Gregory Vlastos discusses Socrates and the place of philosophy in ancient Greece. He describes Socratic philosophy as nontechnical in that it emphasizes the best way to live. Socrates argued that virtue and wisdom are inseparable and that virtuous behavior follows from self-understanding. Vlastos describes the Socratic method of teaching and changes in pedagogy from ancient to modern times. He claims that philosophy thrives in the modern world, underpinning a wide variety of intellectual endeavors, with the philosophy of technology existing on one end of the spectrum and humanistic philosophy on the other. He concludes by discussing how Socrates would likely regard the state of philosophy in the twentieth century.
At the time of this interview, Gregory Vlastos, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1980-82), was professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
