Socrates - John Ferguson

The main body of the book is a collection in English of ancient source-material on Socrates. Plato and, Xenophon are treated in selection, and there is a comprehensive coverage of other authors down to the Byzantine era, the major omissions being repetitive passages, passages dependent on Plato and Xenophon, and passages which are plainly without historical value. Works presented in full are Plato. Apology. Crito, Alcibiades / : Xenophon, Apology: ibanius. On the Silence of Socrates. Apology. Brief notes and cross-references are appended where necessary. An introduction explains the main problems associated with the evidence, gives a brief account of the historical and intellectual background to Socrates, identifies fact from fiction in the biography, and essays an evaluation of his contribution to the history of thought. The evidence is there for students to make up their own minds. Many of the passages are translated for the first time.

Professor John Ferguson is Dean and Director of Studies in Arts at The Open University. He has previously held Chairs of Classics at the Universities of Ibadan and Minnesota.

Britain’s Open University is an exciting new development which enables adults to study for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees by means of correspondence material, radio and television programmes, and residential summer schools.

Socrates is one of the set books for the Foundation year undergraduate course in the Arts.