Biography of Socrates

(Since the first piece is really Socrates, I think it makes sense to look at him rather than the actual author, Plato.)

We don't really know much about Socrates. Or at least most of what we know is from the writings of his students.

Plato is frequently viewed as the most informative source about Socrates'
life and philosophy.[5] At the same
time, however, many scholars believe that in some works Plato, being a literary
artist, pushed his avowedly brightened-up version of "Socrates" far beyond
anything the historical Socrates was likely to have done or said; and that
Xenophon, being an historian, is a more reliable witness to the historical
Socrates. It is a matter of much debate which Socrates Plato is describing at
any given point—the historical figure, or Plato's fictionalization

He was a teacher, that we know. And from him we get the teaching method of asking questions so as to engage the subject more fully. He is widely viewed as a critic of the leaders of Athens and from him we get the concept of the 'gadfly'.
Socrates, through his students, laid the groundwork for much of Western Philosophy and in that sense is an excellent place to start.

A Note on Socrates

The first piece is a pair of writings have to do with the trial of Socrates. 'The Apology' is the defense that Socrates puts forth at court and 'Crito' is a dialouge that takes place as he is waiting for sentence to be carried out. There is a third piece, 'Phaedo', which concerns Socrates last day. It doesn't pop up in this list until January of year five. If you want to read it now for a more full understanding and keep some notes for future use, be my guest.

Meanwhile, I'm having a devil of a time understanding Socrates motivations. Not that he doesn't put them out there in plain text, it's just that . . . well, they're hard to believe. Maybe I'm just having trouble getting my modern brain around his ethical judgments.
All of which means that I'm really looking forward to the discussion time!

Author Timeline

BC
Aristophanes 446 - 386
Plato 424? - 348?
Aristotle 384 - 322

AD
Plutarch 46 - 120
Gospel of Matthew, Acts of the Apostles (around the end of the first century)
St. Augistine 354 - 430
Machiavelli 1469 - 1527
Rabelais 1494 - 1553
Montaigne 1533 - 1592
Shakespeare 1564 - 1616
Locke 1632 - 1704
Rousseau 1712 - 1778
Gibbon 1737 - 1794
Declaration of Independence - 1776
The Constitution of the US - 1787
Federalist Papers 1787 -1788
Smith 1723 - 1790
Marx/Engles 1818 - 1883/1820 - 1895

January Reading

January

Plato: 'Apology' and 'Crito' Kindle/Nook/Google
Aristophanes: 'Clouds' and 'Lysistrata' Kindle/Nook/Google,Google

Kickoff Tomorrow

Tomorrow the reading plan starts. Based on my reading ahead, I'm pretty excited!

Year One, January Reading

January

Plato: 'Apology' and 'Crito' Kindle/Nook/Google
Aristophanes: 'Clouds' and 'Lysistrata' Kindle/Nook/Google,Google

Four Questions

Since I mentioned Adler's 'Four Questions' I should probably actually write about what they are. These are the questions that an active reader should be asking. (Adler had more questions and rules than this but I think this is a good place to start. Maybe the others should be added too. We'll see.)

First question: What is the book about as a whole? In which we try to 'discover the leading theme of the book, and how the author develops this theme in an orderly way by sudividing it into its essential subordinate themes or topics'.

Second question: What is being said in detail, ahd how? In which we try to 'discover the main ideas, assertions, and arguments that constitute the author's particular message'.

Third question: Is the book true in whole or part? A big meaty question in which you judge the validty of the theme and the arguments made to support it.

Fourth question: What of it? The meatiest question of them all. How significant was this? And were you informed or even enlightened?

And there they are. The other rules are a bit more technical in terms of how you 'own' the book. They have to do with understanding key words and finding the important arguments. I will note the eighth rule: 'Determine which of his problems the author has solved and which he has not; and as to the latter decide which the author knew he had failed to solve.' That seems like a useful approach as well.