Angie Hobbs

@profangiehobbs.bsky.social

Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy Emerita. Here for: philosophy; ancient Greek and Roman culture; nature; music; theatre; books; politics; cricket angiehobbs.com

Plato is devastating in his account of the dangers of unguided & unchecked thumos (and the thumoeides). I write about this in ch.5 of Why Plato Matters Now & in great detail in Plato and the Hero. Rubio is deliberately echoing Hitler in this gruesome speech. He appears unaware of hubris & nemesis.

At Heathrow about to head off to Greece to talk about why Plato and Aristotle really do matter now at the Kardamyli Festival - really looking forward to hearing the other speakers and hiking boots and swimming costume also packed!

I very much enjoyed discussing Why Plato Matters Now with Masud Gaziyev, host of the Philosophy Everyday podcast. It is also available on Spotify and Apple: bit.ly/4cjD2PA

Nothing in This World Is Real | Angie Hobbs on Plato

Angie Hobbs is Professor Emerita of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, where she held the world's first chair of that title. She works on ancient Greek philosophy, particularly Plato, and on how it bears on contemporary questions. Alongside her academic work she has taught the Socratic method in schools and to the UK civil service, and appears regularly on radio and television. Her books include Plato and the Hero, and most recently Why Plato Matters Now, which she also narrated for audiobook. She is currently writing a book on heroes and heroism. In this conversation we discuss what Plato was reacting against, from the Sophists to the materialism of Democritus, and why he took Heraclitus and Parmenides seriously but not the atomists. We look at the problem of separating Plato from Socrates in the dialogues, and why Plato wrote in dialogue form and never in his own voice. We turn to the Republic and Thrasymachus's claim that justice is the interest of the stronger, the charge from Popper and Berlin that Plato was a totalitarian, and the fact that the Republic itself would be banned under its own censorship rules. On the Symposium we cover the competing accounts of love, Aristophanes' fable of the divided spheres, Diotima's ladder and the image of the pregnant philosopher, Alcibiades' account of trying to seduce Socrates. We also discuss the theory of forms and how much of Plato's ethics survives without it, his time with the Pythagoreans and what mathematics and musical harmony meant to him, Nietzsche's charge that Plato was a life-denier, what Christianity took from Plato and what it changed, and how much of the Plato we read is the historical one. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider leaving a like, subscribing, and leaving a review on Youtube, Spotify and Apple. #philosophy #science #history Get new episodes, guest announcements, reading notes, and ideas worth thinking about here: https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/ Angie's website and link to her book "Why Plato Matters Now": https://angiehobbs.com/ Socials: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46hnFSg40wwEBFZvnUHHJ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/philosophy-everyday/id1819256597 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philosophy.everyday/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masud.gaziyev/ Support the work: https://buymeacoffee.com/philosophy.everyday Chapters: 00:00 We Are Living in Plato's Cave 01:35 What Plato Was Fighting Against 04:23 Why Plato Rejected Materialism 07:40 Where Does Socrates End and Plato Begin? 10:40 Why a Teacher Can't Actually Teach You Anything 13:28 Is Justice Just the Interest of the Powerful? 16:22 Plato’s Ideal City: Utopia or Totalitarianism? 19:13 Plato vs. Aristotle: Two Ways of Thinking 22:14 The Symposium: What Is Love? 45:26 The Night Alcibiades Tried to Seduce Socrates 51:02 What Plato Thinks Love Is For 57:06 The Role of Eros and Desire 01:01:03 Why Plato Needed a Perfect World 01:09:01 Why Plato Saw Mathematics in Music 01:14:23 Nietzsche Called Plato a Life-Denier 01:17:10 How Plato Shaped Christianity 01:22:04 Is the Plato We Read the Real Plato?

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I enjoyed discussing Why Plato Matters Now with Patrick Cook, host of the What Rhymes with Now? podcast: bit.ly/45IUhG4 Also available on Apple and Spotify

What would Plato say today? With Angie Hobbs

Fake news. Money and politics. Demagogues who tell the crowd exactly what it wants to hear. And the oldest question of all — what does a good life actually look like? Plato was turning these questions over 2,400 years ago, and his conclusions are as strange and as sharp as ever. In this episode I'm joined by Professor Angie Hobbs — Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield. Her new book, Why Plato Matters Now, makes the case that if you want to understand democracy, autocracy, truth and the good life today, there is no better place to begin than Athens in the fourth century BC. We discuss Plato’s life and work from the trial of Socrates and the Allegory of the Cave to his uncomfortable warnings about democracy, his account of how societies slide towards tyranny, and his questions about truth, desire, fame and what money can and cannot buy — and ask what he would make of the world today. Angie Hobbs' new book — Why Plato Matters Now (Bloomsbury): Why-Plato-Matters-Now Angie Hobbs' website: https://angiehobbs.com Angie Hobbs on X: https://x.com/drangiehobbs Listen to What Rhymes With Now? on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon, and find everything else here: https://linktr.ee/whatrhymeswithnow ABOUT WHAT RHYMES WITH NOW: History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. What Rhymes With Now? is a podcast that puts today’s biggest challenges in historical perspective. In each episode, we speak to an expert about an important period of history, to help inform our approach to today’s challenges.

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In Nottingham with a large transit van helping daughter move out after completing her PhD. I love hearing her play the harp but on moving days I sometimes think ‘Why not a flute?’ She is next off to a postdoc in Italy and I think the harp will be going there too 🎼🪉

Enjoyed Nolan’s Odyssey: looks great & strong performances. Best viewed as a reimagining of the Odysseus myth for modern sensibilities rather than an attempt to put Homer on screen: there are significant differences, particularly the lack of humour & eroticism. But certainly worth seeing.

I very much enjoyed discussing Why Plato Matters Now with Kuriakos Eleftheriou, host of the Wandering Thoughts podcast: bit.ly/3Rv7O0w

Why Plato Matters Now | Prof. Angie Hobbs

In this episode, Professor Angie Hobbs and I explore why Plato still matters today. We discuss Plato’s dialogue form, Socratic questioning, and why philosophy should be a shared search for truth rather than a competition to win arguments. Professor Hobbs explains how Plato can help us think about education, respectful disagreement, deception, language, and the dangers of manipulation in politics and social media. We also explore Plato’s account of the good life, flourishing, psychic harmony, virtue, and why we should never return wrong for wrong. Finally, we discuss Plato’s political philosophy, democracy, corruption, wealth, demagoguery, tyranny, and why the abuse of words and phrases like freedom, democracy, justice, and “the will of the people” remains so dangerous today. 📘 Find Prof. Hobbs' latest book Here: 📚 Why Plato Matters Now by Angie Hobbs: https://amzn.to/3R5W9oL You can support the podcast on Patreon here: 🔗 https://tr.ee/y8wVLs 🙏 It does not unlock extra episodes or exclusive content, because I want everything I make to remain free and available to everyone. Your support helps me keep improving the podcast and bringing on interesting guests. I appreciate it! 🎧Find Wandering Thoughts Everywhere: 👇 📸 Instagram👉https://bit.ly/4fmYkOg 🐣 X 👉🏼https://bit.ly/4eHXv2q 🎵 Spotify Podcast 👉 https://bit.ly/4tBnDzS 🍎 Apple Podcasts👉 https://apple.co/3RmiwpB 📘Facebook👉 https://bit.ly/3R7JCRn 🎵 TikTok👉 https://bit.ly/4dJzw1N 🌐 Website👉 https://bit.ly/4384kmH 🎶 Amazon Music👉 https://amzn.to/3PDja1w 🖇️LinkedIn👉 https://bit.ly/4nwRDve 🔗Linktree 👉 https://bit.ly/3PJ8j6a This description may contain affiliate links, which help support the channel at no extra cost to you. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:04 Professor Angie Hobbs’ background 04:58 Plato’s dialogue form and key ideas 14:15 Healthy dialogue vs winning debates 19:38 Effective Socratic questioning and why Socrates didn’t write 25:38 Teaching children respectful disagreement and self-reflection 32:27 The good life: Plato, flourishing and psychic harmony 43:10 Plato’s three classes in The Republic 51:16 Corruption, wealth and political power 57:46 Democracy: ancient Athens vs today 1:00:53 How democracies slide into tyranny 1:11:01 Invented enemies and political manipulation 1:15:15 Future topics: Stoicism, love, art and myth

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Is it ever acceptable to kill a few to spare the many? Is assassination a powerful tool for the future? Great debate at HowTheLightGetsIn Festival with David Whetham and Roy Allison, hosted by Angie Hobbs and the Forum for European Philosophy.

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I see people are writing Burnham's political obituary already. It's almost as if they want this cycle of chaos. Personally I want progress and a functioning country and really have had my fill of shitweaselery