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Agnes Callard talks to William Sieghart

Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life

Hay Festival 2025, 

Philosopher Agnes Callard presents a new and vibrant understanding of the life and work of Socrates and his unique approach to learning. In Open Socrates, Callard recovers the radical energy at the centre of Socrates’ thought, drawing attention to his startling discovery that we don’t know how to ask ourselves the most important questions about how we should live, and how we might change.

Callard is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago, specialising in ancient philosophy and ethics. Having applied Socratic teachings to her own life, she lives in what the Guardian terms “a kind of ideal philosophical throuple”, married to a graduate student while living platonically with her ex-husband, also a philosopher.