Angie Hobbs, "Why Plato Matters Now" (Bloomsbury, 2025)

Jan 14, 2026

Angie Hobbs, Emerita Professor at the University of Sheffield and author of Why Plato Matters Now, argues that Plato's insights are vital for understanding contemporary issues like democracy and ethics. She explores how Plato's dialogue form promotes constructive debate and exposes us to moral questioning. Hobbs connects ancient philosophy to modern challenges, from healthcare to the impact of art on society. She emphasizes the need for civic dialogue in times of polarization and suggests that Platonic friendship can help rebuild trust in communities.

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INSIGHT

Thematic Plato For Modern Problems

Plato's dialogues thread themes by topic rather than chronology, making them tools for contemporary application.
Angie Hobbs uses thematic chapters to connect Plato's ideas to modern issues without endorsing his metaphysics.

INSIGHT

Dialogue Form Trains Active Thinkers

Plato's dialogue form makes readers active participants because the author rarely speaks in his own voice.
The form trains readers to think, interpret, and engage rather than simply receive doctrine.

ADVICE

Teach Dialogue Skills Early

Do learn Plato's models of how to conduct constructive dialogue and how not to.
Teach children dialogic skills early so they can spot bullying, sophistry, and manipulative rhetoric online.

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Does Plato matter? An ancient philosopher whose work has inspired and informed countless thinkers and poets across the centuries, his ideas are no longer taught as widely as they once were. But, as Angie Hobbs argues in this clear-sighted book Why Plato Matters Now (Bloomsbury, 2025), that is a mistake.
If we want to understand the world we live in – from democracy, autocracy and fake news to celebrity, cancel culture and what money can and cannot do – there is no better place to start than Plato. Exploring the intersection between the ancient and the modern, Professor Hobbs shows how Plato can help us address key questions concerning the nature of a flourishing life and community, healthcare, love and friendship, heroism, reality, art and myth-making. She also shows us how Plato's adaptation of the Socratic method and dialogue form can enable us to deal with contested issues more constructively.
Plato's methodology, arguments, ideas and vivid images are explained with a clarity suitable both for readers familiar with his work and for those approaching Plato for the first time. This book shows why Plato really matters, now more than ever.

Angie Hobbs is emerita Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield. She gained a degree in Classics and a PhD in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and her chief interests are in ancient philosophy and literature, and ethics and political theory from classical thought to the present, and she has published widely in these areas, including Plato and the Hero. She works in a number of policy sectors, and contributes regularly to media around the world, including many appearances on In Our Time on Radio 4; she has spoken at the World Economic Forum at Davos, the Athens Democracy Forum, the Houses of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and Westminster Abbey and been the guest on Desert Island Discs and Private Passions. Website here

Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature.

YouTube Channel: here

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