1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910255289403321

Autore

Drury Shadia B

Titolo

The Bleak Political Implications of Socratic Religion / / by Shadia B. Drury

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2017

ISBN

3-319-54442-X

Edizione

[1st ed. 2017.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XVII, 271 p.)

Disciplina

320.01

Soggetti

Political theory

Democracy

Philosophy, Ancient

Religion and politics

Postmodernism

Political Theory

Classical Philosophy

Politics and Religion

Postmodern Philosophy

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. The Political Case Against Socrates -- 2. The Religious Case Against Socrates -- 3. The Defense -- 4. How Plato Legitimizes the Case for the Prosecution -- 5. Plato’s Critique of Homer Repudiated -- 6. The Tragic Poets Defended -- 7. Socratic Mischief.

Sommario/riassunto

This book poses a radical challenge to the legend of Socrates bequeathed by Plato and echoed by scholars through the ages: that Socrates was an innocent sage convicted and sentenced to death by the democratic mob, merely for merely questioning the political and religious ideas of his time. This legend conceals an enigma: How could a sage who was pious and good be so closely associated with the treasonous Alcibiades, who betrayed Athens in the Peloponnesian war? How could Critias and Charmides, who launched a reign of terror in Athens after her defeat, have been among his students and closest associates? The book makes the case for the prosecution, denouncing



the religion of Socrates for inciting a radical politics of absolutism and monism that continues to plague Western civilization. It is time to recognize that Socrates was no liberator of the mind, but quite the contrary—he was the architect of a frightful authoritarianism, which continues to manifest itself, not only in Islamic terror, but also in liberal foreign policy. Defending Homer and the tragic poets, the book concludes that the West has imbibed from the wrong Greeks. .