Was Socrates an ironist? Did he mock his interlocutors and, in doing so, show disdain for both them and the institutions of Athenian democracy?  These questions were debated with great seriousness by generations of ancient Greek writers and helped to define a primary strand of the western tradition of political thought. By reconstructing these debates, The Politics of Socratic Humor compares the very different interpretations of Socrates developed by his followers—including such diverse thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Aristophanes, and the Hellenistic philosophers—to explore the deep ethical and political dimensions of Socratic humor and its implications for civic identity, democratic speech, and political cooperation. Irony has long been seen as one of Socrates’ most characteristic features, but as Lombardini shows, irony is only one part of a much larger toolkit of Socratic humor, the broader intellectual context of which must be better understood if we are to appropriate Socratic thought for our own modern ends.

"Lombardini eruditely demonstrates the function of Socratic mockery and irony in Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, and others (and in this way the book makes a meaningful contribution to the literature on these authors)." - Review of Politics

"John Lombardini’s excellent book significantly complicates and thereby advances our understanding of Socratic humour. . . . It should be read by all students of Socrates, of ancient Athens, and of democracy more generally." - Polis

"Opening productive avenues for political theorizing . . . [Lombardini] helps reveal the psychosocial aspects of democracy and the challenges of both political critique and civic education." - Perspectives on Politics

"The signal achievement of this book is to revive our sense of Socrates as a man who could be funny, offensive, and baffling in equal measure." - Ancient Philosophy

"Lombardini makes the points of his argument quite accessible." - Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Lombardini’s views will have to be taken into account by anyone concerned with Socratic irony, or with the attitudes of these authors towards Socrates." - New England Classical Journal

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"This careful reading of the classical sources is sustained by a well-informed discussion of contemporary studies and debates about Socrates’ irony."