Open Socrates

The Case for a Philosophical Life

By: Agnes Callard

Narrated by: Agnes Callard

An iconoclastic philosopher revives Socrates for our time, showing how we can answer—and, in the first place, ask—life’s most important questions.

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 move at the center 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.

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.

©2025 Agnes Callard (P)2025 Recorded Books

The author is clearly not a narrator

I wanted to like this book. I waited for it-- and I'm not sure how it would read in print but having the author read the book was a serious mistake. It's like listening to somebody read a text in front of you. A lack of inflection and monotony that makes it hard to follow anything. If you're gonna try it, I recommend reading it.

Interesting and thoughtful

I had no idea how interesting Socrates is! Highly recommended. Thought provoking and insightful. Now Socrates will be a part of my inner life.

Not what you think.

The first and last few chapters are likely why you purchased the book: a fresh take on applying Socrates to life. Everything in between is better left for college students or academic philosophers. (It’s another example of how academic philosophy has made philosophy for the rarefied few and how the academy has made philosophy not for the masses…which is antithetical to all of Ancient Greek philosophy.) Too bad the author also narrated. Professional narrators make even the most complex philosophy understandable on audio. It’s a skill. The author likely had a dose of hubris to think she could write about a complex philosopher, teach the college course and do the narration. Know thyself. And thy limits…

Great insights on interpersonal philosophising, and how it differs from and interacts with internal philosophising.

The author delivers an in-depth philosophical breakdown of a misunderstood historical figure. She relates the nuances of Socrates and Socratic thinking to the modern reader well. This book did not merely make me want to have deep conversations with people, but to teach others how to do it and encourage others to have them with me.

New insights on Socrates and human justification

Although many people criticize the author for reading the book herself, I don’t mind it at all. In fact, I find her intonations easier to attend to than many who, for instance, end every sentence as if it were a question. This book is interesting, well argued, and clear.