The Plato Project

Josh’s roughly-chronological exploration of the dialogues of Plato.

• The Plato Project – Introduction - Short version – I’m going to read and blog about Plato’s dialogues, beginning with The Apology of Socrates by next Sunday – I invite you to join in. Longer explanation – Last fall, I took a class about Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War.  In addition to being interesting in its own right, reading Thucydides made me think more historically about … Continue reading The Plato Project – Introduction →
• Plato Project #1: The Apology of Socrates -   “How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that they almost made me forget who I was-so persuasively did they speak; and yet they have hardly uttered a word of truth.” So begins Socrates’ final defense to the Athenian jury (Jowett’s translation).  These are words I read … Continue reading Plato Project #1: The Apology of Socrates →
• Plato Project #2: Charmides -   [Next Week – Crito] I’d never read “Charmides” before, so I’ll just share my first impressions. The first and most striking feature of this dialogue, for me anyway, is that it’s narrated in the first person, by Socrates himself.  I really haven’t read very many of the off-the-beaten-path dialogues, so maybe this is a common … Continue reading Plato Project #2: Charmides →
• Plato Project #3: Crito - [Up Next – Euthyphro] As a senior in high school, in our “Great Books” class, and then again as a freshman in college, in a course called “The Moral Basis of Politics,” we read “Crito.”  Every year with my junior AP Language and Composition students, I also read this text.  I believe it’s one of … Continue reading Plato Project #3: Crito →
• Plato Project #4: Euthyphro - [Up next: “First Alcibiades”] “Euthyphro” is the third and final full Socratic text I’ve spent some time teaching (I’ve also excerpted the analogy of the cave, and the Meno sequence where Socrates teaches a slave-boy geometry, which we’ll come to in good time).  A quick perusal of the internet shows that the substance of the argument in … Continue reading Plato Project #4: Euthyphro →
• Plato Project #5: First Alcibiades -   [Up next: Greater Hippias] “Alcibiades” is a byword for a certain kind of decadent and ostentatious public figure, one who is attractive, ambitious, courts scandal, and is self-involved.  It was with this archetype that I was most acquainted.  I think in our high school Great Books class we read something called “Alcibiades” but I don’t think … Continue reading Plato Project #5: First Alcibiades →
• Plato Project #6: Hippias Major - [Up Next: Hippias Minor] Hippias Major considers the question of what is beautiful, though really only reached conclusions about what it is not.  It begins with Hippias (I’m guessing he’s a sophist) boastfully explaining that he gives the best and most beautiful speeches, because he makes the most money of anyone who gives them.  There’s a … Continue reading Plato Project #6: Hippias Major →
• Plato Project #7: Hippias Minor - [Up Next: Ion]   Who’s the greater hero – Achilles or Odysseus?  There is a timelessness to that question, since the two well-known Homeric heroes – the one of the Iliad and the of ther of the Odyssey – seem to represent two diametrically opposed ways of being a hero.  Achilles is a swift-footed and strong warrior; Odysseus is … Continue reading Plato Project #7: Hippias Minor →
• Plato Project #8: Ion - [Up Next: Laches] In this dialogue, Ion of Ephesus speaks with Socrates.  Ion is identified as a “rhapsode,” which means he was a professional performer of epic song.  He claims to be the best interpreter of Homer alive.  Socrates allows him this claim, but is more concerned with the question of the reason for Ion’s success, or … Continue reading Plato Project #8: Ion →
• Plato Project #9: Laches - [Up Next: Lysis] The subject of “Laches” is courage – it begins with two military men – Lysimachus and Melesias – fretting over what to teach their sons.  They both confess to having failed to learn what courage is for themselves, and for their sons, they want better.  Their sons, we learn, are both named after their … Continue reading Plato Project #9: Laches →