Laches by Plato audiobook.

Genre: philosophy

Plato's Laches is a vivid philosophical drama that drops you into an Athenian courtyard where fathers worry about their sons' education and the meaning of virtue. When the question arises whether a young man should be trained in armed combat, two respected generals, Laches and Nicias, are asked to advise. Their disagreement draws in Socrates, whose relentless, good-humored questioning turns a practical debate about schooling into a searching inquiry: what is courage? As the conversation unfolds, definitions are offered, tested, and revised, revealing how easy it is to praise bravery in war yet how hard it is to explain courage as a stable quality of the soul. With Socrates guiding the group through examples, counterexamples, and uncomfortable admissions of uncertainty, the dialogue becomes a portrait of intellectual integrity and moral seriousness. Laches explores the tension between reputation and real wisdom, the responsibilities of parents and leaders, and the challenge of educating character rather than merely teaching skills. By the end, the characters confront not only the limits of their knowledge, but also the urgent need to keep examining how to live well.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

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