What can Socrates teach us?

A new classical philosophy reading group asks what's so great about the Ancient Greeks? And why are so many in academia hellbent on trashing them?

Photo by Wally Gobetz/Flickr - The Death of Socrates, Jacques-Louis David

The Ancient philosophers, as taught at British universities, are now too regularly the focus of politicised revision. They are considered an elitist and white area of study, a cypher for hostility to Greece and Rome as the founding narrative of much despised Western civilisation.

However, as important and enduring themes and ideals of Western civilisation, from freedom to democracy, emerged in Ancient Greece and Rome, surely an understanding of Classical Philosophy has never been more needed? In this guest Substack, retired head teacher David Perks introduces his new mini course – open to all – a Classical Philosophy Reading Group.

With five online seminars over the next year, the course will act as an introductory guide to tackling Greek philosophical thinkers. In the opening discussion, David will explore Socrates, arguably the greatest philosopher of Ancient Athens. What was the Socratic method and what was he investigating? Why did most of Socratic dialogues end in ‘aporia’ or Socrates asserting he did not know? Is it something we should dismiss as irrelevant in 2024 or does he have something profound to tell us today?

The Battle of Ideas festival satellite launch for the course - It’s all (Ancient) Greek to me: Classical Philosophy reading group - will take place on Sunday 3 November from 18:00—19:30, online, via Zoom.

Read David’s introduction to the course below, and sign up for free via Eventbrite.

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In June this year, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) produced its controversial Decolonising Philosophy Curriculum Toolkit. This remarkable attack on the subject of philosophy from one of our leading academic institutions made waves by suggesting that we replace a study of the Ancient Greek philosophers – Socrates, Plato and Aristotle – with more modern, diverse voices to allow access to the subject to a diverse student population. Many argued that this was an explicit response to the Black Lives Matters protests following the death of George Floyd in May 2020. The call to Do Something from protesters swept through academic institutions and toppled the last remaining belief in Western thought - much like the statue of Edward Colston that was thrown into the harbour in Bristol.

As the toolkit authors put it, the toolkit is ‘designed to help empower students to think of themselves as active participants in curriculum and assessment design and contributors to knowledge in the discipline of philosophy’. But there is an explicit target intended here. As the authors put it, ‘epistemology has long been dominated by perspectives that are predominantly male, pale, and stale’. In fact, the entirety of the Western philosophical tradition is characterised as lazy musings. The authors argue that ‘the readings are predominantly focused on canonical Western philosophers such as Plato, Descartes and Hume which offer in-depth retrospections of their own experiences. A lot of the epistemological discourse also involves “armchair theorising”’.

The Toolkit seeks to challenge the dominance of ‘Western European hegemonic powers’ and the imposition of a ‘colonial matrix of power’, supplemented by appeals to Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth and his idea of a ‘critical humanism’. There is no doubt that the target is usurping the entire Western philosophical academic tradition. The authors then go on to suggest a mix of alternative authors from Asia, Africa and the Middle East - none of which is a problem. Studying a variety of thinkers from around the world and different traditions is what any student should be open to. But this is not about expanding students’ access - the point is the removal of the tradition of Western philosophy.

As the Greek Reporter put it when the toolkit was published, SOAS are recommending universities to ‘sideline Ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Socrates in favor of modern Asian and African thinkers’. The replacements put forward included ‘new-age thinkers’, including ‘an Indian-American feminist, a Nigerian “gender theorist” and a Japanese zen expert’, the Daily Mail reported.

To be clear, a philosophy degree should deal with modern problems of philosophy central to the complexities of our lives, like race and religion. There is nothing wrong with looking at these problems philosophically. We need students to be able to pull apart our prejudices and attempt to find the limits of our capacity to determine the truth of the metaphysical and epistemological assumptions we make.

But to deny the legacy of the tradition that is Western philosophy is a serious error. In order to study philosophy at degree level, all universities should include a course on Ancient Greek philosophy - it is essential to understand it in order to grasp all of philosophy that comes after it. The Ancient Greeks dealt with ideas and problems we continue to face. Plato has something to say to us all, regardless of the political, religious or other beliefs we may hold.

It was once assumed that an elite in politics or academia would have studied classical philosophy. The few that did still profess their knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin with pride. But it seems we have all forgotten our Socrates - the echos his own story ring very true today.

Socrates died in 399 BC in Athens by drinking hemlock after being sentenced to death for the crimes of impiety and corrupting the youth. He was a heretic of his time, unapologetic for questioning perceived wisdom. His followers included Critias, one of the Thirty Tyrants who overthrew Athenian democracy after the disastrous Peloponnesian War and defeat by Sparta. Swept up in the political intrigue of the time, Socrates was a victim of the political mood of the day: an intolerance of those who dared to question authority.

And what did Socrates ask of his followers that was so dangerous? What were his seditious ideas? He challenged his followers to explain what makes a virtuous life, but he could not himself define virtue. He only said he knew that he did not know how to define virtue. So it wasn’t his answer that threatened his critics, it was asking the question that rattled them.

So what is a virtuous man? Have we answered Socrates question in the subsequent 2400 years since his death? Well, one look at our political class and the answer is blindingly obvious – we have not made much headway. When Keir Starmer tries to squirm his way out of accusations of impropriety for taking thousands of pounds of donations from his rich friends, or Boris Johnson shows his total disregard for the rules he imposed on millions of us during lockdown, the answer is clear: we have no idea what virtue is when we are held up to the scrutiny of public opinion.

Just maybe we should ask our political masters if they have read the Socratic Dialogues, and tried to answer Socrates’ puzzle themselves. There is no doubt they would fall short - just as Socrates’ students did.

If you are intrigued by what Socrates might say to you, then think about joining the classical philosophy reading group. Our launch event will take place on Sunday 3 November from 18:00-19:30, online, via Zoom. Tickets are available here for free.

David Perks was the founder of the East London Science School (ELSS), which opened in 2013. ELSS was a unique free school in Bromley-by-Bow. He was principal until his retirement in 2021. He is an enthusiast for teaching philosophy in schools and made ethics a compulsory part of the curriculum from Year 7. This meant every child was given a taste of philosophy starting with Socrates. One of David’s favourite lessons was introducing Year 7 to Spartan education!