Socrates: a good 5 cent cigar
Counter-Currents
Tag: social conventions
-
July 19, 2024 Greg Johnson
Notes on Plato’s Gorgias, Part 11
Harmony with Self or Harmony with Others?
Plato’s Academy as depicted on tiles found at Pompeii, which dates to circa 100 BC.
Plato’s Academy as depicted on tiles found at Pompeii, which dates to circa 100 BC.
1,826 words
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…)
-
Gorgias of Leontini
Gorgias of Leontini
4,213 words
Part 1 of 14 (Part 2 here)
An ancient commentator on Aristotle tells a story about a farmer who got ahold of Plato’s Gorgias and was so stunned that he gave up the life of farming, trudged to Athens, looked up Plato, and put his soul in Plato’s care.[1]
Like the Alcibiades I, the Gorgias offers a wonderful argument for pursuing the philosophical life. But there are differences. The Gorgias is twice as long as the Alcibiades I. Instead of speaking to a naïve young man, Socrates faces three formidable opponents, including one of the greatest of all sophists, Gorgias of Leontini, for whom the dialogue is named. But in the end, philosophy wins. Sorry for giving away the ending, but did you imagine it would turn out any other way given that Plato is our author? (more…)
-
Aristophanes
Aristophanes
6,912 words
Part 2 of 2 (Part 1 here)
Strepsiades Flunks Out
It hasn’t gone well. First Socrates bursts out of the Thinkery swearing an oath: “By Respiration, by Chaos, by the Air.” The usual places of gods in his oath are occupied by three natural forces. Socrates then rants about a particularly bad student who is “rustic . . . resourceless . . . dull . . . and forgetful.” Then he calls this student to come out. And out comes Strepsiades.
Socrates then quizzes Strepsiades on what he has learned. (more…)
