'Professor of philosophy and a public intellectual for the internet age Callard shows how
Socrates can inform the way we live our lives - from romance to politics' Guardian 'A gem
of a book serious and clever yet funny and playful' Financial Times Socrates has been hiding
in plain sight. We call him the father of Western philosophy but what exactly are his
philosophical views? He is famous for his humility but readers often find him arrogant and
condescending. We parrot his claim that 'the unexamined life is not worth living ' yet take no
steps to live examined ones. We know that he was tried convicted and executed for 'corrupting
the youth ' but freely assign Socratic dialogues to today's youths to introduce them to
philosophy. We've lost sight of what made him so dangerous. In Open Socrates acclaimed
philosopher Agnes Callard recovers the radical energy at the centre of Socrates' thought and
shows why it is still the way to a good life. Callard draws our attention to Socrates'
startling discovery that we don't know how to ask ourselves the most important questions- about
how we should live and how we might change. Before a person even has a chance to reflect
their bodily desires or the forces of social conformity have already answered on their behalf.
To ask the most important questions we need help. Callard argues that the true ambition of the
famous "Socratic method" is to reveal what one human being can be to another. You can use
another person in many ways-for survival for pleasure for comfort- but you are engaging them
to the fullest when you call on them to help answer your questions and challenge your answers.
Here Callard shows that Socrates' method allows us to make progress in thinking about how to
manage romantic love how to confront one's own death and how to approach politics. In the
process she gives us nothing less than a new ethics to live by.
