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Socrates on Self-Improvement

Knowledge, Virtue, and Happiness

Nicholas D Smith author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:1st Jul '21

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Socrates on Self-Improvement cover

Explains how and why Socrates continues to be a foundational figure in western philosophy.

This book explains in clear language with appropriate scholarly attention to detail how and why Socrates continues to be a foundational figure in western philosophy, and especially in ethics and epistemology. It argues that the craft-model of knowledge offers a viable and potent theoretical basis for practical and ethical self-improvement.What model of knowledge does Plato's Socrates use? In this book, Nicholas D. Smith argues that it is akin to knowledge of a craft which is acquired by degrees, rather than straightforward knowledge of facts. He contends that a failure to recognize and identify this model, and attempts to ground ethical success in contemporary accounts of propositional or informational knowledge, have led to distortions of Socrates' philosophical mission to improve himself and others in the domain of practical ethics. He shows that the model of craft-knowledge makes sense of a number of issues scholars have struggled to understand, and makes a case for attributing to Socrates a very sophisticated and plausible view of the improvability of the human condition.

ISBN: 9781316515532

Dimensions: 235mm x 158mm x 15mm

Weight: 440g

216 pages