Arguing with Socrates: An Introduction to Plato’s Shorter Dialogues

222 Pages·2013·0.68 MB·English

by  Christopher Warne

Arguing with
Socrates
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM BLOOMSBURY
The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates, edited by John Bussanich
and Nicholas D. Smith
Plato: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gerald A. Press
Plato’s Republic, Luke Purshouse
Socrates: A Guide for the Perplexed, Sara Ahbel-Rappe
Arguing with
Socrates
An Introduction to Plato’s
Shorter Dialogues
CHRISTOPHER WARNE
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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London New York
WC1B 3DP NY 10010
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www.bloomsbury.com
First published 2013
© Christopher Warne, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publishers.
Christopher Warne has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on
or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978–1–6235–6254–0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
To Cathy
Thank you

CONTENTS
Preface xi
PART ONE
1
1 People 3
Introduction 3
Socrates 4
The interlocutors 7
Plato 10
Conclusion 11
2 How Socrates argues 13
Introduction 13
The Socratic elenchus 14
The ‘What is F?’ question 19
Knowledge and ignorance 23
Epagoge 26
Socratic and Platonic irony 28
Conclusion 30
PART TWO
33
3 Apology 35
Introduction 35
The drama 36
viii CONTENTS
The justice of philosophy 38
The text 41
Conclusion 51
4 Crito 53
Introduction 53
The drama 54
Obedience to the law 56
The text 58
Conclusion 68
5 Euthyphro 69
Introduction 69
The drama 70
Piety 72
The text 74
Conclusion 84
6 Hippias Major 85
Introduction 85
The drama 86
Beauty in action 88
The text 90
Conclusion 98
7 Ion 99
Introduction 99
The drama 100
Story and truth 101
The text 103
Conclusion 114
CONTENTS ix
8 Laches 115
Introduction 115
The drama 116
Courage 118
The text 121
Conclusion 129
9 Meno 131
Introduction 131
The drama 132
Can virtue be taught? 133
The text 136
Conclusion 145
10 Protagoras 147
Introduction 147
The drama 148
The unity of virtue 150
The text 152
Conclusion 163
11 Symposium 165
Introduction 165
The drama 166
Erotic desire 167
The text 170
Conclusion 180
Notes 183
Guide to further reading 199
Index 207