Socrates: A Man for Our Times

In the constellation of philosophers in the intellectual firmament, Socrates's star shines on on humanity, ranging from academic disciplines to everyday cultural memes, and its resounding decibel strikes the chords with the contemporary minds at its simplest form. It is this ministry of Socrates’s simple but profound moral philosophy for the benefit of the universal minds that has been enshrined in the pantheon of Immortal Knowledge of our collective human civilization for thousands of years. In Socrates by Paul Johnson, this immortal philosopher is hard to resist and difficult to find fault with through the author’s cicerone guide to the streets of the ancient Athens, where Socrates is in his usual convivial mood to speak in public and eagerly invites the reader to meet the famous thinker as if he were a good-hearted, intellectual friend of his. The stratagem of moral education in the form of philosophy is to tame the appetites (the senses or the id) and to guide spirits (emotions or the ego) in man to reach the highest level of humanness, which is the reason (the judgment or the superego). The process of this moral education is civilization, a standard by which barbarism is judged and separated from the educated mind, and Socrates thought it essential to implement in all aspects of Athenian life because it was the surest avenue to happiness, meaning of human life. In fact, Socrates was the first philosopher to democratize the concept of philosophy from lofty abstraction of an academic plane to practical realism of a living guide. In his principal craft of plaint language alloyed with fanciful play of words, Johnson describes Socrates as something of a Prometheus, who translated the heavenly into the terrestrial in the sense that Socrates aimed to educate the minds of the ordinary to live fulfilled life. For Socrates was the one who brought philosophy down from the wondering skies, domesticated it the huts and villas of people, and familiarized it with the ordinary life in examination of good and evil. Socrates seems even more likable thanks to Johnson’s historical accounts of Socrates’s personal traits and physiognomy: the corroboration comes from his young, handsome, controversial, but nonetheless valiant aristocratic friend Alciblades (1) that Socrates was a selfless comrade in battle, fearless in fighting, and artless in helping his battle buddies: (2) that commendable hardiness enabled him to wear thin clothing despite the cold and the snow; (3) that he disliked letting his emotions show on his face; (4) that he regarded poverty as a shortcut to self-control; (5) and that he kept fit in the stadium and gymnasium and even danced because he believed that a healthy body was the greatest of blessings. It is also well known that Socrates was an ugly man with a flat, broad nose and beer belly, especially by the standards of Greece in the 5th century that highly valued regularity of features we would call Byronic today. And yet, Socrates, ever imperturbable and optimistic, was not depressed by his ugliness because to Socrates beauty was not inherent in itself but was by the virtue of its use. It was more of utilitarian nature for practical purpose. Socrates’s way of accepting oneself as it is reminds me of logotheraphy, neuroplasticity, and habit of positive thinking, now bestriding the domain of self-help literature. I have always been a fan of Paul Johnson’s writing style in harmony with his wealth of erudition and fountain of humor, a fascinating combination that makes his reads so likable and interesting. And here again, he did it again: with his customary witty narrative packed full of lots of unknown anecdotes and personal tidbits on subjects he writes about, Johnson tells the reader about Socrates as precisely and candidly as possible based upon historical evidence to resurrect him in the textual theater of literature. His interpretations draw on his exceptional knowledge of the philosopher and the history of his time, but he wears his learning lightly and always writes with a general reader in mind. Hence, the figure of Socrates in his book is no longer seen as the ancient adumbral thinker but a jovial, avuncular teacher who really cares about the lives of his students of all walks of life in this highly entertaining book. This book produces a pleasant banquet of the mind and spirit hosted by the consummate storytelling narrative of Johnson in the honor of Socrates, the people’s philosopher.

When Paul Johnson writes biography, the intent is not simply to recount the facts of someone's life: it is didactic. Johnson is an historian who intends to teach a lesson with this writings, to show us what we should draw from the subject's life, works, and thoughts to better our own lives. Thus it is with Johnson's biography of Socrates, the first and perhaps still the greatest of the moral philosophers. Rather than a dry recitation of what we know of Socrates's life and works, Johnson looks at themes in Socrates' life --bravery; his love for Athens; an absolute commitment to doing what was right and just; and irony-- and uses them to illustrate those things that should be valuable in our own lives, and thus improve our lives for being valued. Johnson reads much into the texts and context, sometimes making assumptions and presenting them as facts because he's sure they must be true, and there is the occasional odd error, but the broad lessons Johnson teaches (or, rather, relates what Socrates taught) and the beauty in his writing make them forgivable. The Kindle version is clean, with no typos that I could spot, though it is rather expensive for such a short book. Recommended as an introduction to the person, to help make the philosophy more accessible.

This book will NOT teach anyone the writings of Socrates, well.. because there aren't ANY other than such as has been copied and supposedly accurately written by first-hand students and admirers. So do not expect an education in the orthodoxy or Philosophical professions of Socrates himself. Instead this is an assessment, appraisal of the sort of Man that he was. It is written so smoothly and eloquently by one of the world's great Historians. An objective and circular characterization of the 'Character' himself, in his own time, by his contemporaries, friend and foe alike. It read for me like a novel, with imaginative, but substantiated, anecdotes, criticisms and opinions. I thoroughly enjoyed the honest, unembellished picture that Mr. Johnson managed to paint of such a integral Giant of Western philosophical thought.

Good. Not terribly in depth. The "A Man for our times" connection is not developed in a satisfying way. Like Jesus of Nazareth, Socrates did not leave behind a body of written work. We know him as others have wished us to.

I studied Socrates as a Philosophy major in college, so I have some familiarity with Plato's texts. I think Johnson does an excellent job of deciphering and articulating the differences between those texts that are true to the actual dialogues of Socrates and those in which Plato takes creative license to inject words and ideas of his own. Essentially, Plato's early texts reflect the true Socratic dialogues, while later texts use Socrates as a puppet for Plato. Johnson does a good job of separating the wheat from the chaff, providing the reader with a clear idea about Socrates the man, his methods and his ethics. Definitely worth reading if would like to learn about or revisit the life, ethics and methods of Socrates. It is a quick and engaging read.

What a great book. Interesting and clearly written. What I liked best about it was that it brought together all of the great Athenian literary and philosophical figures in a way that made it easy to see their relationships with each other. I learned a lot from it, but my favourite bit of information was the idea that the idea of the soul came from Socrates. Interesting discussion of how accurate the picture of Socrates in the dialogues of Plato is--how far was Plato quoting Socrates, how far was he making Socrates a mouthpiece for his own ideas? In my opinion, Socrates was not just the avatar of commonsense whom Johnson thinks he is--I suspect that many of the ideas attributed by Johnson to Plato were actually Socrates' own ideas. For example, the idea of the transmigration of souls--Johnson assumes that this came from Plato, but why couldn't this have come from Socrates, and have been learned by him from the orphics? But at this point I can't prove it. A f'uture research project.

Lovely read

Read the biographies written by Paul Johnson is always a very good experience. In this book he explores the life of the one of the founders of the western philosophy with his wonderful style.

This book, while short, does give much to think about. I enjoyed the various comparisons across cultures in particular.

Good book