Lexington Books
Pages: 202
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-4985-8529-3 • Hardback • December 2019 • $90.00 • (£69.00)
978-1-4985-8530-9 • eBook • December 2019 • $85.50 • (£66.00)
J. Michael Hoffpauir is associate director of the Lyceum Program and clinical assistant professor of political science at Clemson University.
1Taking Crito Seriously
2Crito: A Character Study
3Wake Up to Death
4Crito’s Demand
5The Argument about Opinions
6Not Living, But Living Well, Is to Be Regarded as Most Important
7No Human Being Should Do Injustice or Do Evil
8Ought One to Do the Just Things One Agrees to Do?
9The Laws’ Parental Argument
10The Laws’ Agreement Argument
11What Benefit Comes from Escape and Crito’s Silence
12Conclusion
“J. Michael Hoffpauir's wonderful study is a painstaking, deeply thoughtful attempt to understand Plato's complex presentation of Crito, the long-time friend of Socrates who was present with the philosopher in his final days. Combining an unusual sensitivity to the details of the text with a humane understanding of the broader questions of life and death, duty and obligation, Between Socrates and the Many will become a crucial contribution to the literature on the Crito and on Plato."
— Robert C. Bartlett, Boston College
“This welcome commentary on Plato’s Crito makes the fresh and radical move of ‘taking Crito seriously.’ Hoffpauir’s sensitive analysis of Crito’s character has the unsettling effect of showing readers just how similar they are to the dialogue’s namesake, who admires Socrates yet clings to non-philosophic opinions about the nature of justice and the fearsomeness of death. Crito is unhappily betwixt and between. Hoffpauir explores this ground (or rather this chasm) in Between Socrates and the Many. His clear explication of the conversation’s many lines of argument reveals what is at stake for all concerned.”
— Diana J. Schaub, Loyola University Maryland