Book contents
- Socrates on Self-Improvement
- Socrates on Self-Improvement
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Socrates as Exemplar
- Chapter 2 Socrates as Apprentice at Virtue
- Chapter 3 Socratic Motivational Intellectualism
- Chapter 4 Socratic Ignorance
- Chapter 5 Is Virtue Sufficient for Happiness?
- Chapter 6 The Necessity of Virtue for Happiness
- Afterword: Review and Assessment
- References
- Index of Passages
- General Index
Chapter 1 - Socrates as Exemplar
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 June 2021
- Socrates on Self-Improvement
- Socrates on Self-Improvement
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Socrates as Exemplar
- Chapter 2 Socrates as Apprentice at Virtue
- Chapter 3 Socratic Motivational Intellectualism
- Chapter 4 Socratic Ignorance
- Chapter 5 Is Virtue Sufficient for Happiness?
- Chapter 6 The Necessity of Virtue for Happiness
- Afterword: Review and Assessment
- References
- Index of Passages
- General Index
Summary
Explores Plato's hagiography of Socrates as one who is both an exemplary human being and imperfect in knowledge, virtue, and happiness. The way in which Socrates is an exemplar is not by achieving a standard of perfection, but by living a life dedicated to self-improvement in the most important things. Socrates sincerely acknowledges his own ignorance, but engages in dedicated inquiry in such a way as to mitigate that ignorance. By improving his cognitive condition, Socrates also improves his ethical condition. He becomes more virtuous and happier by both avoiding those errors that are avoidable and practicing the activities that can improve one’s life.
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- Socrates on Self-ImprovementKnowledge, Virtue, and Happiness, pp. 1 - 20Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021