3 h 49 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What holds a society together—and what must change when its order leaves people poor and dependent?
In A Modern Symposium, Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson brings political creeds face to face. The Tory, the Liberal, the Socialist, the Anarchist and the Mystic each explain what they believe and why. Drawing on Plato's dialogue form, Dickinson lets ideas meet through conversation rather than asking you to accept one voice speaking from above.
The Tory defends inherited institutions and habits that hold society together. The Socialist asks what freedom means when wealth leaves people dependent, while the Anarchist joins the challenge to property and the state. The Mystic shifts the ground: beyond institutions, what gives human life its worth? Each position reveals its promises, fears and weaknesses.
What you’ll discover
- Ideas face to face Hear rival convictions answer one another, with room to weigh each argument for yourself.
- The case for tradition Explore the Tory's fear that tearing down old forms can destroy what binds people together.
- Freedom under pressure Consider the Socialist's challenge to political freedom when poverty and dependence shape daily life.
- Property and the state Follow the Socialist and Anarchist as they question how society distributes wealth and power.
- Life beyond institutions Let the Mystic's questions draw you toward what politics serves and what makes life worthwhile.
Who will love it
For readers who love hearing several sides of an argument, students of political thought, and anyone who enjoys Plato's way of teaching through talk.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Dickinson lets the creeds argue face to face
- Tradition and liberty each claim to protect society
- Socialist and Anarchist question property and the state
- The Mystic asks what politics is for
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Ein modernes Symposium
by G. Lowes Dickinson · 1905
A Tory, a Liberal, a Socialist, an Anarchist and a Mystic meet at one table to test what society is meant to serve.
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In short
A Modern Symposium is a book of conversation by G. Lowes Dickinson, a Cambridge scholar and writer, first published in 1905.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Dickinson lets the creeds argue face to face
Dickinson was a teacher of politics and a student of the Greeks, and he borrowed the dialogue from Plato. In a dialogue, an idea is not stated from above. It is spoken by a person, tested by another, and pushed into corners it did not expect. A Modern Symposium uses this to bring the political beliefs of Edwardian England into one conversation.
The speakers are not stuffed figures set up to be knocked down. Each is given reasons, and each is given a manner of speaking that fits his creed. The reader is invited to feel the pull of every view before judging any of them. This is harder to do than it sounds, since most political writing is written to win.
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What is A Modern Symposium about?
It is a conversation among speakers of different political creeds, including a Tory, a Liberal, a Socialist, an Anarchist and a Mystic. Each explains his view of society, power and the good life, and the others answer.
Why is it called a symposium?
The title echoes Plato's Symposium, in which friends talk at a dinner. Dickinson uses the same idea of a gathering where ideas are tested through speech, but applies it to the politics of his own day.
When was A Modern Symposium written?
It was first published in 1905 by G. Lowes Dickinson. It is a work of imagined conversation, not a true story, and it reflects the political debates of Edwardian England.
The author
Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson
1862–1932 · English historian and political writer
Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson (1862–1932) was a British historian and political writer. He was born in London and studied at King's College, Cambridge, where he later became a fellow and taught history. He wrote A Modern Symposium, published in 1905. He supported the creation of the League of Nations.
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