Rather than questioning the world, Socrates believed that we would be better off questioning ourselves. What do we really know? Socrates placed philosophy on a solid foundation of reason, but his insistence upon questioning accepted truths would finally prove his undoing. In 399 BC he was tried by the people of Athens and sentenced to death for impiety. "The Virgin Philosophers Series" covers the lives and ideas of the major philosophers. Author Paul Strathern highlights the major advances in philosophy, as well as the men who conceived them and the times in which they lived. Containing quotes, insights and anecdotes, the aim of the series is to clarify the mysteries of philosophy for the general reader.