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The Greeks

The Uses and Misuses of Socrates

Dennis Sansom says we shouldn’t be too quick to pluck philosophers out of their own historical contexts in order to put them into ours.

I want to emphasise the value of caution when using ancient philosophers and texts for contemporary causes. Let us examine how Socrates has been interpreted over the centuries, how he has been used and abused by admirers and critics. We will learn an important lesson: we must be careful in reaching conclusions about ancient and complicated authors – especially ones from whom we do not have any direct authorial sources, such as Socrates, whose words were all written down by others.

Greek Village by Paul Gregory 1977

Histories of Socrates

Socrates was born in Athens in 469 BC, to a stonemason and a midwife.

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