Plato's dialogues show Socrates at different ages, beginning when he was about nineteen and already deeply immersed in philosophy and ending with his execution five decades later. By presenting this model philosopher across a fifty-year span of his life, Plato leads his readers to wonder: Does that time period correspond to the development of Socrates' thought? In this magisterial investigation of the evolution of Socrates' philosophy, Laurence Lampert answers in the affirmative. The chronological route that Plato maps for us, Lampert argues, reveals the enduring record of philosophy as it gradually took the form that came to dominate the life of the mind in the West. The reader accompanies Socrates as he breaks with the century-old tradition of philosophy, turns to his own path, gradually enters into a deeper understanding of nature and human nature, and discovers the successful way to transmit his wisdom to the wider world. Focusing on the final and most prominent step in that process and offering detailed textual analysis of Plato's "Protagoras, Charmides, and Republic", "How Philosophy Became Socratic" charts Socrates' gradual discovery of a proper politics to shelter and advance philosophy.

About the Author
Laurence Lampert is emeritus professor of philosophy at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis. He is the author of four other books, including Leo Strauss and Nietzsche, also published by the University of Chicago Press, and Nietzsche and Modern Times: A Study of Bacon, Descartes, and Nietzsche.

Reviews
"This book offers an extraordinarily rich, illuminating, thought-provoking, and original account of Protagoras, Charmides, and the Republic in particular and of Socrates's thought as a whole. Even - and especially - when one disagrees with this stimulating and daring work, one learns a great deal from it. It is a remarkably ambitious book, one that attempts to put forth an interpretation of Plato's entire corpus and its role in Western civilization." (Peter Ahrensdorf, Davidson College)"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226006284
Author Laurence Lampert
Format Paperback
Page Count 452
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 652g
Dimensions(mm) 23mm * 16mm * 3mm