Polytropic Socrates’ Implicit Defence of Philosophy
Lying, Justice, and Sophistry in Plato’s Lesser Hippias
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.43.3Keywords:
Hippias, Justice, Plato, Political Philosophy, Socrates, SophistsAbstract
This article offers an interpretation of Plato’s Lesser Hippias, containing several original claims. First, it contends that the dialogue takes place in front of an unnamed audience composed of Socrates’ students and the dialogue is therefore for their benefit, not that of Hippias or Eudicus. It then argues that Socrates juxtaposes himself to Hippias to show the superiority of philosophy to sophistry. Finally, this article claims that the central argument of the dialogue is a means to demonstrate Socrates’ superior understanding of justice, for he is able to tell the truth on the matter as well as lie, showing mastery of both philosophy and sophistry. These assertions demonstrate the importance of the Lesser Hippias in the broader Platonic corpus.
References
Alexander, Liz Anne (2008): ‘An Interpretation of Plato’s Lesser Hippias’, Master’s Thesis, University of Alberta. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7939/R3R20S19P
Bloom, Allan (1991): ‘Interpretive Essay’, in Bloom, Allan (ed. & trans.) The Republic of Plato. 2 ed. New York: Basic Books. pp. 307-436.
Blundell, Mary Whitlock (1992): ‘Character and Meaning in Plato’s Hippias Minor’, in Klagge, James C. and Nicholas D. Smith (eds.) Methods of Interpreting Plato and His Dialogues. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 131-172.
Bruell, Christopher (1999): On the Socratic Education: An Introduction to the Shorter Platonic Dialogues. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Corey, David D (2013): ‘The Sophist Hippias and the Problem of Polytropia’, in Dustin, Christopher A. and Denise Schaeffer (eds.) Socratic Philosophy and Its Others. Lanham: Lexington Press. pp. 91-114.
Davis, Michael (2016); ‘Lies Like the Truth: On Plato’s Lesser Hippias’, Cogent Arts and Humanities 3(1133079). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2015.1133079
De Laguna, Theodore (1920): ‘The Lesser Hippias’, The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods 17(20): pp. 550-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2940114
Homer (1990): The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Viking.
Lampert, Laurence (2002): ‘Socrates’ Defence of Polytropic Odysseus: Lying and Wrong-doing in Plato’s Lesser Hippias’, The Review of Politics 64(2): 231-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500038080
Ludlam, Ivor (2017): ‘Plato on the Good: Hippias Minor and Hippias Major’, Studies in Ancient Moral and Political Philosophy 3(1): pp. 78-100.
Plato (1903): Platonis Opera. Trans. John Burnet. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://bit.ly/2t2TBfD (8 Nov 2019).
Plato (1987): ‘Alcibiades I’, in Pangle, Thomas (ed.) The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Forgotten Socratic Dialogues. Trans. Carnes Lord. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 175-221.
Plato (1998): ‘Apology of Socrates’, in West, Thomas G. and Grace Starry West (eds. and trans.) Four Tests on Socrates: Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Aristophanes’ Clouds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 63-97.
Plato (1987): ‘Cleitophon’, in Pangle, Thomas (ed.) The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Forgotten Socratic Dialogues. Trans. Clifford Orwin. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 111-116.
Plato (1987): ‘Lesser Hippias’, in Pangle, Thomas (ed.) The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Forgotten Socratic Dialogues. Trans. James Leake. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 281-99.
Plato (1987): ‘Greater Hippias’, in Pangle, Thomas (ed.) The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Forgotten Socratic Dialogues. Trans. David R. Sweets. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 307-339.
Sprague, Rosamund Kent (2013): Plato’s Use of Fallacy: A Study of the Euthydemus and Some Other Dialogues. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203101544
Strauss, Leo (1964): The City and Man. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company.
Xenophon (1994): Memorabilia. Trans. and Annot. Amy L. Bonnette. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science by https://politikon.iapss.org/index.php/politikon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.