Socrates in 90 Minutes

By: Paul Strathern

Narrated by: Robert Whitfield

Length: 1 hr and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

In Socrates in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Socrates' life and ideas, and explains their influence on man'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.

©1997 Paul Strathern (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Well-written, clear, and informed, they have a breezy wit about them. I find them hard to stop reading." (The New York Times)

Excellent series

Engaging if your interested in the subject, expands into historical context and both predecessors and contemporaries. What’s true for this “in 90 min” is true of the series. For anyone home schooling, or for students working on a report this is 90 min well spent.

CLIFF NOTES!!!

For me, I just wanted to learn a little and this does just that. Since these are included with my membership, I have listened to a lot of them. It is a very easy way to learn a little without going into an entire college course or textbook.

Building Knowledge

I admittedly know very little of this subject, hence my interest in a 90 min introduction. So I am taking all the contained information as fact, which it may be, but I wish time had been spent on the Author and why they should be considered an expert on the subject.

Great

awesome crash course in history. Every undergrade class on the subject combined into 90 minutes

Review

We’ll written & read - highly recommended for those interested in stingy of thought and in philosophy.

It's History, How may one not love it?

It was too short. I would have preferred it to be much much longer. But it was enough.

Good Overview.

If you are looking for a decent, overview of Socrates this is pretty good. I expected a factu account. The facts are interspersed with the author’s opinions about various periods and philosophical and religious viewpoints.

Learn more about Socrates!

Thought Socrates didn’t write anything, yet there is so much to learn from him. Thank to the author and narrator! I’m looking forward to listening to more….

Superficial, more snarky than humorous.

A very superficial overview, not really a scholarly or even particularly interesting piece. Also pretty culturally inept. He makes a big point about how the Greeks were “the very first humans” to consider philosophy (circa 500 BC) and then throws in a single line about how they were probably influenced by the Indian concept of maya...completely ignoring how they could be influenced by a philosophical tradition several hundreds of years older and still be “the very first” philosophers on earth. Very parochial. Does have a few interesting anecdotes about Socrates, but overall a waste of time.

Extraordinary summary

I had my 14 year old son listen to it with me. He was intrigued and didn't lose much interest because the narration was fluid and interesting.