Socrates

Labriola, Antonio, 1843-1904Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 308K words
Chapters: 31

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Socrate by Antonio LabriolaAuthor: Labriola, Antonio, 1843-1904,Language: Italian, Class: B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Release Date: Mar 15, 2019

Editor's review

Socrate is a philosophical work on Socrates by the Italian thinker Antonio Labriola (1843–1904), written in Italian and released by Project Gutenberg in 2019 as a public-domain ebook under the Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion category. Labriola was an important representative of Italian Marxist philosophy, and his writing often examines problems in intellectual history within social and historical contexts; this book is therefore not a simple biography of Socrates or a retelling of the dialogues, but closer to a philosophical-history discussion with a theoretical stance. For Chinese readers, its value lies in offering a European philosophical-history perspective outside the English-language tradition, helping them understand how late nineteenth-century Italian scholarship reinterpreted the figure and significance of Socrates. Reading the book requires good Italian, and public-domain ebooks usually lack modern introductions and annotations, so it is advisable to first learn the basic facts of Socrates' life and the general background of Plato's dialogues before entering the main text, lest terminology and lines of argument get in the way. It is better suited as supplementary material for research in philosophical history than as an introductory text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with Italian reading ability who study the history of philosophy
Those interested in the reception history of Socrates and nineteenth-century European intellectual life
Marxist researchers who want to understand Labriola's style of philosophical writing
University students who need public-domain foreign-language philosophical texts for comparative reading

Not a good fit for

Ordinary readers who do not know Italian and want a Chinese translation
Philosophy beginners looking for an accessible introduction to Socrates
Classics readers expecting the original Plato dialogues or line-by-line annotations

Reading tips

First read up on Socrates' life and the background of Plato's early dialogues before entering the main text.
While reading, distinguish Labriola's historical interpretation from Socrates' own ideas.
Keep a notebook and record argument threads and key terms in the original Italian chapter by chapter.
If Italian is difficult, read an English translation alongside for comparison, but note version differences.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is there a Chinese translation of this book?

According to Project Gutenberg, the book's language is Italian, and this ebook includes no Chinese translation. Chinese readers who wish to read it must find a reliable Chinese translation or have Italian reading ability.

Is this Socrates' own original work?

No. Socrates left no writings of his own; this book is Labriola's philosophical discussion of Socrates, belonging to later intellectual-history research rather than the original Plato dialogues.

Who is Labriola, and do I need to know about him first?

He was a late nineteenth-century Italian philosopher and one of the important interpreters of Marxist philosophy. Understanding his intellectual background helps grasp the book's theoretical stance, but it is not a prerequisite for reading; you can look things up as you go.

What if the public-domain ebook lacks annotations?

Use a reliable annotated edition of Plato's dialogues or a philosophical-history reference for comparison. When you encounter terms and names, look them up before continuing, so that the lack of annotations does not lead to misreading the argument.

Comments

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About the author

Labriola, Antonio, 1843-1904 Author

Antonio Labriola (1843–1904) was an Italian philosopher best known for his interpretations of the Marxist view of history. Two of his works are held in this collection. Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History discusses the fundamental questions of the materialist conception of history in essay form; rigorous and at times polemical in tone, it is an important document for understanding the spread of Marxist historical theory in Italy. Socrate reflects his engagement with classical philosophical questions, combining textual scholarship with speculation. Overall, his writing emphasizes theoretical exposition and the history of ideas, with close argumentation and careful conceptual analysis. Public information about his life, education, and specific posts is limited, so this note makes no conjecture and presents his work and intellectual orientation only as reflected in the works held here.