The Socratic Individual: Philosophy, Faith, and Freedom in a Democratic Age

by Ann Ward

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781793603784
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	05/15/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	162
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ann Ward is professor of political science at Baylor University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Recovery of Socrates in Nineteenth Century Political Thought

Chapter One: Socrates, Democracy, and the end of history: The Socratic Turn in Hegel’s Philosophy of History

Chapter Two: Abraham and Socrates: Love and History in Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling

Chapter Three: Socrates and the god: Kierkegaard’s Concept of Irony and Philosophical Fragments

Chapter Four: Socrates and the search for Individuality: Freedom of Speech and Lifestyle in Mill’s On Liberty

Chapter Five: Socrates and Dionysus: Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy

Chapter Six: Socrates, Democracy, and the end of man: Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil

Conclusion: The Socratic Soul in a Democratic Age

Editorial Reviews

Despite its announced focus on the "revival" of Socrates across 19th-century philosophy, this book is really about Kierkegaard, whose views on rationality and faith Ward (political science, Baylor Univ.) examines with skill. Socrates's questioning stands in relation to Abraham for Kierkegaard; knowing what he does not know "empties" Socrates and turns him away from reason and moral absolutes. Socrates lives questioning, as Abraham abandons moral argument in favor of his silent, living faith that God will restore Isaac. Neither man knows, yet both proceed with embodied passion. Ward explicates Kierkegaard in contrast to Hegel, Mill, and Nietzsche. For Hegel, Socrates plays a lesser role, since he lacked the modern liberal state required for ultimate fruition of rationality. Mill sees Socratic questions as crucial to individual diversity in the face of Christian homogenization. Nietzsche similarly suspects Christianity, but he finds in Socrates's physicality an example of the Dionysian dimension of life he wants to exalt.. . Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students.

Choice Reviews

By examining the different ways that nineteenth-century political philosophers reformulate and celebrate the figure of Socrates, Ann Ward’s excellent book provides us with valuable, new insights into the late Enlightenment’s deepest concerns and aspirations. Drawing on a broad knowledge of ancient and modern political theory, Ward has given us a very readable, erudite, and instructive reflection on how modernity understands and shapes the life of reason.

Mark Lutz

The Socratic Individual is one of those books that gestures beyond itself, provoking much delightful contemplation even beyond its pages. It is a must-read for those interested in Socratic reception, particularly the treatment of Socrates and Socratic philosophy in modern political thought. It is also a book for anyone interested more broadly in the themes of reason vs. passion, philosophy vs. faith, and, of course, the individual vs. the collective.

VoegelinView

In the nineteenth century, the collapse of the Hegelian system raised the question of the viability of the rational philosophical life. A number of major thinkers returned to the origins of Western philosophy - in Socrates - to address this question. The Socratic Individual provides an excellent examination of the role of Socrates in Kierkegaard, Mill, and Nietzsche. As Ward ably demonstrates, the rationalist Socrates is displaced by these figures, instead the erotic, the passionate, even the poetic Socrates comes to the fore, revealing other varieties of the philosophical life.

Jeffrey Church

This is a brilliant study of how Nietzsche, Hegel, Kierkegaard and others responded to Socrates. As it unfolds multiple Socratic impacts, nineteenth century political thought emerges in new detail. The scholarship is impeccable and the arguments, groundbreaking."

Edward Mooney

Despite its announced focus on the "revival" of Socrates across 19th-century philosophy, this book is really about Kierkegaard, whose views on rationality and faith Ward (political science, Baylor Univ.) examines with skill. Socrates's questioning stands in relation to Abraham for Kierkegaard; knowing what he does not know "empties" Socrates and turns him away from reason and moral absolutes. Socrates lives questioning, as Abraham abandons moral argument in favor of his silent, living faith that God will restore Isaac. Neither man knows, yet both proceed with embodied passion. Ward explicates Kierkegaard in contrast to Hegel, Mill, and Nietzsche. For Hegel, Socrates plays a lesser role, since he lacked the modern liberal state required for ultimate fruition of rationality. Mill sees Socratic questions as crucial to individual diversity in the face of Christian homogenization. Nietzsche similarly suspects Christianity, but he finds in Socrates's physicality an example of the Dionysian dimension of life he wants to exalt.. . Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students.

Choice

Despite its announced focus on the "revival" of Socrates across 19th-century philosophy, this book is really about Kierkegaard, whose views on rationality and faith Ward (political science, Baylor Univ.) examines with skill. Socrates's questioning stands in relation to Abraham for Kierkegaard; knowing what he does not know "empties" Socrates and turns him away from reason and moral absolutes. Socrates lives questioning, as Abraham abandons moral argument in favor of his silent, living faith that God will restore Isaac. Neither man knows, yet both proceed with embodied passion. Ward explicates Kierkegaard in contrast to Hegel, Mill, and Nietzsche. For Hegel, Socrates plays a lesser role, since he lacked the modern liberal state required for ultimate fruition of rationality. Mill sees Socratic questions as crucial to individual diversity in the face of Christian homogenization. Nietzsche similarly suspects Christianity, but he finds in Socrates's physicality an example of the Dionysian dimension of life he wants to exalt.. . Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students.

CHOICE