Socrates and Alcibiades: Plato’s Drama of Political Ambition and Philosophy

230 Pages·2017·1.78 MB·English

by  Ariel Helfer

Socrates and Alcibiades
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SocrAteS
And
AlcibiAdeS
PlAto’S drAmA
of PoliticAl Ambition
And PhiloSoPhy
Ariel helfer
university of pennsylvania press
philadelphia
copyright © 2017 University of Pennsylvania Press

All rights reserved. except for brief quotations used for
purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book
may be reproduced in any form by any means without written
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Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104- 4112
www.upenn.edu/pennpress

Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

library of congress cataloging- in- Publication data
names: helfer, Ariel, author.
title: Socrates and Alcibiades : Plato’s drama of political
ambition and philosophy / Ariel helfer.
description: 1st edition. | Philadelphia : University of
Pennsylvania Press, [2017] | includes bibliographical references
and index.
identifiers: lccn 2016049601 | iSbn 978-0-8122-4913-2
(hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcSh: Plato. Alcibiades. | Alcibiades 2. | Plato.
Symposium. | Alcibiades. | Socrates. | Ambition—Political
aspects.
classification: lcc b391.A53 h45 2017 | ddc 184--dc23 lc
record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016049601
For Mom, Pops, Max, and Joj
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Contents
introduction 1
1. Socrates’ Promise and Alcibiades’ failure (Alcibiades 103– 116) 21
2. The exaltation of Virtue (Alcibiades 116– 135) 62
3. rescuing Alcibiades (Second Alcibiades) 101
4. A Puzzling retrospective (Symposium 211– 222) 147
conclusion 175
notes 195
Works cited 213
index 217
Acknowledgments 221
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introdUction
Why Study Political Ambition?
The most interesting reasons for studying political ambition have become the
hardest to see. “Ambition” nowadays tends to signify a zealous, even ruthless
desire for gain or advancement, and is therefore often distrusted in the polit-
ical arena. The purpose of government in the best case, after all, is not to en-
rich or empower the politicians who administer it, but prudently and justly to
provide what is necessary for people to live out a harmonious and fulfilling
coexistence. Ambition is to be tolerated in the private sphere, if at all, and
“political ambition” often connotes something akin to political corruption: a
willingness to misuse political power and public trust for selfish ends. We
might study this sort of political ambition in order to understand better how
it can be muted, or perhaps controlled, channeled, and molded into some-
thing politically constructive. moreover, we might study it with a view to pro-
tecting the legacy of vigilance against tyranny and oppression that we inherit
as citizens of liberal democracy. Such studies of political ambition would be
worthwhile. They could not, however, be as philosophically far-r eaching as a
study that begins with the fuller and more complex, albeit less familiar, un-
derstanding of political ambition.
indeed, if the above description appears caricaturish, it is because we
sense that political ambition can also be something noble and good. We may
think, for example, of those who pursue careers in politics in order to do good
in their communities and in the world, to improve the lot of their fellow citi-
zens, to be champions of justice, democracy, and freedom of thought. Some-
one who exhibits this type of political ambition will see in politics not a set of
mundane administrative tasks but the stage upon which humanity’s most
admirable goals are pursued and achieved. We are thus led to distinguish
between two different phenomena, each bearing the name of political