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

Jan 14, 2026

Angie Hobbs, an emerita professor specializing in ancient Greek philosophy, discusses her book, Why Plato Matters Now. She argues that Plato's ideas about democracy, art, and community are extremely relevant today. Hobbs emphasizes how Plato's dialogue form promotes active engagement in philosophy, making it a vital educational tool. She explores themes like moral education for children, the dangers of censorship, and how to combat modern challenges using Plato's insights. With a focus on flourishing and inclusion, she highlights the need for his wisdom in contemporary society.

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INSIGHT

Dialogue Form As Active Education

Plato's dialogue form makes readers active participants by refusing to speak in the author's own voice.
This method trains readers to interpret, question, and learn through conversational engagement.

INSIGHT

Model Good And Bad Dialogue

Plato models both constructive dialogue (searching for truth) and destructive sophistry (winning by tricks).
Recognizing those styles teaches civic conversational virtues and how not to argue.

ADVICE

Start Philosophy Early In Schools

Teach children philosophy early so they learn to spot fallacies and manipulative rhetoric.
Give pupils basic tools to identify tricks used online and by sophists before they become adults.

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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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