Thomas G. West (1) (1945–)

Reading Socrates's methods of logic and arguments was just like getting in an argument with my husband - neither forgets a single twist of the conversation, and both will lead you down a path using questions of logic until you end up trapped into agreeing to the opposite of what you had originally thought. It was fun to not be on the receiving end of it and for once just enjoy the journey through logic land.

I enjoyed each of the four parts of this book, although all of Plato's items went on too long. Of these I liked 'Crito' best because I felt like it really showed me who Socrates was, why he was pursing the course he'd chosen. He also said some things about death that have stuck with me, and that I'll surely be mulling over for years. I also liked the addition of Aristophanes's 'Clouds', which makes fun of Socrates; it gave me a more complete picture on how his contemporaries viewed him. Plus there was a surprising amount of fart jokes - always a good thing.… (altro)

Where to start? This book ends up being less about the Founding Fathers and more about the author's political viewpoints. All of the topics the author lays out are problematic, although I was found the pieces on women and the family to be the worst (correlation is not causation, let's just leave it at that). Throughout this book, I kept thinking of people who deny being racist/sexist/anti-poor etc. while also advocating for policies which specifically hurt those groups. Moreover, the Founders, flawed human beings that they were, deserve better than this.… (altro)