The Socratic Individual
eBook - ePub

The Socratic Individual

Philosophy, Faith, and Freedom in a Democratic Age

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Socratic Individual

Philosophy, Faith, and Freedom in a Democratic Age

About this book

The author explores the recovery of Socratic philosophy in the political thought of G.W.F. Hegel, Soren Kierkegaard, John Stuart Mill, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Ward identifies the cause of the renewed interest in Socrates in Hegel's call for the absorption of the individual within the modern, liberal state and the concomitant claim that Socratic skepticism should cease because history has reached its end and perfection. Recoiling from Hegel's attempt to chain the individual within the "cave," nineteenth century thinkers push back against his deification of the state. Yet, underlying Kierkegaard, Mill and Nietzsche's turn to Socrates is their acceptance of Hegel's critique of the liberal conception of the rights-bearing individual. Like Hegel, they agree that such an individual is an unworthy competitor to the state. In search of a noble individual to hold up against the state and counter the belief in the "end" of history, Kierkegaard, Mill and Nietzsche bring back and transform Socrates in significant ways. For Kierkegaard the Socratic philosopher in modern times is the person of faith, for Mill the public intellectual whose idiosyncratic identity arises from the freedom of speech, and for Nietzsche the Dionysian artist. Each model the beauty of individuality in our democratic age.

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Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. The Recovery of Socrates in Nineteenth-Century Political Thought
  4. Socrates, Democracy, and the End of History
  5. Abraham and Socrates
  6. Socrates and the God
  7. Socrates and the Search for Individuality
  8. Socrates and Dionysus
  9. Socrates, Democracy, and the End of Man
  10. The Socratic Soul in a Democratic Age
  11. Bibliography
  12. Index
  13. About the Author

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Yes, you can access The Socratic Individual by Ann Ward in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Philosophy History & Theory. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.