Socrates vs. Jesus: The Struggle for the Meaning of Life

Description

In this seasonal intellectual broadside, iconoclastic popular sociologist Steve Fuller reclaims Jesus as a philosophical thinker - and one who really puts his money where his mouth is - Socrates and Jesus are among Western culture's most iconic figures. They are even offered as exemplars of what it means to be human. Both are notable for their forthright views on the extent of moral obligation and the limits of knowledge, the meaning of life and the prospects of an afterlife. They were also both 'celebrities', and both died to make a point. But how do the lives of Socrates and Jesus look to 21st century eyes? Would either attract a following today? Steve Fuller compares Socrates and Jesus as a guides to living today and, in a point that will prove controversial to our secular reverence for Socrates, he argues Jesus is the more demanding philosopher - and that Socrates is really just a Christ-lite.

Steve Fuller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. He is the author of Dissent over Descent (Icon, 2008), Kuhn vs. Popper (Icon, 2003) and many other books.