What Would Socrates Say?

Product Overview

The greatest teacher of philosophy in all of history was Socrates, according to philosopher Peter Kreeft. In 2,400 years, no one has topped him or his Socratic method, teaching not by monologue, but by dialogue; not by lecturing, but by logical questioning. Yet of the hundreds of textbooks for beginning philosophers today, none uses his method.

Kreeft has imagined Socrates University: a log, with Socrates at one end and a typical intelligent modern student beginner at the other, conversing about the problems at the heart of each major division of philosophy.

Nothing teaches more effectively than concrete examples and apprenticeship. Like the real Socrates, this fictionalized version by Kreeft is grounded in common sense and commonsense logic, fair and open-minded on all issues but demanding good reasons for every opinion.

Editorial Reviews

“Even though I’ve never taken a class from Peter Kreeft, I have been a student of his since I came across his books when I was an undergraduate. He taught me how to think like a philosopher. This book provides us with the sort of accessible, rigorous, and eminently readable introduction to philosophy that drew me to his work decades ago. I cannot wait to use it as a required text in my own introductory course.”
—Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy, Baylor University

“Aristotle argued that philosophy was inevitable, because even to ask whether philosophy was inevitable was to engage in philosophy. Now comes Professor Kreeft showing how all the big questions in philosophy arise inevitably—and some big answers too. This delightful book will help not simply students but also teachers rediscover the intellectual curiosity they had as a child.”
—Michael Pakaluk, Professor of Ethics and Social Philosophy, The Catholic University of America

“Kreeft’s long experience as a scholar, thinker, and teacher is evident throughout these lively conversations between the immortal Socrates and we mere mortals, who are intrigued by the possibilities of knowing the truth and loving wisdom. This book merits careful and multiple readings and would work well as a conversation starter in classrooms.”
—Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J., Author, Real Philosophy for Real People

“Lots of people have written phony Socratic dialogues. Since Socrates, hardly anyone gives us the real thing – but Kreeft does. There is nothing stiff or ‘cooked’ about these dialogues. They aren’t treatises or polemics in disguise, but quests for the legendary beast called truth. Though fun to read, they require courage too, because they follow the arguments wherever they lead. Like diving into the ocean and swimming with all your might, you don’t know where you’re going until you get there. Philosophy began in dialogue; why shouldn’t philosophical beginners read dialogue? Wonderful stuff.”
—J. Budziszewski, Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas, Austin; Author, What We Can’t Not Know

Reviews

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5
Socrates would say this is an excellent book

Posted by Charles Schmidt on Aug 15th 2024

Peter Kreeft has taught philosophy to students at Boston College for 60 years and he has written this book as a clear and interesting introduction to philosophy. This is the 106th book he has written, all of which are quite good, and this is one of his best. What Would Socrates Say? introduces the reader to the major areas and topics of philosophy. A philosophy book should teach wisdom, and this book does. Here are some of the pearls of wisdom contained in this delightful book: Many philosophy books list the first principles of ethics, which are (1) do good and avoid evil, (2) seek truth and shun lies, and (3) seek beauty and avoid ugliness. Kreeft points out the second most basic principle of ethics, which is to love your neighbor as yourself, as Jesus taught. Also in ethics, moral knowledge requires knowing the true end, the true good, the true purpose of things, and that end was created by God. You can’t have real moral knowledge without knowing God’s purpose, and that moral knowledge can only come from Divine Revelation. In ethics, most moral absolutists see moral relativism as inhuman and disastrous for human happiness. In epistemology, Kreeft lists the law of non-contradiction and the principle of causality as first principles of knowledge. He also adds the principle of intelligibility, that reality is knowable and that we can know reality. The intelligibility of reality can be deduced from another first principle of epistemology, which is the principle of sufficient reason. Causality relates everything in the universe to everything else and makes everything intelligible. People sometimes confuse knowledge and opinion. Kreeft points out that knowledge is justified true belief held with confidence because it is highly probable. Knowledge can be highly probable and need not be 100% certain to be knowledge. Also, we know things that we can’t prove. For example, when we testify about something we experienced and are sure of, we know what happened, but we may not be able to prove that our testimony is true.] In the philosophy of religion, Kreeft points out that the principle of causality suggests that only intelligence can produce intelligence or intelligent thought or intelligent designs. Therefore, since there is intelligence in our universe, this suggests that whatever created our universe was highly intelligent and a person. In metaphysics, one argument against materialism is that materialism cannot explain the following data: Abstraction, and understanding, and moral choice, and self-consciousness, and our experience of our body obeying our thought and will, and out-of-the-body experiences, and the very idea of mind as distinct from matter. In addition to these 7 items of direct experience, materialism cannot explain purpose, qualia, truth or goodness. Hopefully, this short summary of What Would Socrates Say? has shown that this is a superb philosophy book. Socrates would say that this is an excellent introduction to philosophy.