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ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY
HUMANIST GALAXY
OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS
PAUL STRATHERN
June 29, 2021
SOCRATES IN 90 MINUTES
by Paul Strathern.
Ivan R. Dee, 1997 (85 pages)
Quote = "In the book, Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Socrates' life and ideas, and explains their influence on humanity's struggle to understand the meaning of existence in the world. The book also includes selections from Socrates' work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place Socrates within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy." (From publishers blurb with slight paraphrasing by webmaster)
BOOK OUTLINE
note = Numbers in parentheses refer to pages
INTRODUCTION (7-16)
SOCRATES’ LIFE AND WORKS (17-54)
note = Parmenedies taught Socrates that Reality was an illusion. (21)
note = Socraties believed in the maxim inscribed at the Delphic Oracle: "Know Thyself". Therefore, rather than being curious about the world, he was focused on learning more about himself! (23)
note = Socrates was the "Gadfly of Athens" (25)
AFTERWORD (55-62)
note = Use more scans starting with page 55+ to page 81
[1] The elusive Socrates (55-58)
[2] The legacy of Socrates (58-62)
SOME OBSERVATIONS ATTRIBUTED TO SOCRATES (63-70)
note = The date codes mean:
"BCE" = Before the Common Era (used to be BC);
"CE" = During the Common Era (used to be AD); and
"c" (before a date) = Approximately
CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT PHILOSOPHICAL DATES (71-75)
6th Century BCE - The beginning of Western philosophy with Thales of Miletus
End of 6th Century BCE - Death of Pythagoras.
399 BCE - Socrates sentenced to death in Athens.
c387 BCE - Plato founds the Academy in Athens, the first university
335 BCE - Aristotle founds the Lyceum in Athens, a rival school to the Academy
324 BCE - Emperor Constantine moves capital of Roman Empire to Byzantium
400 AD - [1] St. Augustine writes his Confessions; [2] Philosophy absorbed into Christian theology
410 AD - Sack of Rome by Visigoths heralds opening of Dark Ages
529 CE - Closure of Academy in Athens by Emperor Justinian marks end of Hellenic thought
Mid-13th Century CE - Thomas Aquinas writes his commentaries on Aristotle; Era of Scholasticism
1453 CE - Fall of Byzantium to Turks, end of Byzantine Empire
1492 CE - [1] Columbus reaches America; [2] Renaissance in Florence; and [3] revival of interest in Greek learning
1543 CE- Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs, proving mathematically that the earth revolves around the sun
1633 CE - Galileo forced by church to recant heliocentric theory of the universe
1641 CE - Descartes publishes his Meditations, the start of modern philosophy
1677 CE - Death of Spinoza allows publication of his Ethics
1687 CE - Newton publishes Principia, introducing concept of gravity
1689 CE - Locke publishes Essay Concerning Human Understanding; Start of empiricism
1710 CE - Berkeley publishes Principles of Human Knowledge, advancing empiricism to new extremes
1716 CE - Death of Leibniz
1739-1740 CE - [1] Hume publishes Treatise of Human Nature, taking empiricism to its logical limits; [2] Kant, awakened from his “dogmatic slumbers” by Hume, publishes Critique of Pure Reason; and [3] Great era of German metaphysics begins
1807 CE - Hegel publishes The Phenomenology of Mind, high point of German metaphysics
1818 CE - Schopenhauer publishes The World As Will and Representation, introducing Indian philosophy into German metaphysics
1889 CE - Nietzsche, having declared "God is Dead" and then succumbs to madness in Turin
1921 CE - Wittgenstein publishes Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, claiming the “final solution” to the problems of philosophy
1920s CE - Vienna Circle propounds Logical Positivism
1927 CE - Heidegger publishes Being and Time, heralding split between analytical and Continental philosophy
1943 CE - Sartre publishes Being and Nothingness, advancing Heidegger’s thought and instigating existentialism
1953 CE - [1] Posthumous publication of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations and [2] High era of linguistic analysis
CHRONOLOGY OF SOCRATES’ LIFE (77-78)
469 BCE - Socrates born just outside Athens
Before 440 BCE - Delphic Oracle pronounces Socrates “the wisest of men”
c430 BCE - Socrates serves as a common soldier ("hoplite") in the Peloponnesian War and saves life of Alcibiades at battle of Potidaea
423 BCE- Socrates parodied in comedy by Aristophanes
c420 BCE - Marries Xanthippe. During the ensuing decade they have three sons
406-405 BCE - Serves as member of the legislative council (Boule)
404 BCE - Refuses Thirty Tyrants’ order to arrest Leon
399 BCE - Charged with impiety and corruption of youth. Trial of Socrates, which ends in him being sentenced to death. Takes judicial hemlock and dies
CHRONOLOGY OF SOCRATES’ ERA (79-80)
460s BC - Aeschylus, the first classical tragic dramatist, at the height of his powers
460 BC - Outbreak of First Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Birth of Hippocrates, the traditional founder of medicine, on the island of Kos
445 BC - End of First Peloponnesian War
Mid-440s BC - Beginning of golden era in Athens under rule of Pericles. During this period Athenian culture flourishes at its greatest
447 BCE Construction of the Parthenon begins on the Acropolis at Athens
441-440 BCE Revolt of Samos breaks peace in the Aegean
431 BCE Outbreak of Second (Great) Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens
429 BCE - Death of Pericles
428 BCE - Death of Anaxagoras, first Athenian philosopher, teacher of Socrates and Pericles
415 BCE - Athens launches great expedition to conquer Sicily, which ends in disaster
404 BCE - [1] Second Peloponnesian War ends in humiliating defeat of Athens; and [2] Thirty Tyrants take power in Athens
403 BC - Thirty Tyrants deposed and democracy restored
400 BCE - Reform of the laws and general amnesty (which does not apply, a year later, to Socrates)
RECOMMENDED READING (81)
Page 81 - scan 2099
INDEX (83-85)
AUTHOR NOTES, SUMMARY,
AND BOOK DESCRIPTION
AUTHOR NOTES = Paul Strathern is the author of several novels, including A Season in Abyssinia, which won a Somerset Maugham prize. Also he has a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Philosophy and lectures at Kingston University. His nonfiction books include: the Venetians; Death in Florence; The Medici; The Borgias; Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements; and Empire: A New History of the World. Strathern is best known for his two series of 39 short biographies about major philosophers and scientists: "Philosophers In 90 Minutes". He lives in England. -- Bowker Author Biography.
SUMMARY = The book, Socrates in 90 Minutes, by Paul Strathern, provides a brief profile of the classical Greek philosopher, Socrates, which describes the highlights of his teachings, and assesses the influence of his ideas.
BOOK DESCRIPTION = In the book, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Socrates' life and ideas, and explains their influence on humanity's struggle to understand his existence in the world. The book also includes selections from Socrates' work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place Socrates within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy.
Just a century after it had begun, philosophy entered its greatest age with the appearance of Socrates, who spent so much of his time talking about philosophy on the streets of Athens that he never got around to writing anything down. His method of aggressive questioning, called “dialectic”, was the forerunner of logic; he used it to cut through the twaddle of his adversaries and arrive at the truth. Rather than questioning the world, he believed, we would be better off questioning ourselves. Socrates placed philosophy on the sound basis of reason. He saw the world as not accessible to our senses, only to thought. Finally, charged with impiety and the corruption of youth, he was tried and sentenced to death, and ended his life by drinking the judicial hemlock poison.
AMAZON READER BOOK REVIEWS
[1] Pretend Person - Philosophy = The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living; Know thyself. Highly readable and very approachable, true of each volume in this series. This book, as well as the entire series, is light in terms philosophical exposition but highly readable and makes a good introduction as well as a good source for historical context and personal stories. In being so thin a volume, which is at once the greatest virtue and greatest vice of this book, there is not much to review or there is simply too much to be said about what is not said. I have thus presented one key take away from the book in the title to this review: The unexamined life is not worth living; know thyself.
[2] Jeramie J Curtice - Brief but engaging = Paul Strathern writes this book in a concise manner that is easy to follow and comprehend. Although not extensive in the accounts of Socrates, the book serves a useful purpose as an introduction to the life of Socrates. The audio narration is a great complement if you like immersive reading.
[3] Will Perez - Interesting primer = This book was precisely what I was looking for as a complement to some online courses I am taking on Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
[4] Jim Slouffman = Great! Helpful.
[5] BarClay - A good idea badly executed = I expected to read a synopsis of some of Socrates teaching and perhaps even a couple of excerpts. However, all I got was a couple excerpts. It is a small book with big print. While the thumbnail sketch of Socrates' life was interesting, the entire book was badly marred by Paul Strathern's insistence on injecting his own scornful opinion on at least every page. He seemed to find fault with everyone's philosophy, except his own. Even Socrates is not immune from Strathern's contempt.
[6] Zac Hanscom - I love the Philosophers in 90 Minutes series = This is one of my favorites. I went to the library one day, intent on learning a little bit on philosophy, a subject I knew absolutely nothing about. One of the books I picked up was "Thomas Aquinas in 90 Minutes" by the same author. In the next few weeks, I read about 12 of Strathern's "Philosophers in 90 Minutes" books, every one the library had. I went to another library and got all the ones they had.
Strathern's books changed my life; it was like going to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and seeing people like myself. I discovered that I like thinking and philosophy. "Socrates in 90 Minutes" is one of my favorites. I went as far as to buy it in hopes that my wife would read it. Since my introduction to Strathern's work, I have started to build a collection of it, one that I hope to have for decades to come. If you want to start anywhere in philosophy, "Socrates in 90 Minutes" is a great place to start, both because of the subject and the writing. Strathern is witty and well-written, and it comes out brillantly in this book, which I think is the best of his small ones.
No, this book is not for someone getting their Master's Degree in Philosophy. So what? It is fun to read and you get an idea of what Socrates was really like. Strathern does tend to focus more on the philosophers' lives than their works, but I think this is the best way to get to know them, for you cannot understand an idea without its context. "Cogito ergo sum," does not seem very impressive when you do not take into consideration a millenium of intellectual thought being stiffled. In this book, you get to realize how Socrates developed his philosophy, how people reacted to it and how people reacted to him. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read something more meaningful than a Harold Robbins paperback. It is fun and it is a book that you will want to keep forever.
[7] Jean E. Pouliot - The Gadfly of Athens in a bottle = The book delivers precisely what it was designed to. Strathern leads us in a wide-ranging discussion of everything you might want to know about Socrates - his place of birth, the issues that were salient in his day, his education, his personal life with wife Xanthippe, and his death by hemlock. You will learn how we know about Socrates, his relationship with Plato and his influence on his day and future generations. You will accompany Strathern as he takes us to the places where Socrates taught and died. You will also find out what a strange fellow he was - bald, bowlegged, bulge-eyed and irritating as all get out. Strathern does a wonderful job of blending the sources to provide a real-life glimpse of the man who gave us the Socratic dialog and inspired countless generations with his unyielding puncturing of the pretensions of his day. Beyond a few aphorisms ("To thine own self be true," etc.) you might not hear as many of Socrates' words as you might like, but what you get in 90 minutes is the context for any future study of this very fascinating man.
[8] stephen h. levee jr. - Too much Strathern not enough socrates = Having a great interest in philosophy, I really looked forward to what promised to be --- based on the title --- a wonderful experience reading this and three other books I purchased with similar titles by Mr. Strathern. Sadly,the experience was a terrible disappointment. One learns more about Mr.Strathern's personal philosophical preferences and predjudices then about the men in question. Most good writers and teachers of philosophy I have been exposed to do their best to disengage their personal feelings and try to express the philosopher's ideas. Unfortunately, Strathern cannot bring himself to do that. These books are not worthy of anyone serious in their quest to learn about these great thinkers. I would recommend Stumpf's "Socrates to sartre" for anyone wanting to know more about these great men in a shorthand format.
REMEMBER ALWAYS:
You Are Your Adaptable Memory!
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