ABSTRACT
Socrates had promulgated another form of speech different from sophistic persuasion; we now call it philosophy. There was a temple in democratic Athens dedicated to the goddess of persuasion. As Arendt portrays the situation, everyone has a point of view (POV) and from that POV forms an opinion about a given topic. Socrates set forth a new anthropological principle grounded on reason, an interior basis that becomes a shared standard as citizens reason together, giving an account of their beliefs to each other, subjecting them to mutual criticism. The entire book, the one that people now hold in the hands, frames that attempt-including but not restricted to the chapter on philosophical anthropology where we contemplated the nature of what it means to be human generally. Socrates occupies a very high place in Western culture, and his living example would not have enjoyed much influence down through the ages if he had turned aside from such a threat.
