A Book of the Year according to The Telegraph and Prospect 'A gem of a book serious and
clever yet funny and playful' Financial Times '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 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.
