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Buddha, Socrates, and Us

Ethical Living in Uncertain Times
By Stephen Batchelor
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Brief Description
A renowned Buddhist teacher turns to two of the most influential figures in history for guidance on how to face the ethical challenges of our time. [Batchelor] draws on a different tradition of doubt—Socratic questioning—and explores the wisdom that Buddhist and Hellenistic philosophy might offer us... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback

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A renowned Buddhist teacher turns to two of the most influential figures in history for guidance on how to face the ethical challenges of our time.

[Batchelor] draws on a different tradition of doubt—Socratic questioning—and explores the wisdom that Buddhist and Hellenistic philosophy might offer us today. - Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show

The Buddha's revolutionary teachings transformed Asia, and his contemporary Socrates laid the foundations of Western philosophy. Although they never met, Socrates and the Buddha each addressed in a radically new and surprisingly similar way the core questions of how to lead a good, just, and dignified life amid turbulence and violence. Common to their teachings was an ethics of uncertainty: both refused to make truth claims about the ultimate nature of reality, insisting on the primacy of critical self-evaluation as the basis of an ethical life.

In this illuminating book, best-selling author Stephen Batchelor explores the philosophical, social, and political worlds of the Buddha and Socrates, showing how their teachings continue to provide lessons in how to lead a flourishing and engaged life. Keenly aware of the fickle and conflicted nature of the human mind, Gotama and Socrates inspired their followers to act with humility and courage, risk and resolve, doubt and confidence. Drawing on their insights, and those of their followers, Batchelor uncovers a middle way between Buddhist dharma and Greek philosophy that can serve as a starting point for a "secular faith" that addresses the most pressing spiritual and planetary issues of our age.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780300292077

Publisher: Yale University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 August 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: Yale University Press

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 352

Collections

Non-Fiction Philosophy & Psychology Philosophy & Stoicism Religion & Spirituality Stephen Batchelor

About the Author

Stephen Batchelor is a teacher and scholar of Buddhism. His works include Buddhism Without Beliefs, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, After Buddhism, Secular Buddhism, and The Art of Solitude. He lives in La Sauve, France.

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