Eric Weiner's "The Socrates Express: Exploring Life Lessons from Ancient Philosophers"

A Nagaraj Subbarao: Weiner in a reasonably breezy fashion explores the ideas of philosophers dead and gone gone. I find it a great read. My only issue with the book is Weiner’s cliched ideas about India, it’s babudom, inefficient railways and so on. Come on man, move on!

India on Nov 26, 2023

Albert Mulligan: An easy yet informative read.
Learnt a lot.

Canada on Sep 15, 2023

Gary Moreau, Author: This is the most approachable book of philosophy you are bound to find. Weiner’s writing is simple, to the point, and often humorous. He covers many of history’s most notable philosophers and schools of philosophy without resorting to the language of modern academic philosophy. There is no need to stare at your navel.

Weiner notes that few schools today teach philosophy. At best they teach about philosophers. But although there are differences, philosophy and science are essentially the same thing. The words, in fact, centuries ago were used concurrently and many of the greatest philosophers in history would be considered both scientists and philosophers today. Newton’s most famous paper, which is often assigned a prominent role in kicking off the Scientific Revolution, actually had the word philosophy in its title.

We are today enamored with science. ‘What the science says’ is the journalistic phrase of the day. The suggestion, of course, is that if this is what the science says, it must be true. This is the source of many of our current social, political, and cultural ills, however. Science is not a body of knowledge. It is a methodology for collecting...

United States on Sep 02, 2023

Sujittra Chaturongkul: As I try to write this review, for a book that is a bit too long, I find that it's not easy to recapitulate all of the wisdom, the insight, and the profound use of language. You just have to read this book for yourself. The book gets an A+ from me, for Eric Weiner as a writer.

This is what he says about the purpose of writing the book, "...a sense of urgency propels my pen. It is the urgency of someone who does not want to die having not lived." P. XVIII

We all have this sense of wanting to contribute, probably, as the legacy of our own once happened life.

So from now I'm going to state some things about his book and his writing together with quotes from him.

First, I find it very useful to know the backgrounds of all philosophers he mentions to "savor" the book. I use short YouTube videos (bios and philosophies) before reading the various sections of selected philosophers.

Weiner's philosophy seems to be influenced somewhat by the Buddha and the Eastern thoughts. For example, he goes into details to describe the doctrine of suffering in a lot of places especially on Schopenhauer.

For all of us, life is not the bed of roses full of...

United States on Aug 22, 2023

Mart P.: A travel book, a history book and a philosophy book all rolled into one. A great way to learn about philosophy and how it applies to our real lives.

United Kingdom on Dec 16, 2022

Tomichan Matheikal: 14 philosophers are presented in this book in a very pleasant way. Excellent style. Enlightening read.

India on Jul 28, 2021

Mr. Peter Humby: I highly recommend The Socrates Express. Eric writes with humour and humility. Two things stood out in this book. Firstly, knowing about the philosophers--their lives and where they lived--adds to their ideas, because you realise they struggled and sacrificed for their search for answers (or the best questions). Secondly, philosophy is not just logic, but is also about the emotions we all live with, and together the ideas, the emotions, and the spirit of questioning and struggle, make up philosophy.
This book did inspire me, but not because it provided neat strategies for living, but because it made me want to search and wonder as well as feel and experience some of the ideas of the philosopher.
I also thank the author for sharing his own experiences; I felt like I was part of his journey at times.
This book does the philosophers justice.

Australia on Sep 03, 2020