Download Socrates Meets Kant The Father of Philosophy Meets His Most Influential Modern Child Peter Kreeft Books

Product details Paperback 326 pages Publisher St. Augustines Press (January 21, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1587318342

Socrates Meets Kant The Father of Philosophy Meets His Most Influential Modern Child Peter Kreeft Books Reviews

• Peter Kreeft's winsome and conversational approach to philosophy should not belie his precision and thorough understanding of the philosophers he analyzes.
  
  Immanuel Kant is as difficult to read (without background knowledge) as he is important to understand. His influence in the modern world, not only in abstract philosophy but in morality, religion, and politics, cannot be overstated (hence Kreeft's subtitle).
  
  Herein Socrates, the dogged inquisitor, plies Kant for a simplified, non-technical summary of his views, and subjects each answer to the evaluation of self-consistency. With regard to the truth of Kant's answers, Socrates the character may at times seem to reflect (too much) the theological framework of Kreeft, but the historical Socrates was indeed religious.
  
  Kreeft is able thereby to tell a story that is interesting in its own right (What would it be like for Socrates to meet Kant in the afterlife?) while summarizing Kant's major views on epistemology (the science of knowledge) and ethics (the science of goodness), their implications, and providing a critical analysis.
  
  As with most of Kreeft's lectures, essays, and books, this is a fun and useful read.
• Peter Kreeft imagines a "conversation beyond the grave" in which Socrates, History's great questioner, cross-examines Immanuel Kant on his two landmark books, the "Critique of Pure Reason" and "Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals." Especially if you are among the many people who have started but never had the intestinal fortitude to finish Kant's turgid tomes, this book is a godsend. Kreeft's Socrates is sympathetic but unrelenting, just like Plato's. But he also has the benefit of hindsight.
  
  Kant is one of the most influential thinkers of the modern age, a true "maker of the modern mind;" many of our contemporaries are his unwitting disciples and intellectual descendants. Like it or not, we live in the aftermath of his self-described "Copernican revolution in philosophy." Given, then, that it is foolish to ignore him and painful to read him, we owe Dr. Kreeft a great debt of gratitude for this lucid critical explication of his thought. As in the earlier volumes, Dr. Kreeft is careful to engage Kant in his own words and on his own terms; this is no strong man vs. straw man contest. An excellent addition to the series.
• Having failed in a frontal attack on Kant's Critique of Clear Reason, (that is, by foolishly trying simply to pick it up and read it), I have been reconnoitering around its edges, this wonderful work by Peter Kreeft being my third patrol (the others being Durant's Story of Philosophy and an excellent podcast from Oxford University, http//www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/podcasts/kants_critique_of_pure_reason). One more reconnoiter in force (the long-out-of-print Paulsen work, which I'm ordering through Abebooks but is also available free online) and I will try once again to storm the Kantian citadel. I'll report back in about a year to let you know whether I was successful. In the meantime, if I'm thrown back on my own trenches, this witty, erudite work by Kreeft will be there waiting for me with condolences--and some bad puns to boot.
• Peter Kreeft always informs in his well written books on philosophy and theology. This book, like the others in this series, has Socrates in heaven using the Socratic method on a famous philosopher with both insight and humor. In this book, he questions one of the three most influential Western philosophers, Immanuel Kant. Since Kant is famous both for his metaphysics in "Critique of Pure Reason" and his Categorical Imperative, Socrates asks him questions about both topics, making this book about twice as long as others in the series. I recommend this book for anyone interested in philosophy and for bewildered philosophy students like myself who are intimidated by Kant's heavy prose.
• This is a wonderful way to learn about the philosophy of Kant without having to slog through THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. Also, Kreeft shows his respect for Kant, in this work. It is not merely dismissive.
• Great book providing an honest representation of Kant with the critical eye of "Socrates".
• Kreeft's tactic is a very effective way for a philosophy tyro to begin to comprehend what Kant is arguing and how his arguments compare to his predecessors and his contemporaries.
• This is my first venture into Kreeft's "Socrates meets......" series. Excellent, wonderful dialogue. Nevertheless, there is an editorial flaw buried in this edition that is significant and intellectually paralyzing. At location 1511 in my edition there are the following statements as presented by Peter Kreeft Socrates "And you say we cannot know phenomena but not noumena?". Kant "Yes". The correct statement should be "And you say we can know phenomena but not noumena?" Just my humble observation, I welcome differing opinions if these comments are in error.