Books by Richard Kraut

This fresh outlook on Socrates' political philosophy in Plato's early dialogues argues that it is both more subtle and less authoritarian than has been supposed. Focusing on the Crito, Richard Kraut shows that Plato explains Socrates' refusal to escape from jail and his acceptance of the death penalty as arising not from a philosophy that requires blind obedience to every legal command but from a highly balanced compromise between the state and the citizen. In addition, Professor Kraut contends that our contemporary notions of civil disobedience and generalization arguments are not present in this dialogue.

Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics", which equates the ultimate end of human life with happiness, is thought by many readers to argue that this highest goal consists in the largest possible aggregate of intrinsic goods. The author proposes instead that Aristotle identifies happiness with only one type of good: excellent activity of the rational soul.

Bringing together the most influential and accessible articles on Plato's "Republic", this collection elucidates this important work of Western philosophy for general readers, students and academics alike.