Showing papers in "Ancient Philosophy in 2005"

The profession of friendship: Callicles, democratic politics, and rhetorical education in Plato's Gorgias

Abstract: 1 Near the beginning of his exchange with Callicles in the Gorgias, Socrates delivers a puzzling little speech: Callicles, if there were not some experience (pãyow) common to humans, one to some, another to others, but one of us had his own private experience, different from the others, it would not be easy to reveal his experience to another. I say this having considered that I and you are now experiencing the same thing, the both of us being lovers, each of two [objects] (%r«nte dÊônte duo,n •-ãterow): I, of both Alcibiades the son of Cleinias and philosophy, and you, of the Athenian people (dAEµou) and of Pyrilampes' [son Demos]. I notice that, even though you are clever (deinoË), because you cannot contradict whatever your favourite (tå paidi-ã) says and however he says it, you are always changing completely: both when you say something in the assembly if the Athenian people says it is not so, you change over and say whatever it wishes, and with Pyrilampes' pretty boy you have had other such experiences. You are unable to oppose the decisions of your favorite, so that, if anyone should wonder at you always saying what you say on his account, because what you say

Socrates as Hoplite

Abstract: Socrates' military career has always been something of an enigma. Plato's Apology indicates that he fought in the battles of Potidaea, Delium, and Amphipolis (28e). But no one has known quite what to make of a Socrates in hoplite armor. There is no comprehensive account of his military career in connection with his moral and political commitments and his conception of the good life. A suitably detailed and contextualized portrait of Socrates' relation to Athenian hoplite culture may provide insight into the life he chose to live and, thus, into his character. And this may be significant in the case of such an exemplary figure from whom we learn to reflect on life and how to live it. Socrates' military service is one of the few items in his biography that is secure. The details of this service are noteworthy for this reason alone. But it must also be the case, given the nature of hoplite warfare, that this was no minor biographical detail. The specific battles in which Socrates fought, and the broader campaigns associated with two of them, were charged with political significance. The expedition to Potidaea probably consumed close to three years of his life. The engagements at Delium and Amphipolis ended in Athenian defeats. The latter conflict, resulting as it did in the deaths of Cleon and Brasidas, the two men most eager for war in Athens and Sparta, helped pave the way for the Peace of Nicias in 421. Moreover, these events occurred in the context of an ugly war in the course of which all parties involved conducted themselves more and more in a manner that could only be called-and frequently was called-unjust and dishonorable. Everything we know about Socrates leads us to believe that he reflected deeply upon the relevance of hoplite culture to the pursuit of the good life. Contemporary scholars often note that Socrates served as a hoplite; yet those who proceed to characterize the man and his relation to his world rarely take further notice of this fact. Nehamas 2000,8, for instance, seeks insight into the good life by examining Socrates as a literary figure. The Socrates appearing in literature is often a hoplite; indeed, it is primarily from this literature that we know of his military life. I Neharnas 2000, 7 notes that Plato's Socrates 'consistently