Okay folks. Another book bites the dust as we power towards the end of this year’s reading challenge. The Last Days of Socrates is a collection of four short books. They cover the philosophy of Socrates in the lead up to his execution and death by hemlock poison. It’s a critical part of Western classical literature, but that high honour comes with some heavy content to get through.
Plot summary
Given this is four different books and it is nonfiction, there isn’t a consistent plot per se. All books are laid out in dialogue format, so it reads a bit like a play. It reads as the back and forth between Socrates, his enemies and his followers.
The first book deals with the question of whether things are good or just because the gods love them, or whether the gods love what is good and just. That’s a huge topic, covering the nature of good and evil and what makes something good or bad.
The second is Socrates’ defence and final words at his trial. He is found guilty of corrupting the youth with his novel ideas about gods and virtue. This section deals with his defence of his actions, detailing why he continues to teach and why he is innocent. It ends with his final words at the trial, after he is found guilty.
The third and fourth books are when Socrates is in prison. The third book goes through why Socrates refuses to escape from prison, and touches on why laws are important. In the final book, Socrates dies, but before he does so they discuss in depth the nature of the human soul and the afterlife, as well as what the earth and universe are.
Socrates is absolutely an important book
I will start by saying that this collection is without doubt an important book in Western literature and philosophical thought. I was impressed by the depth of knowledge he expressed, especially when you consider he is living in a pre-Christian society and has limited scientific ability. Socrates argues his first principles clearly and logically.
I honestly think it would be hard to read these books and not believe that there is a God, and that you have a soul. Perhaps I’m biased, but I feel that if you read this with an open mind, you would walk away convinced that this must be the case.
It is a loss to our society that these books are no longer widely studied. Learning argumentation and logic from the greats is a skill sadly lacking today, and a return to the study of these classics would go a long way to augmenting that.
Just not my cup of tea
That said, I can honestly say that The Last Days of Socrates was not my cup of tea. It’s a really dense read, not easy to absorb after a long day on the tools. I also found the personality of Socrates jarring. He came across as arrogant when he put people on the spot and tore their arguments to shreds. I know he was right, but did he have to be so ruthless about it?
I did find that he became more gentle as the book went on. Perhaps it was due to his impending death)? While I was impressed by his calm acceptance of death, I found his gnostic approach to the body a little jarring.
There was also a lot of revisiting arguments, to restate them before going on to the next point. While necessary for the flow of logic and idea development, it’s not that easy to read.
This is a book that I think people should ready and study, but it’s not one that I personally found particularly engrossing or entertaining. I’m pretty relieved this one is finished!
Part of this relief is because I still have quite a few hefty books to finish this year. I didn’t pay enough attention to my pages counts this year! Dante is almost finished, but it turns out that The Woman in White and The First Circle are BEASTS. The other books, while not as huge, are still not short. It’s going to be a push to the end folks! Luckily, I’m already enjoying my next book more and looking forward to getting into something a little more ‘me’ as we head into the home stretch.
