Open Socrates
The Case for a Philosophical Life
Published on 2. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-14-199483-3 (ISBN)
Description
'A gem of a book, serious and clever yet funny and playful' Financial Times
'Professor of philosophy and a public intellectual for the internet age, Callard shows how Socrates can inform the way we live our lives - from romance to politics' Guardian
Socrates has been hiding in plain sight. We call him the father of Western philosophy, but what exactly are his philosophical views? He is famous for his humility, but readers often find him arrogant and condescending. We parrot his claim that 'the unexamined life is not worth living,' yet take no steps to live examined ones. We know that he was tried, convicted, and executed for 'corrupting the youth,' but freely assign Socratic dialogues to today's youths, to introduce them to philosophy. We've lost sight of what made him so dangerous. In Open Socrates, acclaimed philosopher Agnes Callard recovers the radical energy at the centre of Socrates' thought and shows why it is still the way to a good life.
Callard draws our attention to Socrates' startling discovery that we don't know how to ask ourselves the most important questions- about how we should live, and how we might change. Before a person even has a chance to reflect, their bodily desires or the forces of social conformity have already answered on their behalf. To ask the most important questions, we need help. Callard argues that the true ambition of the famous "Socratic method" is to reveal what one human being can be to another. You can use another person in many ways-for survival, for pleasure, for comfort- but you are engaging them to the fullest when you call on them to help answer your questions and challenge your answers.
Here Callard shows that Socrates' method allows us to make progress in thinking about how to manage romantic love, how to confront one's own death, and how to approach politics. In the process, she gives us nothing less than a new ethics to live by.
'Professor of philosophy and a public intellectual for the internet age, Callard shows how Socrates can inform the way we live our lives - from romance to politics' Guardian
Socrates has been hiding in plain sight. We call him the father of Western philosophy, but what exactly are his philosophical views? He is famous for his humility, but readers often find him arrogant and condescending. We parrot his claim that 'the unexamined life is not worth living,' yet take no steps to live examined ones. We know that he was tried, convicted, and executed for 'corrupting the youth,' but freely assign Socratic dialogues to today's youths, to introduce them to philosophy. We've lost sight of what made him so dangerous. In Open Socrates, acclaimed philosopher Agnes Callard recovers the radical energy at the centre of Socrates' thought and shows why it is still the way to a good life.
Callard draws our attention to Socrates' startling discovery that we don't know how to ask ourselves the most important questions- about how we should live, and how we might change. Before a person even has a chance to reflect, their bodily desires or the forces of social conformity have already answered on their behalf. To ask the most important questions, we need help. Callard argues that the true ambition of the famous "Socratic method" is to reveal what one human being can be to another. You can use another person in many ways-for survival, for pleasure, for comfort- but you are engaging them to the fullest when you call on them to help answer your questions and challenge your answers.
Here Callard shows that Socrates' method allows us to make progress in thinking about how to manage romantic love, how to confront one's own death, and how to approach politics. In the process, she gives us nothing less than a new ethics to live by.
Reviews / Votes
A gem of a book, serious and clever yet funny and playful -- Alec Russell * Financial Times * Brilliant, compulsive -- Tim Adams * Guardian * Open Socrates - quite the most gripping new philosophical book I've read in years - teems with insights into our world -- Stuart Jeffries * Spectator * Bracing and brilliant... Socrates offers neither miracle cures nor lifestyle hacks: the road to "epistemological humility", Callard argues, is long and bumpy. Crucially, it's a journey we embark on together * Guardian * Socrates used to say that he knew nothing other than the fact of his own ignorance... Callard invites us to think alongside her. Open Socrates encourages us to recognise how little we know, and to start thinking * The New York Times * While we might struggle to emulate Socrates all the time, Callard's book reminds us that we need more philosophy than ever. The freedom to disagree as equal partners in an on-going collective effort to understand untimely questions must be defended: there are few higher things * Telegraph * Callard speaks directly to what you might call the Fleabag generation... The fear Fleabag expresses - that you're somehow living your life all wrong - is shared by millennials and Gen X alike, and Callard's Socratic vision offers a way out that is not glib, that requires more effort than journaling or posting reels, but that might help people change their thinking -- Nilanjana Roy * Financial Times * Intellectually challenging and hardly a simple crash course on Socrates, but the payoff is worth the time and effort put into rethinking approaches to philosophy and life * Independent * If you're a fan of Alain de Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy, Agnes Callard's look at the ancient Greek's famous Socratic method will be a hit... Callard explains how putting real effort into intellectual dialogues with the people around us can help us figure out modern life, love and even death * Shortlist * For Callard, philosophy isn't just her job, or an intellectual exercise. She wants it to be what it was intended as by Socrates: a guide to living a good life -- Angus Colwell * Spectator *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
315 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-14-199483-3 (9780141994833)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/2025
Allen Lane
€31.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
01/2025
Penguin Books Ltd
€10.99
Available for download
Person
Agnes Callard is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago. Her primary areas of specialization are ancient philosophy and ethics. She has written for The New York Times, New Yorker, Atlantic, Harper's, Boston Review, and penned a monthly column for the Point. From 2019 to 2020, she held a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for the research that contributes to this book.