Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek philosopher Socrates, acknowledged as one of the founders of Western philosophy. Born in 469 BC into the golden age of the city of Athens, he has profoundly influenced philosophy ever since. In fact, his impact is so profound that all the thinkers who went before are simply known as pre-Socratic.In person Socrates was deliberately irritating, he was funny and he was rude; he didn’t like democracy very much and spent quite a lot of time in shoe shops. He claimed he was on a mission from God to educate his fellow Athenians but has left us nothing in his own hand because he refused to write anything down. With Angie Hobbs, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Warwick University; David Sedley, Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University; Paul Millett, Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
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| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast. |
| 0:39.0 | For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy |
| 0:46.5 | the program. Hello of all the names in ancient philosophy Socrates is the most intriguing |
| 0:52.4 | born in 469 BC into the golden age of the city of Athens |
| 0:57.6 | his impact is so profound that all the thinkers who went before are simply known as |
| 1:02.1 | pre-Socratic. |
| 1:03.6 | In person, Socrates seems to be deliberately irritating. |
| 1:07.0 | He was funny and he was rude. |
| 1:08.7 | He didn't like democracy and spent a lot of time in the marketplace |
| 1:11.9 | at costing citizens with questions such as |
| 1:14.0 | what is courage or virtue or knowledge. He claimed he was on a mission from God to educate his fellow |
| 1:18.9 | Athenians, but he's left us nothing in his own hand because he refused to write anything down. |
| 1:23.7 | Plato, his pupil, wrote about and for him, and in doing so provided the pillar of Western philosophy. |
| 1:29.7 | With me to discuss the elusive and mercurial Socrates at David Sedley, Lawrence Professor of Ancient |
| 1:35.2 | Philosophy at Cambridge University, Angie Hobbs, Associate Professor at Philosophy at Warwick University |
| 1:40.5 | and Paul Miller, Senior Lecture in Classics at the University of Cambridge. |
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