Though Plato’s Euthydemus is usually interpreted as an unambiguous attempt to discredit the sophists’ teaching methods, I argue that the dialogue defends the role sophists play in philosophic education. Read in its dramatic context, the dialogue reveals that sophists offer a low-stakes environment for the testing and development of an important political virtue: moderation. The sophist’s classroom facilitates the cultivation of moderation by simulating the agonistic conditions of the assembly or courtroom, where many encounter temptations to bully others verbally. By arousing one’s inner bully, the sophists expose the limits of one’s moderation. While not sufficient for developing moderation, such self-revelations constitute a necessary part of the process even for a philosopher like Socrates. Ironically, by bringing out the worst in their students, the sophists unknowingly supply a protreptic to philosophy.
Though recent scholarship challenges the traditional interpretation of Plato as anti-democratic, his antipathy to cultural diversity is still generally assumed. TheMenexenusappears to offer some of the most striking evidence of Platonic xenophobia, as it features Socrates delivering a mock funeral oration that glorifies Athens’ exclusion of foreigners. Yet when readers play along with Socrates’ exhortation to imagine the oration through the voice of its alleged author Aspasia, Pericles’ foreign mistress, the oration becomes ironic or dissonant. Through this, Plato shows that foreigners can act as gadflies, liberating citizens from the intellectual hubris that occasions democracy's fall into tyranny. In reminding readers of Socrates’ death, the dialogue warns, however, that fear of education may prevent democratic citizens from appreciating the role of cultural diversity in cultivating the virtue of Socratic wisdom.
Most readers of Plato are familiar with the cave allegory, which compares human beings to prisoners in a cave whose only notion of reality consists of shadows they see projected on the wall. Building on arguments that the cave represents the polis, or political community, this chapter brings to light various indications in Plato’s Republic that each polis creates its own unique version of the cave. Hence, there is not merely one cave, but rather an entire world of cave-like polities. Three major implications emerge from recognizing Plato’s vision of the world as a world of caves: (a) Plato’s view of the world is much more egalitarian than traditionally believed; (b) Plato recognizes that no culture is homogenous; and (c) Plato sees the potential in cross-cultural interaction for intellectual liberation.
This chapter investigates why Socrates, an Athenian, presents himself as a foreigner in the Phaedrus. It argues that Socrates’ puzzling presentation of himself as a foreigner helps his interlocutor Phaedrus become more aware of how engagement with foreigners can help us see ourselves in a different light, making the familiar seem strange. By then mirroring Phaedrus’ reaction to the speech of the foreigner Lysias, Socrates helps Phaedrus see the tension implanted in him through his Athenian upbringing to, on the one hand, admire and learn from foreigners and, on the other, to dominate and steal from them. The dialogue’s critique of Athenian imperialism helps to explain why the dialogue ends with an Egyptian myth that critiques the art of writing. Plato’s engagement with this foreign discourse reveals that, like his teacher Socrates as portrayed in the dialogues, he takes seriously the provocation to self-examination that can arise from cross-cultural engagement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.