Table Of ContentPlato’s Socrates as Narrator
Plato’s Socrates as Narrator
A Philosophical Muse
Anne-Marie Schultz
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Plato’sSocratesasNarrator:APhilosophicalMuse 1
2 ListeningtoSocratesasNarratoroftheLysis:Reassessing
Friendship,Intellectualism,andAporeticEndings 17
3 ChasteningCharmides 39
4 PerformingPhilosophyintheProtagoras 73
5 EvaluatingEristicintheEuthydemus 101
6 Self-MasteryandHarmonyinPlato’sRepublic 141
7 MusingontheRepublic:ItsHomeric,Socratic,andPlatonic
Narratives 167
Conclusion:ComposingaVisionofPhilosophyfromPlato’s
SocratesasNarrator 191
SelectedBibliography 207
Index 219
v
Acknowledgments
This book has been a long time coming. The twists and turns of life do not
alwaysmapneatlyontotheexpectedlinearityofanacademiccareer.Thatis
a story in its own right, but I will not tell it here. I had the idea that turned
intothisbookslightlyoveradecadeago.However,theseedofthatideawas
planted nearly two decades earlier still. My first acknowledgment of grati-
tudegoestoChuckSalman.HefirsttaughtmetolovePlato,thephilosophi-
caldramatist.ThreeothersatTrinityUniversity(LarryKimmel,WillisSalo-
mon,andVictoriaAarons)nurturedmyphilosophicalandrhetoricalinterests
andencouragedmetopursuegraduatestudy.
DuringmygraduateyearsatPennState,StanleyRosenandthelateDavid
LachtermancultivatedthoseseedsanddeepenedmyappreciationofPlatoin
more ways than I can adequately describe. This book and the one to follow
bear the marks of their initial guidance through Plato’s world. Carl Vaught,
who later became my colleague at Baylor for seven years prior to his death,
also influenced my thinking in profound ways. I am deeply grateful for the
education I received in the Happy Valley and am proud to be a graduate of
thePennStatePhilosophyDepartment.
I would also like to thank The College of Arts and Sciences at Baylor
University for funding sabbaticals at various stages of this project. I am
blessed to have wonderful colleagues in the Philosophy Department and the
Honors College who support all the dimensions of my academic work. I am
particularlygratefulforthementorshipofBobBaird,TomHanks,andStuart
Rosenbaum and the friendship of Lenore and Henry Wright over the years.
Specialthanksalsotothe“writinggroupies”:HeidiBostic,StevenPluachek,
Amy Antoninka, Lenore Wright, Paul Carron, and Lisa Shaver. Without
them, you would not be reading this book today. Thanks also to the many
researchassistantswhohelpedatvariousstagesalongtheway:JessyJordan,
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Lewis Pearson, Paul Carron, and Taryn Whittington. Thanks also to Leslie
Ballard for proofreading the final manuscript. Mary Nichols and Rob Miner
also deserve thanks for commenting on chapters of this project. Special
thanks as well to my chair, Michael Beaty, and the Dean of the Honors
College,TomHibbs.
The members of the Ancient Philosophy Society, Society of Ancient
GreekPhilosophy,andSouthwesternPhilosophicalSocietyhavebeenrecep-
tive audiences for many early iterations of these pages. Marina McCoy, Jill
Gordon,andSaraBrillhavebeenparticularlysupportivebothpersonallyand
professionally for many years. I’m happy to report that you can finally read
thewholebook!
Myparents,AndreaandMichaelFrosolono,andsister,ChristinaFrosolo-
no Sell, have loved me from the very beginning of things. Thanks to Mom
forteachingmeto read andDadforteachingmeto write.Weare,indeed, a
family of readers and writers. My brother-in-law, Kelly Sell, provided an
inspirational model of staying committed to a goal in the last stages of this
endeavor. Finally, to my husband, Jeff Schultz. I dedicate this book to you.
Thank you for kindness, patience, love, and love of philosophy, yoga, and
travel. I look forward to many happy years together. My golden retriever,
Milo,deservesthanksaswelljustforbeingthegreatdogthatheis.
Permissions
Earlier formulations of several chapters have been published previously. An
overviewofthisprojectfirstappearedas “KnowThyself:SocratesasStory-
teller,” in Philosophy in Dialogue Form: Plato’s Many Devices, ed. Gary
Scott(Evanston:NorthwesternUniversityPress2007),82-109.Thankyouto
NorthwesternUniversityPressforpermissiontorepublishhere.Asmallpart
of the Charmides chapter appeared as “Socrates and Sophrosune: Narrative
and Ethics in Plato’s Charmides,” Listening: A Journal of Philosophy and
Religion, (2007):13-23.TheProtagoraschapter isanexpandedandrefined
versionof“Socratic ReasonandEmotion: RevisitingtheIntellectualist Soc-
rates in Plato’s Protagoras,” in Socrates: Reason or Unreason as the Foun-
dationofEuropeanIdentity,ed.AnnWard(Cambridge:CambridgeScholars
Press, 2007): 1-29. My thanks to Cambridge Scholars Publishing for their
permissiontorepublishtheseworkshere.AsmallsectionoftheEuthydemus
chapter came out as “The Narrative Frame of Plato’s Euthydemus,” South-
west Philosophy Review 24 (2009): 163-172. Some of the reflections about
narrative irony appear in “Revisiting the Ironic Socrates: Eironeia in Socra-
tes’ Narrative Commentary,” Southwest Philosophy Review 29 (2012): 23-
32.
Chapter One
Plato’s Socrates as Narrator
A Philosophical Muse
As Plato’s Theaetetus begins, Euclides tells Terpsion about a conversation
betweenSocratesandTheaetetus.TerpsioniseagertohearEuclides’account
of the conversation. Euclides is happy to comply. Indeed, he has written
downaversionofthestoryforjustsuchanoccasion.
Thisisthebook,Terpsion.Yousee,Ihavewrittenitoutlikethis:Ihavenot
madeSocratesrelatetheconversationasherelatedittome,butIrepresenthim
as speaking directlytothepersons withwhomhe saidhe had this conversa-
tion. (These were, he told me, Theodorus the geometer and Theaetetus.) I
wanted,inthewrittenversion,toavoidthebotherofhavingthebitsofnarra-
tiveinbetweenthespeeches—Imean,whenSocrates,wheneverhementions
hisownpartinthediscussion,says,“AndImaintained,”or“Isaid,”or,ofthe
person answering, “He agreed” or “He would not admit this.” That is why I
havemadehimtalkdirectlytothemandhaveleftouttheseformulae.(143c)
TerpsionapplaudsEuclides’rhetoricaldecision:“Well,that’squiteinorder,
Euclides.”Euclidesturnstohisslaveandcommandshimtoreadthebookto
them (143c). Given their casual disregard for the value of these narrative
comments, it is odd that Plato wrote many of his dramatic dialogues in this
very manner.1 Plato even depicts Socrates as narrating five dialogues in
preciselythebothersomewaythatEuclidesdescribes.Howarewetounder-
standthisstrangeoccurrence?Howmight weexplaintheapparent inconsis-
tencybetweentheseremarksintheTheaetetusandPlato’sownuseofnarra-
tive in thedialogues? In thisbook, I analyzethefive Platonic dialoguesthat
Socrates narrates: Lysis, Charmides, Protagoras, Euthydemus, and Repub-
1
