Socrates’ Education to Virtue: Learning the Love of the Noble

Socrates’ Education to Virtue: Learning the Love of the Noble

Mark Lutz
Role: Author

Socrates’ Education to Virtue argues that Plato’s account of Socrates offers the fullest account of virtue and of the place of virtue in political life. Focusing on Platonic dramas such as the Symposium, Alcibiades Major, and The Republic, Lutz recounts how Socrates came to understand the longing for the “noble” and to believe that this longing is best satisfied by the search for knowledge or wisdom. The book argues that the recovery of Socratic education can strengthen liberal democracy not only by broadening and invigorating political, moral, and religious debate but also by serving as an example of virtue in an open society.