of Athens in 404 B.C.E., the short-lived oligarchy imposed on that city by the Spartans, and finally the reestablishment of democracy in his homeland. During all of that time, the former bricklayer was known for practicing philosophy in the public spaces of Athens using his inimitable style of questioning those in authority who feigned virtue and wisdom while in reality lacking it. This technique gradually garnered him many powerful enemies who did their best to poison public opinion against him.

Socrates was often confused with the Sophists, traveling teachers who sought to satisfy the public need for higher education generated by a democracy in which any male citizen could be called upon to serve in courts or assemblies. But Socrates was ostensibly not interested in teaching per se: his aim was to uncover the lack of virtue, honesty and wisdom in those around him and to encourage them to learn, as virtue is knowledge, and once one knows what is right, truly knows it, one is no longer capable of doing wrong. He often obliquely criticized democratic systems, and indeed, the power consolidation democracy afford the majority was exactly what did him in.

While Plato has only reported Socrates’ words (and a few said by Meletus, one of his accusers), we do get a filtered idea of the sort of argument the prosecution was making: democracy had only recently been restored in Athens, and certain elements of the population, probably motivated, as Socrates claims, by years of resentment toward the philosopher, wanted to brand his sort of “teaching” (for despite his claims to the contrary, he was indeed teaching by example, at the very least) as destructive to the democratic institutions that Socrates himself often seemed to oppose (as evidenced in his Dialogues, which Plato also transcribed).

But the prosecution is largely silent, and we can more clearly analyze what Socrates does. Throughout his defense he employs a disingenuousness that likely irked his opponents: he begins by assuming a humble excuse-my-illiteracy sort of stance, and gradually abdicates all responsibility for the message he is putting across (i.e., authority figures are hypocritical boobs), by appealing to a deus ex machina device (the oracle’s decree and god’s voice in his ear). However, there is considerable nobility and courage in his refusal to kowtow to the Assembly’s expectations that he’ll beg for mercy, and his dissection of the trumped-up charges is perfectly executed.

The shift in tone after he’s been found guilty is interesting: no longer is the prosecution the brunt of his surgical, nearly sarcastic grandstanding: those voting against him catch it full on as he with great guts demands to be rewarded for “corrupting” the youth of Athens the way winners in the Olympics were. His withering prophecies to all of Athens after he’s been sentenced to death indicate a third tone shift, short-lived as it is. He finally becomes introspective with his friends as the document closes, and his inspiring advice and requests serve as telling indicators of his real personality (as opposed to his philosopher persona): someone who loved his family and neighbors so much that he was willing to risk his life to make them good people.
Profile Image for Shivam Chaturvedi.
45 reviews108 followers
August 5, 2018
Somebody should tell Jon Snow to read this book. Poor guy, Ygritte wouldn't stop giving him hell. "You know nothing, Jon Snow" says she, all the time.

If only Jon would read Socrates, he would have the greatest of retorts, the greatest of Socrates' teachings as his come back.

"The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing."


Take that Ygritte!

PS - Here is some mindbogglingly brilliant analysis of the famous painting on Socrates's death by Jacques Louis David
http://aeon.co/video/culture/the-deat...
Profile Image for Piyangie.
541 reviews594 followers
March 6, 2024
"No man who goes to war with you or any other multitude, honestly struggling against the commission of unrighteousness and wrong in the state, will save his life."
How wise Socrates was when he uttered these words over 2000 years ago. Nothing much has changed since. The disinterested truth and justice seeker is always the enemy of the state. In every state, the persons who stimulate the mind of the populace are viewed as dangerous. If people start thinking for themselves, it is not easy for rulers to fool them. If the governing body is incompetent and is concerned only in their welfare and not of the people, and is governing the land through unjust laws, people will question, argue, and in extremity, will resort to violent actions against the government to secure their rights and establish justice. But no government wishes for this. They would very much like the populace to be kept in the dark, and anyone who wishes to throw light will be considered dangerous and will be duly persecuted. And this is what happened to Socrates. He may be a great philosopher of the day, but he was a danger to the Athenian rulers, who were an incompetent lot. And they promptly decided that to save their skin, Socrates must be out of the way. Hence the trial; and the subsequent death penalty silenced the great man forever.

The Trial and Death of Socrates, although focused on the indictment that brought Socrates before the Athenian courts, Socrates's defense, the unjust conviction, and his final days in prison, also discusses Socrates's philosophy in many subjects. This compilation consists of four dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. Euthyphro set the introduction to the events that followed by opening the dialogue as to what is pious, for one of the main accusations against Socrates was his disbelief in the accepted Athenian diety. The two dialogues, Euthyphro and Apology, make it clear that the prevalent ideas on piety advocated by the Sophists and that of Socrates tread on contrary grounds. It is then not surprising that Socrates is condemned as an atheist. However, Socrates knows that this is not the true cause of his condemnation. Through his philosophical teachings, he was stimulating the young minds towards achieving virtue and goodness against money and reputation which didn't sit well with the governing bodies and majority of society who were advocates of material wealth and reputation. And so, to avoid the future danger of youth turning against the government bodies and influential people, Socrates was accused of "corrupting the youth" and was promptly found guilty. The clever and intelligent defense of his philosophical ideas and his teachings in Apology rather sped up his conviction than acquitting him. Crito and Phaedo describe certain philosophical debates Socrates had with his disciples and friends in his prison cell. In addition to communicating the philosophical views of Socrates, these two dialogues show the fortitude of Socrates. Even in the face of his death, he was true to what he believed. And in no instance, thought of changing colours to save his skin. These four dialogues paint a true picture of Socrates's character while at the same time describing his philosophical points of view.

The four dialogues are Plato's recounting of the last days of Socrates. Plato was said to be present at the trial of Socrates, but he was absent from the philosophical debates that took place in the prison cell of Socrates due to illness. It is also known that, soon after the death of Socrates, Plato left Athens and was absent for a considerable number of years, and so, a question may arise as to the accuracy of Plato's account. But, whatever the case may be, Plato's account of the last days of Socrates's life has done justice to the character, principles, and philosophy of his beloved teacher, Socrates.
Profile Image for Luís.
2,057 reviews820 followers
September 5, 2023
Plato reports here Socrates' plea during his trial. Despite a brilliant defense, Socrates cannot fight the main accusation, which is to corrupt the youth by making them think and question a form of immutability in power and beliefs. If minds change, it threatens stability; therefore, it is urgent to silence this teaching. Great lesson to learn when everything seems to present to us as economic necessity and always for the good of the community; thinking would harm the stability of the rulers still today?
Profile Image for Trevor.
1,333 reviews22.6k followers
July 7, 2007
The world needs a superhero.

The name of that superhero is Socrates.

What do you mean you've never read this book - what the hell are you waiting for?
Profile Image for Ahmad Sharabiani.
9,564 reviews47 followers
November 17, 2017
Le procès de Socrate Eutyphron, Apologie de Socrate, Criton, Plato
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سوم ماه اکتبر سال 2012 میلادی
عنوان: محاکمه ی سقراط: اوتیفرون، دفاعیه ی سقراط، کریتون؛ترجمه از یونانی به فرانسوی: ویکتور کوزن در سال 1822 میلادی؛ بازنگری و به روز آوری: سیلون گویو؛ ترجمه از زبان فرانسه به فارسی: لیلی گلستان؛ تهران، نشر مرکز، 1391؛ در 121 ص؛ شابک: 9789642131822؛ چاپ دوم 1392؛ موضوع: محاکمه سقراط - قرن چهارم پیش از میلادی
روایتی از محاکمه «سقراط» است در سه بخش: «اوتیفرون یا در باره ی تقدس»، «دفاعیه ی سقراط»، و «کریتون یا وظیفه ی شهروندی». بانوی مترجم، نسخه فرانسه کتاب «محاکمه سقراط» نوشته «افلاطون» را ترجمه کرده اند. ا. شربیانی
Profile Image for Linda.
Author 2 books215 followers
May 30, 2021
I do not know, men of Athens, how my accusers affected you; as for me, I was almost carried away in spite of myself, so persuasively did they speak. And yet, hardly anything of what they said is true.
Socrates
It's strange to reread a text that I first read when I was young, idealistic, optimistic, and believed that the expunging of those who questioned conventional thinking was the exception, not the rule.
Plato's Trial and Death of Socrates is a slim volume (58 pages) and consists of four dialogues, the most famous of which is the Apologia, Socrates's defense against charges of corrupting the youth, failing to acknowledge the Gods recognized by Athens and introducing new divinities.

The overall text examines numerous philosophical concerns that include the nature of knowledge, virtue, piety, and the immortality of the soul. I read this work in conjunction with a course on Greek Philosophy. The lecturer, Dr. Robert Bartlett from Boston College, argues that Socrates's conviction and sentence of death demonstrate the distrust and dislike of philosophers at the time. He believes that Plato succeeded in transforming the reputation of philosophers with this text from corrupter to martyr.

It was interesting to reflect not only on the issues raised but the shifting meaning that comes with age and the context in which I read the text. I have recently become interested in the decline of democracy and see frightening parallels in how political contingencies can narrow freedom of thought.



Profile Image for Rowena.
501 reviews2,595 followers
April 22, 2013
I was a bit wary going in but I was pleasantly surprised that this book wasn't as difficult to understand as I'd expected it to be.

The edition I read covered three dialogues about Socrates (Apologia, Crito and Phaedo), who was tried for supposedly corrupting the youth of Athens as well as for encouraging worship of gods not recognized by the State. I've always heard that Socrates was a powerful orator and the way he defended himself in front of the court proves that. Even when he was sentenced to death, Socrates was curiously upbeat and as philosophical as ever, discussing the state of the soul and so on.

What I got from the book was that Socrates was curious and valued virtue, humility and honesty. I can see how he pushed a few buttons, telling people how stupid and ignorant they actually were!


I still can't wrap my head around how long ago this was written. My favourite section of the book was definitely Apologia. Amazing courtroom drama. Had it not been for the drawn-out investigation of the soul in Phaedo, I would have given this 5 stars.
Profile Image for Matthew Ted.
846 reviews827 followers
September 2, 2021
91st book of 2021.

By Thrasyllus' ordering of Plato's work*, this collection compiles the first tetralogy: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo. Collected together and titled, fittingly, The Last Days of Socrates, these dialogues do exactly that. In Euthyphro we see Socrates talking outside the court, in Apology we hear Socrates defence inside the court, in Crito we see him in his cell and in Phaedo we see his last few hours on planet earth. Together: the philosopher's last days.

I first read Symposium which Thrasyllus places in the 3rd tetralogy but I'd say, having now read the first, that it is an excellent starting point. Its subject of love is far more relatable than some of the themes in these dialogues like justice, Intelligence, the soul, etc., and creates a lovely portrait of Socrates as a character, more so than in some of these dialogues here. I read these in fairly quick succession and at times Socrates can become slightly annoying; particularly by the time I was reading Phaedo, his typical Socratic approach to debating became a little repetitive. On top of that, I think the Phaedo is one of the weakest of the tetralogy, despite being considered one of Plato's masterpieces. His explanations of the soul are long-winded and outdated now and don't read with any lasting freshness, as the debates on love in Symposium surprisingly do. To ponder, they are intriguing, but anymore than that and they fall down. I liked the Theory of Recollection but the Theory of Opposites was mostly moot for me. However, if I were to say I do believe in the soul then I would probably suggest that it must surely be immortal, Socrates' philosophies aside.

description
—Plato

Euthyphro is interesting but ultimately unsatisfying as the titular character walks off "mid-debate", flustered. For me, the Apology is the highlight. We find within the familiar arguments about being intelligent because one knows they are not intelligent. Socrates says it at some point like this,
‘However, I reflected as I walked away: ‘Well, I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know.’'

This is when he recounts his wandering around Athens looking for intelligent people to test his own intelligence against: Socrates essentially ends up believing he must be the most intelligent (and besides, an oracle said so too). The mini conclusion he comes to?
‘So I made myself spokesman for the oracle, and asked myself whether I would rather be as I was—neither wise with their wisdom nor ignorant with their ignorance—or possess both qualities as they did. I replied through myself to the oracle that it was best for me to be as I was.’

I found this fitting in a world where so many people appear to be comparing themselves to one another and constantly trying to be, perhaps, something they are not. So I underlined that last bit of the sentence twice: ''it was best for me to be as I was.''

Crito returns to the theme of justice making it similar to Euthyphro. Socrates shows his dedication to goodness/righteousness by declining the prospect of his escape for it would be "wrong". Whatever one thinks about him, he sticks to his guns, I suppose. In Phaedo I find him irritating and his argument overwrought as I said but the final pages (where he takes the poison) quite moving. All in all, very satisifying to read and thought-provoking. Next up will probably be Republic for me, or else a few other dialogues before. Meno, maybe, as it has ties with Phaedo.

description
—Socrates
____________________________________

*1st Tetralogy: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo
2nd Tetralogy: Cratylus, Theatetus, Sophist, Statesman
3rd Tetralogy: Parmenides, Philebus, Symposium, Phaedrus
4th Tetralogy: Alcibiades I, Alcibiades II, Hipparchus, Lovers
5th Tetralogy: Theages, Charmides, Laches, Lysis
6th Tetralogy: Euthydemus, Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno
7th Tetralogy: Hippias Major, Hippias Minor, Ion, Menexenus
8th Tetralogy: Clitophon, Republic, Timaeus, Critias
9th Tetralogy: Minos, Laws, Epinomis, Letters
Profile Image for J.
730 reviews497 followers
July 19, 2014
I wish I had read these 4 dialogues before they made us work through The Republic back in school. Plato can seem so distant and archiac so much of the time, but here there is an actual sense of human urgency: Socrates is about to die. A lot of times the dialogues feel completely neutered from any real world concern, you just see these people walking around, having their abstract little discussions as Socrates schools them all. But here you see those discussions finally grounded by a frank acknowledgement and confrontation with mortality. This is the last chance he will ever have to say anything, and everyone knows it. Plenty of subsequent works of philosophy offer more compelling, accesible arguements, but few can match the pathos and immediacy of a condemned man having a few last words with his friends before he carries out the death sentance against himself. I don't know if this is the best place to start reading Plato, but it's certianly one of the most humane.
Profile Image for Kimber.
211 reviews93 followers
May 10, 2020
Socrates was a favorite philosopher of my youth but also a chilling reminder on the power of groups, the masses who will always seek to destroy who they don't understand or who challenges them.
Profile Image for Amr Mohamed.
874 reviews372 followers
November 23, 2018


لم اقرأ فى الفلسفة قبل ذلك , ولكن عندما قرأت كتاب صناعة الواقع ورأيته يعطى أمثلة لأفكار سقراط وافلاطون, قلت يجب ان اقرأ لهم حتي اعلم كيف كان يفكر هؤلاء الفلاسفة منذ الاف الاعوام بأفكار لا تأتى فى عقول من يعيشون فى الألفية الثالثة .

الكتاب عبارة عن أربع محاورات كتبها افلاطون على لسان سقراط , ويقول د. زكي نجيب فى المقدمة ان بداية الحوارات التى كتبها أفلاطون تلميذ سقراط كانت بفكر فلسلفة سقراط ولكن بعد ذلك كتب أفلاطون بفكره وفلسفته الخاصة .

اسلوب المحاورة فى عرض فكرته الفلسفية اسهل وأفضل من كتابه الفكرة, فالمناظرة او المحاورة تعرض وجهتان النظر فعندما ترى وجهة نظر معارضة لفكر سقراط ويقوم سقراط او الفيلسوف بتفنيدها بالعقل والادلة , تقتنع بها أكثر .

الكتاب عبارة عن أربع حوارات :

حوار أطيفرون : عن مفهوم كلمة التقوي
حوار الدفاع : وهو دفاع سقراط عن نفسه فى المحكمة قبل الحكم بإعدامه
حوار اقريطون : وهو تلميذ سقراط جاء اليه ليقنعه بالهرب قبل إعدامه
حوار فيدون : عن الروح وخلود الروح بعد موت الجسد وعودة تلك الروح فى أجساد اشخاص أخري

ترجمة وتعليقات دكتور زكي نجيب محمود رائعة .
Profile Image for Pooya Kiani.
388 reviews102 followers
September 3, 2015
درباره‌ی سقراط و سوبژکتیویته‌ی زیستنش که بهتره اهل فلسفه نظر بدن. من اما می‌خوام از لذت اعتماد بگم. اعتماد به بانو لیلی گلستان و نشر محترم مرکز، که وقتی کنار هم قرار می‌گیرن آدم با خاطر آسوده، آسوده از مسئولیت‌پذیری و حقیقت‌پرستی‌شون، اثر رو تهیه می‌کنه و بلافا��له شروع می‌کنه به خوندن. چیز کم‌ارزشی نیست. واقعا باید قدر این‌جور اتفاق‌ها و این قبیل افراد رو دونست.
Profile Image for Liz Janet.
580 reviews455 followers
January 28, 2020
Some times I disagree with the philosophical standing of Plato, other times, I love his works. Particularly this one (or the four combined), depicting the last days of Socrates, mostly arguing for the soul as an immortal constant, referring to form as unchanging and eternal, the common reference to non-empirical knowledge, the difference between the incorporeal and corporeal, and the nature of the soul . I am not going into any detail about these things, because I do not have the background required for the understanding of his views, except for the classes I have taken and the works of his I have read, but that is not much. But I hope that small break down will help many people when answering a question at school, which I might have done before as well, when I have forgone my reading.
Profile Image for James Tivendale.
328 reviews1,367 followers
June 17, 2023
Only read the Apology and Crito. The Apology was magnificent. May come back to the other two sometime but unfortunately don’t have the time at the moment.
Profile Image for Daniel Silveyra.
101 reviews3 followers
August 23, 2010
Socrates is a little bit like Superman. As a young man, both are very appealing for their heroism and pristine behavior. As one ages, however, they begin to dissatisfy - there is no way these people could be real.

This is obviously due to Plato's portrayal of the man, an homage so complete that Socrates becomes pure ideal and ceases to be human. He stands for intellectual honesty and curiosity, morality and justice, without any compromise.

This book is about as good an example of that as possible, and as far as comic book heroes go, it can be enjoyable.

However, the reasoning in most of the book is flawed even by the standards of that time. Scholars argue that Plato does this knowingly, so that the reader will discover these flaws and grow as a consequence. That may very well be, but its boring to follow an argument for 10 pages when you know the underlying assumptions are wrong.

Its a good skim - and it actually begs for a graphic novel version.
Profile Image for Đoàn Duy.
24 reviews86 followers
January 18, 2018
Ngoài bản dịch của Lê Anh Minh cho bộ Trung-quốc triết học sử của Phùng Hữu Lan, thì bản dịch này của Nguyễn Văn Khoa có độ khảo cứu kĩ càng và chỉn chu nhất trong tình hình dịch sách học thuật ở Việt-nam tính đến thời điểm này. Tuy nhiên, tư liệu mà ông Nguyễn Văn Khoa sử dụng lại thuộc hàng cũ kĩ và thiếu sự đích đáng (đơn cử việc ông dùng bản Anh ngữ của Benjamin Jowett, một bản Anh ngữ cực kì thiếu xác tín), và cũng thật đáng tiếc khi ông cũng không dùng đến những bài khảo cứu trong phương diện triết lẫn ngữ văn (philology) về Platōn nói chung và những đối thoại trong sách này nói riêng.

Hơn nửa thế kỉ trôi qua kể từ tác phẩm đầu tiên của triết Hi-lạp được dịch sang tiếng Việt, Việt-nam vẫn còn chưa đi được một nửa giai đoạn được gọi là "thời kì khai minh" trong công tác dịch thuật triết Hi-lạp cổ điển (period of enlightenment; giai đoạn đầu tiên trong ba giai đoạn, xét theo cách chia của Fujii Yoshio khi bàn về công tác dịch thuật triết Hi-lạp ở Nhật từ thuở Minh-trị cho đến thập niên 1950).
Profile Image for Annie.
1,006 reviews356 followers
February 17, 2016
Rereading, because I miss philosophy. Disclaimer, this review is 0% intellectual because after four years of studying philosophy in undergrad, I'm unable to be serious when talking about Plato, or Socrates, or Aristotle (maybe Aristotle? I might still have some cerebral life left in me to discuss the Ethics... but I digress. Another review, another day).

Anyway, Socrates. I've always had this love/hate relationship with him. He's like that asshole who comes to every fucking party and for some reason, everyone there seems to think it's his party and his house and you all defer to him, and he just kind of takes this respect without saying anything for a while, but then when he's drunk he asks "So this is a nice place, who lives here?" And this happens at every. Single. Fucking. Party. And you start to realize he's just a dick who humblebrags his way through life and every time he makes a self-effacing comment, you know that what he really means is "Watch this: I'm so great I'm even HUMBLE, bitches." And then when he's sentenced to death, you cheer.

For example. "Everyone, even the actual god Apollo, says I'm the smartest person in the world. .. But really guys I'm not." Yeah that sounds 100% sincere, man.

Still, while totally the biggest jackass at the party, he's also the clever fast-talking talldarkandhandsome guy with sexy glasses and a Moleskine who winks at every girl and makes her feel like she's the only one he's acknowledging. So basically, he's a babe.

In sum, I feel like he and I would have great hate sex. That is all.
Profile Image for B. P. Rinehart.
752 reviews276 followers
January 10, 2016
Since I have individually reviewed each dialogue concerning their content I will be personal here. I obviously enjoyed reading these dialogues. I was not only enlightened by them, but moved as well in certain parts, more by Socrates' friends than the man himself. This really should be the jumping off point for anyone interested in philosophy because it sets the tone and you can compare every strand of philosophy after it against it. Plato did not create [western] philosophy, obviously, but he sure did make it into something amazing and it would be worth anyones time to check him out.

I will always admire the Socratic method even though I am in no way able to pull it off (trust me I've tried), but it is poetry to read. We could all benefit from a revival of Plato in society, but since I won't hold my breath those who have read him can be thankful for the opportunity.

(I read these dialogues as apart of the Classics of Western Philosophy anthology)
Profile Image for Julenew.
43 reviews9 followers
June 11, 2009
There are some books that are beyond "liking" or "not liking." They exist on a completely different plain than the rest of literature. This is one of those books. You don't read "The Trial and Death of Socrates" to be entertained; whether you like it or not is completely immaterial. By reading it, you gain an appreciation for one of the greatest thinkers of all time, and a valuable window into the soul of humankind.

How can one possibly quanitfy and encapsulate that into three, four, or five stars?
Profile Image for Xander.
439 reviews156 followers
February 8, 2019
The Last Days of Socrates (2003) is a collection of four of Plato’s dialogues, all centred around the last days that his tutor Socrates was alive. The four dialogues follow Socrates’ adventures as he goes to court to face his accusers in his trial, his conviction and his final moments before taking the poison and dying.

The first dialogue, Euthyphro, takes place at the Athenian court, when Socrates has to wait for his trial to begin. There, while waiting, he meets a man, Euthyphro, who comes to accuse his father for murdering one of his slaves. The slave had killed someone from Euthyphro’s father’s household, so Euthyphro’s father tied up the slave, put him in a ditch and went to the Athenian court to ask what he should do. After he came back, the slave had died from hunger and thirst, so Euthyphro decides to take his own father to court and let the judges decide if they convict the man for murder or not.

Socrates naturally begs the question: why do you think it is good to take your own father to court? After which Euthyphro ends up in a Socratic dialogue which centres around the question of what is pious? Pious, because Euthyphro tells Socrates that it is good to accuse his own father because the gods approve of this. In summary: Socrates asks him whether (1) something is pious because the gods approve it, or (2) the gods approve it because it is pious? (1) leads to a definition of piety as slaving away at the whims of the gods, which cannot be really pious; (2) leads to a definition of piety as something in itself, something to which the gods have to submit, just like human beings need to. (1) is obeying a dictator while (2) makes the gods superfluous.

So Euthyphro counters that Piety is a subdivision of Justice. Justice can be split up into just according to humans (treating other human beings well) and just according to gods (offering to the gods what’s due to them). Euthyphro answers that human piety offers gratitude to the gods, but, according to Socrates, this brings one back to the original question: why do the gods then approve of this? Now, Euthyphro has enough, leaves Socrates and the dialogue ends.

In the Apology, Socrates offers his defence speech, after his accusers have brought the charges against him. Socrates is accused of being an atheist (i.e. not believing in the gods that the State prescribes) and a corrupter of morality (i.e. teaching the young to think for themselves and not believe arguments based on authority/expertise).

Socrates defends himself in a rather apathic way, not caring much about what will happen to him. The only thing he cares for is to stick to his principles. He says he is no atheist since he believes in God (his own God, not the Athenian gods); he is not a teacher since he doesn’t ask money for his dialogues and he doesn’t teach any subject; and he doesn’t know anything, that’s the only thing he knows, so he could never corrupt his conversational partners anyway.

Many years ago, the Oracle at Delphi told a friend of Socrates that Socrates is the wisest of men. To find out why, he went to the people who are supposed to be knowledgeable experts in their fields: politicians, poets and skilled craftsmen. But by questioning these people, Socrates found out that all of them pretended to know things while in actuality they didn’t know anything. And not only this, this didn’t even know that they didn’t know anything.

So, Socrates pleads ‘not guilty’, since he has done no harm to anyone – rather the reverse: he has enlightened people and has protected the Athenian people from making certain mistakes. He warns the jury (which were judges as well), that they have made a big mistake by ordering Socrates’ to die and that Athens will pay for it. Without knowledge, Athens will not be virtuous.

We see here the upright dogmatists not bending his back in front of resentful, lowly opponents. He is even haughty enough to laugh away the offer to live, by either excusing himself, escaping from prison or paying a fee – in fact, he supposes his punishment to be that the State will take care of him in a fashionable manner, providing food and shelter, out of gratitude for his work.

When in his cell, awaiting his day of reckoning, Socrates is visited by friends. One of them, Crito, is the main personage in the third dialogue, Crito. Crito comes to visit Socrates to beg him to escape his prison cell and live somewhere else and see his three children grow up. Socrates replies that escaping prison would mean breaking the Athenian law and hence injuring the State and the Laws. Injuring someone is injustice, and being virtuous forbids injustice. Socrates has two options: convince the State of its mistake (which he failed to do) or to undergo punishment.

In this dialogue, Plato lets Socrates explain how the Laws are almost a personage on their own – Socrates claims the laws birthed him, reared him and when he turned 17 (the age at which a child became an adult), he voluntarily entered into a contract with the State. He could have left, then and in the meantime, but he didn’t. This signals the willing submission to the State and its Laws. Escaping prison now would mean breaking the law; being just requires Socrates to undergo his punishment (i.e. die).

Again, we see here the dogmatist who feels upright and superior to all the hypocrites around him – a typical academic attitude, which can be seen in many academics in our own time as well. The feeling of superior knowledge and the position that entitles someone to exclaim truths – never mind all the fallacies involved here.

Anyway, the final dialogue, the Phaedo, explains how Socrates lived in his final moments. A group of friends visit him, and are grieved and worried about their friend’s nearing death. Socrates tries to argue them out of their emotions by claiming that they should be happy for him. Why? Because, being a philosopher, he will in a very short time become an immortal soul again, soaring to heavenly heights, since he has led a good life. The gods chain souls in fragile, corruptible and corrupting bodies. They will reward a man for living a life of contemplation, resisting all the bodily desires such as food, drinks and sex.

Most of the people will succumb to the bodily seduction and lead a life of debauchery and ignorance. The gods will punish these souls by reincarnating them as stupid, lowly animals, such as donkeys and flies. People who do better will be reincarnated as social animals, bees and ants, for example. The most purest of souls, those who devote their entire life to loving wisdom (i.e. literally, the philosophers), will be best off – they will be rewarded in the afterlife and meet the gods and other great men.

This is the picture of the afterlife that Socrates paints. But why should his friends believe him? Because of his arguments. Socrates thinks that he can logically prove the existence of an immortal (literally un-dying) and imperishable soul. Composites can break down in their constituents, which can form new composites – hence, these substances are changing, perceptible and mortal. Elements, though, cannot – by definition – be broken down in more elementary constituents – hence, these substances are unchanging, imperceptible and immortal. These elements can only be abstracted from perceptible things and hence perceptible things can only resemble these abstract things in more or less degrees. Plato identifies these imperceptible things as Ideas, or Forms, and the sensible things as material objects, which partake in these Ideas.

The soul is deemed to be such an immortal and imperceptible element, and hence cannot be destroyed (literally is un-dying). So, when we observe corpses decompose, we see composites break down in their elements. But the soul, as a life-giving element, cannot be destroyed so it has to go somewhere after the body dies. The soul become a pure reality, a pure Idea, again – just like it was before it was tied town to a fragile body by the gods. Also, we can know that our soul existed before our births be turning the Plato’s theory of knowledge as recollection. We know things that cannot come from sense-perception, so this knowledge but somehow already exist in our souls before we were born as organisms. This proves that the soul exists before we are born as organisms and that the soul knew much but forgot things (possibly due to bodily distractions).

The Apology is basically one long argument to prove the existence of the soul as an immortal, imperceptible, infinite thing. It is Plato’s finest exposé of his theory of Ideas (or Forms) and it offers us the mechanism by which these Ideas operate to create the world around us and all the change in it. Building on Pre-Socratic notions, Plato explains that the universe was ordered out of mixed substances by Intelligence, and that Intelligence partakes in certain objects in the universe, giving these objects life, motivation and reason. The human soul is such an intelligent thing, partaking in Intelligence in more or lesser degrees.

I can see how this mysticism might appeal to people, deriving true reality from the endless bombardment of sense-experience. Our senses are limited and prone to errors, so it’s very comfortable to look for stability behind all the apparent change. But it is a logical fallacy, none the less – you cannot treat existence as a predicate. Existence is not a quality that objects can possess or lack. You cannot claim that because I can abstract a perfect circle from observations from imperfect, worldly circles (e.g. in the sand), this abstraction thus exists. Thinking something is not an argument for the existence of that something. We see in Socrates, and Plato, still the mysticism and pseudo-philosophy that would only be destroyed when British empiricism tried, once more, to understand how knowledge comes to be – ending in Hume’s radical scepticism and Kant’s failed attempt to restore some Platonic Idealism.

In sum: Plato tries to derive the existence of empirical objects from analytic deductions – something which has clouded philosophy for way too long. Even now, there is much too much mysticism involved in certain branches of philosophy – deducing supposed knowledge from imperceptible realms. Also, Plato had an excuse for his flaws – limited knowledge – and as a creative mind, he was paving the way for future philosophy to ride on – this cannot be said of more modern speculative philosophers like Hegel, Husserl and Heidegger. Still, it’s interesting stuff to read, and The Last Days of Socrates (2003) is a decent collection of four of Plato’s most important and influential works.
Profile Image for Cynda is healing 2024.
1,339 reviews164 followers
March 31, 2021
I have previously reviewed:
Euthyphro--review
Apology--review
Crito--review
Phaedo--review

Now I review the Penguin Classics edition translated by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant with an introduction by Harold Tarrant. This edition contains extras: a General Introduction, a introduction to each of the four selections listed above, and a postscript to Phaedro. The extras are intended to be informative without being arcane. The editor has focused much on philosophy and some on rhetoric. Since I understand rhetoric better than philosophy, I was glad to find some rhetorical comments in the extras.



Read these four selections with reading buddies at GR Catching Up on the Classics. We are reading into 2022 various works of Plato, including The Republic.
Profile Image for Samin Mehrasa.
191 reviews96 followers
May 13, 2019
به نظرم وجود آدمهایی مثل سقراط کمک زیادیبه دنیا نمیکنه. افرادیکه فقط نقد یا سوال میکنن . دنیا بیشتر به آدمهایی نیاز داره که راه حلی داشته باشن.
چندان از شخصیت سقراط خوشم نیومد.
اما اون جمله ش رو دوست داشتم: وقتی یه حکومتی کسی رو میکشه، مخالفین اون حکومت از مقتول یه قدیس میسازن، فقط تا مخالفین بیشتری برای حکومت ایجاد کنن.
کتابو روز جمعه بیستم اردیبهشت ماه در هفتمین کشیک زنان الزهرا تموم کردم.
همون ساده ترین، و لذتبخش ترین کشیکی. که با ماریا و نگار گذروندیم.
Profile Image for Darwin8u.
1,628 reviews8,793 followers
November 27, 2011
I haven't read much Plato since my college years. I loved the Apology, and the first 2/3 of Phaedo and I enjoyed the rest (Euthyphro, Crito, and end of Phaedo). I loved coming across phrases and quotes that I've heard again and again: "The unexamined life is not worth living... is there not one true coin, for which all things ought to exchange?--and that is wisdom... As for me, all I know is that I know nothing..." Amen.
Profile Image for Lesley Brennan.
51 reviews2 followers
September 27, 2021
Awarding stars to a book like this is not hard.
It is a factual recount of Socrates final days, this is worth 5 stars alone. So, I am afraid that much like his jury, I arrived with bias and I was unlikely to award any less than the full set of stars.
I can say I enjoyed the beginning and end much more than I enjoyed the central 50% but this is due to my impatience and not the content.
I recommend that everyone reads the beginning of this book, the trail and the sentencing of Socrates.
Profile Image for Mehwish.
306 reviews96 followers
October 13, 2015
What have I just finished reading? A masterpiece? No, more than that - much more than that!
An experience so exhilarating that I am left with no words. Perhaps, what I am feeling now surpasses description!

You must read it, to experience it!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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