Introduction

Summary

To be human is to want to be better– if not a better person, then at least better at something. The first premise of this book is that we cannot strive to become better without some notion of the best; logically speaking, better implies best. The second premise is that the idea of the divine serves as the limit case of what is best in our practical reasoning; it is a conceptual truth about god that nothing better can be conceived. The third premise is that our ideas about the gods are an invaluable window on human nature. I then set out my principles for the interpretation of the Socratic philosophers and the Bible. Finally, I discuss the existing scholarship about “becoming like a god” in Greek philosophy and how I see this book in relation to it.