Tag: Alcibiades

Plato by L. Vorsterman after Peter Paul Rubens

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Socrates and Plato were enemies of tyranny. Indeed, in book 9 of Plato’s Republic, Socrates sets forth one of history’s oldest and most influential denunciations of tyrants and tyranny. Yet some of their best friends and students were tyrants.

Socrates was a friend and teacher of Alcibiades, a would-be tyrant, and of Critias and Charmides, who were actual members of the Thirty Tyrants who ruled Athens in 404–403 BCE.

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Plato’s Academy as depicted on tiles found at Pompeii, which dates to circa 100 BC.

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Part 11 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here, Part 8 here, Part 9 here, Part 10 here, Part 12 here)

After beating Polus, Socrates continued to badger him with intentionally provocative and paradoxical arguments until Callicles cuts in. The conversation between Socrates and Callicles takes up the rest of the Gorgias. (more…)

Socrates in the Agora. (Image source: kriserdmann at Freepik.)

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Part 2 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here)

The first word of the Gorgias is “polemos,” war, and it is spoken by Callicles: “War and battle, this, they say, is how you should do your part in them, Socrates.” (more…)

Kristian Zahrtmann, Socrates and Alcibiades, 1911 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

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Part 7 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here)

Wisdom vs. Tyranny

Having established that the true self is the soul and defended philosophical dialogue as the best path to self-knowledge, Socrates wraps up his argument. (more…)

John William Waterhouse, Psyche Opening The Golden Box, 1903

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Part 6 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 7 here)

The final part of the Alcibiades I deals with the self and self-knowledge. Most ancient commentators held that this discussion is the core of the dialogue.

From Self-Cultivation to Self-Knowledge

Socrates has finally gotten Alcibiades to admit that he needs to pursue self-cultivation. But what is self-cultivation? We must answer that question lest we mistakenly cultivate something other than ourselves. (more…)

Condordia on the Jubilee Column in Stuttgart (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

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Part 5 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 6 here)

In our previous installment, we examined the speech Socrates made to break Alcibiades out of his complacency and spur him to educate and cultivate himself if he wishes to attain world renown.

Back to Dialogue

To borrow a term from classical music, the Alcibiades I has a “sonata” form: ABA. The first part (A¹) consists of Socrates’ initial dialogue with Alcibiades. Part B is the speech about the Persian and Spartan queens. The third part (A²) is a return to the dialogue form. Socrates and Alcibiades first return to the idea of justice. Then they discuss self-knowledge. (more…)

Xerxes I of Persia and his wife, Queen Amestris

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Part 4 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 5 here)

Socrates has convinced Alcibiades that he is ignorant of justice. Therefore, he should not go into politics until he is educated. But Socrates undermines his argument by pointing out that none of the other eminent Athenians, even Pericles himself, knows what justice is. From this, Alcibiades concludes that if his rivals for power are equally ignorant, he has no need to waste time on education, because he is confident that he can beat them based on his superior nature. (more…)

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Part 3 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 4 here)

Alcibiades admits that he doesn’t know what justice is. But he thinks he’s found a way around Socrates’ objection, since politics doesn’t really deal with justice (dike). Instead, it deals with the expedient or advantageous (sympheronta). The just and the expedient are different things, since one can benefit from unjust acts and be harmed by just acts.

Socrates suggests the example of a man who suffers injury or death by risking his life to save his kinsmen or countryman in battle. This is a just and courageous act, even though one is harmed by it. Conversely, if one avoids injury or death by being cowardly, one is benefitted by injustice. Therefore, the just and the advantageous are different things. (more…)

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Part 2 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here)

In the first part of this series, Socrates accuses Alcibiades of wanting to be a tyrant and argues that if he wishes to fulfill this ambition, he must study philosophy. Alcibiades won’t admit that he aspires to be a tyrant, but “if” he did, he wants to know what Socrates would teach him.

The Question of Justice

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Jean-Baptiste Regnault, Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure, 1791.

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Part 1 of 7 (Part 2 here)

Author’s Note: I am typing up and editing my lecture notes on Plato’s Alcibiades I and Gorgias to incorporate them into a new book tentatively entitled Tyranny and Wisdom: An Introduction to Platonic Philosophy. The Phoenician neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus (c. 245–c. 325) placed the Alcibiades I first and the Gorgias second in his curriculum of Plato’s dialogues, and with good reason, for together they constitute an excellent introduction to Socratic moral and political philosophy.

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