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ED2011 Book Reviews
Bettany Hughes
By Tracey S Rosenberg | Published on Monday 15 August 2011
How is Socrates like a doughnut? Bettany Hughes answers this and other questions about the controversial philosopher, who influenced western thought yet never wrote a word himself. Hughes places Socrates in his fifth-century context without sentimentality, noting that his allergy to the written word meant he would have understood how social media influenced recent uprisings. In good times, she notes, questions are welcomed; when society is in chaos, answers are demanded. Socrates was fundamentally a flesh-and-blood creature, rather than a mythical ideal of Great Thought, and Hughes excels in using the archaeological record to bring this abstraction to life.
ScottishPower Studio Theatre, 13 Aug, 3.30pm (4.30pm), £8.00 – £10.00, bfpp7.
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