Socrates

George Rudebusch is Professor of Philosophy at Northern Arizona University. He is the author of Socrates, Pleasure, and Value (1999).

“The book is well and lucidly written, with plentiful tables and diagrams and excerpts . . ..She will have to be a bright student, because some of Rudebusch’s arguments are quite subtle; but I, for one, would have no hesitation in recommending the book to such a student.”  (The Heythrop Journal, 4 September 2013)"This relatively short volume serves as an excellent introduction to Socratic philosophy. Readers who are new to the enigmatic philosopher will learn much about who he was, what his principal doctrines were and why he held them. Remarkably comprehensive in its scope, it is throughout lucid, engaging and provocative. But this is also a book that will benefit even the most seasoned scholars regardless of how they view the author's basic interpretative stance. [The author's] reconstructions of Socrates' arguments for his ‘wild ideas' are invariably rigorous, plausible, faithful to the text and well informed by current scholarly debates. It is a rare book that so well serves such different readerships." (Thomas Brickhouse, The Classical Review, 2011) "A lucid and engaging account of the philosophy of Socrates. ... The experience of this book will be joyous for many readers, as it was for me. Rudebusch's advocacy of Socrates as a thinker who has much to tell us about the good human life is carried off with passion and grace, as well as an enviable succinctness and clarity. It is a treatment that I expect will succeed, deservedly, in winning over new advocates." (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, April 2010)

• Acknowledgments.Translations Used.Introduction. The Ion:  1. Interpreting SocratesThe Apology:2. Mission From God3. Puzzling NotorietyThe Protagoras:4. Bravery5. Knowledge RulesThe Laches:6. Bravery Again7. Puzzling PedagogyThe Lysis:8. LoveThe Euthydemus:  9. LuckThe Meno:  10. DesireBook 1 of the Republic:  11. Benevolence12. Happiness13. FreedomThe Euthyphro:  14. ReverenceThe Crito:  15. World ReligionThe Phaedo:  16. Last WordsEpilogue: Socrates or Plato?Index of Passages Cited.General Index.