Fabulous overview of the Socratic dialogues

Michael Sugrue is an informative and entertaining lecturer on Plato's Socratic dialogues. Whatever your level of familiarity with the works, this audiobook will give you a new insight into what is perhaps the world's most important body of philosophical writings.

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a novel approach, where Sugrue's passion drives ..

... with him , even through rough terrain. My introduction to the Dialogues was in the early months of my University pathway in Italy. (does Greek translate better into Italian than English?maybe, irony is integral to Italian culture. I was on a steep learning curve upgrading my Italian.) 'Maieutica' was the key descriptive of the Socratic dialectics in Italian and later in English as I changed country and university. Prof. Sugrue never refers to this term once. Yet, he was able to electrify in me a new understanding and curiosity of the Dialogues. Meanwhile, we have access to new translations, with less romantic interpretation and cultural bias. I will revisit the dialogues in newer Italian translations, too. Sugrue brings Kant, Kierkegaard, James Joyce and others into the conversation. Even, obliquely, the film "Dumb and Dumber". His next to last lecture is pretty harsh, have your favorite pillow with you. Harsh but true. Willful ignorance of what are truly virtues, and the uncomfortable truth that we need each other in order to know our selves, really is our responsibility

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best audio lectures

i loved it , i wish it could be longer to be honest , but as it said to me and pushed me to read/listen to the Platonic dialogs and i ll be getting back to listen to this so many times

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an essential discussion to go along dialogues

loved it. an essential tool to go along with the dialogues. I listened to it before during and after reading them

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Only today; time better spent at home than harvard

This man's scholarship, interpretation and passion transcends the education you can receive at any institution - I know having taken the path of many and been dissatisfied by the lectureship of a prestigious many. Lectures can only take you so far; you must read the dialogues to engage with technical depth. Nonetheless, so far as method goes in education, it is pragmatic to take as a first step the deep listening to every word of Sugrues lectures. That itself the best possible introduction to Plato, and moreso the context of plato, which enlivens the deep study of Plato and makes it an easy thing to love. There is no more efficient way to understand Plato than to recieve the artistic, literary, mythological and historical context Sugrue will provide here, which enables the study of Plato's logical ideas and gives them meaning. In this meaning I was lost, even contemptuous, before Sugrue; but now I am saved. So are saved the days we inhabit; for all their disgrace, we may each of us if we are discerning access the best possible education freely, easily, if we only look for it as it is here,.

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Well worth a listen.

I really enjoyed this set of lectures, and gained some valuable knowledge in the process, it would be worth a second listen, and made me interested in reading the dialogue's myself, thank you.

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Good performance but some annoying reader habits

Brings the whole story to life.
I don’t appreciate listening to the lecturer slurping and swallowing his coffee

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A joy to listen to

Whatever Michael found in the Dialogues, it is joy. The joy seems to follow from every word, idea and observation. You must take my word on this. Oh wait, you don’t have to just listen to this audio book. Worth ten self help books.

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1 person found this helpful

Fabulous course

Where does Plato, Socrates, and the Dialogues rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best - if not THE best - audiobook I've thus far downloaded. Of course, as a lecture series it's not exactly an audio BOOK, but never mind. Prof Sugrue is a fantastic lecturer, really enthusiastic, interesting, fascinating - and best of all, his style imparts a real inducement to learn.

What did you like best about this story?

This set of lectures gives an overview and analysis of Plato's Socratic dialogues and completely brings them to life.

What about Professor Michael Sugrue’s performance did you like?

I love his enthusiasm, which at times does mean he talks a little too fast - but that's a minor thing. He is also an extremely likeable 'narrator', which is important, since Socrates himself is extremely likeable! And he *gets* Socrates, with humour and deep understanding; there is nothing dry about these lectures. He imparts the essence of Socrates, which is that of benefitting others through wisdom and 'moral' improvement. I definitely feel improved as a result!

Any additional comments?

I'll return to these lectures again and again. I will try other audiobooks from this series, and hope to find some more by Professor Sugrue.

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4 people found this helpful

Great intro the Plato's Socratic style

Great lectures! Having read some of the Socratic dialogues, I am so glad I purchased this audio book. It brought a completely new perspective to the dialogues for me before I had made too many of my own incorrect assumptions. A must have for everyone interested in understanding their own inner journey.

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1 person found this helpful