My most recent publication is now available to download free of charge, thanks to the magic of the Digital Commons. If you’ve been interested in any of my writing on heroism or Plato here at the Running Chicken blog, you can now get a much more in-depth look at the academic writing I’ve been doing on the subject.

Here is the abstract:

Faced with charges of impiety and corruption of the youth, Socrates attempts a defence designed to vindicate the philosophic way of life. In this he seems to be successful, as Socrates is today highly regarded for his description of the good life and for his unwillingness to live any other sort of life, a position that is most obviously exemplified by his defence in the Apology. After his sentencing, Socrates’ arguments and actions - in the Crito and the Phaedo - also lend considerable support to the idea that the philosopher is committed to living a particularly good sort of life. While the sequence of dialogues that culminates in Socrates’ execution might seem to be the most obviously critical of the life of the philosopher, these dialogues actually serve to enshrine the character of Socrates as the quintessential moral hero.