Book Review: ‘How to Think Like Socrates’ leaves readers with questions

The lessons of Socrates have never really gone out of style, but if there’s ever a perfect time to revisit the ancient philosopher, now is it. In “How to Think Like Socrates: Ancient Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Modern World,” Donald J. Robertson describes Socrates’ Athens in terms that seem all too familiar: a society recovering from a pandemic where people’s trust in government is shaken, and an extremely polarized split between political factions. But the book is inconsistent and difficult to follow sometimes, as it bounces from an easy distillation of Socrates’ philosophy to an all-too-detailed history of ancient Greece. The explanation of Socrates, particularly a section walking readers through the Socratic Method — the question-based method Socrates used to teach students — is the strongest portion of Robertson’s book. Through Robertson is able to underscore how timeless Socrates’ advice remains, his book could stand to be more accessible for readers hoping to find that advice.