The historical Socrates sought to bring philosophy down from the heavens to thrive in the streets of the agora — the market-place. Agora Publications offers dramatic performances of the dialogues of Plato and David Hume to help recapture this valuable Socratic tradition. We begin by revising the texts to make them more accessible to contemporary readers and listeners while leaving them unabridged and striving to be faithful to their original meaning. In this way we create the marketplace of ideas and continue the rich philosophical tradition in which careful and precise thinking blend with literary and poetic creation.
Our unique contribution lies in enlisting professional actors and directors to perform these works as part of what we call the “Theater of the Mind.” Characters such as Socrates, Gorgias, Alcibiades, Diotima, Cleanthes, Demea, and Philo come alive and join in the perennial conversation about the most important questions. What should we teach young people about religion? What is the nature and role of love? How can the best human community be created? What are justice, goodness, truth, and beauty? Is the human soul immortal, or does it die along with the body?
In our series “The World of the Mind,” we offer oral performances of other masterpieces, including ethical works by Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill’s reflections on liberty, and the Dao De Jing by Lao Zi.