Great Books Grand Rapids

Socrates was martyred for his philosophy. On Monday November 17th, 7pm at Küsterer, we’ll be discussing the four short dialogues that make up the last days of Socrates, as narrated by Plato.

When he began challenging popular notions of piety and what reverence is due to the gods (Euthyphro), he upset the authorities of his day. He made his defense of his ideas and his integrity (Apology). While in prison, a friend encouraged him to be prudent and recant what he said (Crito). Nevertheless, Socrates stayed true to his word and his belief that the soul cannot suffer death even if the body doesn’t survive drinking the hemlock (Phaedo).

Plato is the cornerstones of western philosophy and this is a great introduction to him. Rather than a sprawling treatise like the Republic, these short stories depict great themes like integrity in the face of death. We’ll focus on Apology (16-20 pgs) and Phaedo (25-35pgs), but feel free to read Euthyphro and Crito for the full story. Even if you read all four, its only round 100 pages of dialogue.

Penguin’s Last Days of Socrates: https://amzn.to/4qGewNM
Five Dialogues of Plato: https://amzn.to/48Ti7Sp
PDF of five dialogues: https://www.homeworkforyou.com/static_media/uploadedfiles/1701277447_006494__935..pdf

All of these can be found in the public domain as well, which you can look into here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Dialogues_of_Plato

See you Monday November 17th, 7pm at Küsterer.