Before and after Socrates

Rating:
Summary: A great little book
Review: After reading this book, I realized that this is the book I wish I had read earlier in my life. My understanding of my culture and society would have been accelerated. With this book Professor Cornford has succeded in delineate major features of the evolution of Western thinking with impeccable scholarship and with great eloquence. His prose are exquisite, perfectly suited for his thinking on complex ideas. A reader of this book will obtain a new and illuminating perspective of the role of the thinking of Socrates, Plato and certain other Greek philosophers in modern life.

Rating:
Summary: Don't know much about history...Don't know much philosophy..
Review: But I do know that I love the writings of F.M. Cornford. He explains the writings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in such a way that it becomes entirely relevant to these days in which we live. Why are we the way we are? What were the beliefs of the ancient thinkers? Some of them were so tenacious in their beliefs that they were willing to give their lives for them. As a searcher of truth, this book spoke to me. Explains the "laws of nature" vs. the "laws of state" and why the former is more preferable than the latter. Cornford is a genius.

Rating:
Summary: Potent
Review: The fundamentals of Greek philosophy, ranging from Ionianscience to Aristotle, is given here in four brief but thorough lectures. I am not at all well versed in Greek philosophy, though I have occasion to say that F.M. Cornford's presentation of Socrates is the best I've read. He of course denotes the contributions of Plato, Pythagorus, and Aristotle.

In the fashion of Plato he comments on Socrates-the-man. How that he was ahead of his time, how that he had a forceful presence. He then moves on to Socratic thought. The only other lecture on Socrates that comes close to this is Karl's Jaspers "Socrates, Buddha, Confucious, Jesus."

I cannot enough say how well executed this work is. If you are student of philosophy (like me), read this right away.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic introduction to Greek philosophy
Review: There are no doubt countless introductions to Greek philosophy, but amidst the vast sea of choices this book easily floats above the rest. Professor Cornford's writing is rare, he displays a clear mastery of the subject and conveys his vast knowledge in a manner that is refreshingly lucid. There is no complex language to unpack or needless detail to confuse his presentation of the material. Cornford approaches the subject by addressing the general themes associated with the Ionians, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. This is a nice approach because the beginner, rather than being lost in detail, is given the "big picture" with which he can then orient the details of further reading. This is the greatest virtue of Cornford's book, and it is for that reason that I so highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't know much about history...Don't know much philosophy..
Review: When I received this book, I was expecting a more comprehensive survey of Greek thought, but I was nonetheless pleasantly surprised. This very slim book (109 pp) is actually a series of lectures delivered by Cornford on the development of Greek philosophy from Ionian science to Socrates, his pupil Plato, and his pupil Aristotle (with nods to others such as Pythagoras and Democritus along the way). Cornford delivers in very plain language what he considers to be the essential differences between these thinkers. I found this to be a very enjoyable introduction to Greek (and Western) philosophy that can be read within an hour or two. If only more philosophers would deign to present their theories to the laity as clearly as Professor Cornford!