Socrates: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Christopher Taylor introduces the life and philosophy of Socrates, whose work has played a central role in shaping Western philosophical thinking for centuries. Examining what we can deduce about Socrates from the writings of his contemporaries (as he himself left none), Taylor traces the reception and influence of his thought to the modern day.

Christopher Taylor is Emeritus fellow at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. He read the B.Phil in Philosophy at Oxford before becoming a Fellow by Examination at Magdalen College from 1962 to 1963, and a Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Corpus Christi College from 1963 until his retirement in 2003. He is the author of several books, including Pleasure, Mind, and Soul: Selected Papers in Ancient Philosophy (OUP 2008), and has translated a number of texts, including Plato's Protagoras, and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. He was the Editor of Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy from 1993 to 1998.