Socrates Meets Machiavelli: The Father of Philosophy Cross-Examines the Author of the Prince

"Peter Kreeft presents this introduction to philosophy to help beginners not only to understand philosophy but also to fall in love with it. In his forty years of teaching philosophy, Kreeft says that the most effective way to accomplish this purpose is to read Socrates. What if we could overhear a conversation in the afterlife between Socrates and Machiavelli, in which Machiavelli has to submit to an Oxford tutorial style examination of his book conducted by Socrates using his famous method of cross-examination? How might the conversation go? This imaginative thought-experiment makes for both imaginative drama and a good lesson in logic, in moral and political philosophy, in 'how to read a book,' and in the history of early modern thought. Thus this book is for readers looking for a though-stretching 'good read' and for use in college classes in logic, philosophy, ethics, political science, literature, communication, rhetoric, anthropology, and history." --