University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1996 Plato's project for education in the early Socratic dialogues. Heather Lynne Reid University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Reid, Heather Lynne, "Plato's project for education in the early Socratic dialogues." (1996). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 2285. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/2285 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PLATO'S PROJECT FOR EDUCATION IN THE EARLY SOCRATIC DIALOGUES A Dissertation Presented by HEATHER LYNNE REID Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 1996 Department of Philosophy © Copyright by Heather Lynne Reid 1996 All Rights Reserved PLATO'S PROJECT FOR EDUCATION IN THE EARLY SOCRATIC DIALOGUES A Dissertation Presented by HEATHER LYNNE REID Approved as to style and content by: ca Gareth B. Matthews, Chair Robert Ackerman, Member J^n Robison, Department Head philosophy ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation director Gareth B. Matthews for his special balance of support and criticism throughout this project, as well as Bruce Aune and Marios Philippides for their comments on early stages of the manuscript. I also wish to thank the Department of Philosophy of the University of Southern California for providing library privileges and research support necessary to the completion of this dissertation. Finally, for their generous emotional and financial support throughout my graduate education, I wish to thank my family, especially my husband Larry. IV ABSTRACT PLATO'S PROJECT FOR EDUCATION IN THE EARLY SOCRATIC DIALOGUES MAY 1996 HEATHER LYNNE REID, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Gareth B. Matthews What is the role of philosophy in education? This timeless question may best be answered by examining Plato's earliest dialogues in which he makes a case for philosophy as the centerpiece of education. I call this effort Plato's project for education and interpret the Apology, Crito, Charmides, Laches, Ion, Hippias Minor, Euthyphro, and Lysis as an integrated attempt to promote philosophy as education in ancient Athens. Plato accepted arete (excellence, virtue) as the proper goal of education, but his interpretation of arete as a distinctly moral quality required a new approach to education. Plato recognized that the quality in a doctor that makes her aim at what is good for her patient is distinct from the skill that enables her to choose the most effective treatment. Against traditional education, which emphasized social standing, professional skill, and the accumulation of information, Plato focused on the moral dimension of human beings and prescribed philosophy as a means for developing it. Memorization of information and tuition in practical skills may help us in our particular crafts, but it does little to improve us morally. This task must be undertaken separately through examination V and reflection. Success will be judged not by one's peers, or even by one's government, but by the gods themselves who adhere to a universal idea of goodness. Plato's conception of arete as the health of the soul precipitates a new approach to education that focuses on philosophy and presents Socrates as its hero and martyr. Health of the soul, like health of the body, is something that requires constant labor and attention, and yet may never be perfected. In Plato's project, the ignorant Socrates and the dialogues themselves become indirect teachers by exhorting students to care for their souls and to appreciate the task. The promise that arete can be achieved through the pursuit of moral wisdom is given in the words and actions of Socrates. Like his ancient friends, the reader struggles to understand Socrates and from this struggle emerges philosophy: the love and pursuit of wisdom; the proper education for aiete. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT ^ LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF GREEK WORDS xii Chapter 1. PLATO AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER 1 1.1 Connecting Plato and Education in the Earliest Dialogues 1 1.1.1 Connecting Philosophy and Education with 2 1.1.2 The Historical Motivation for Plato's Project 5 1.1.3 The Mythopoetic Ideal of Arete 8 1.1.4 The Aristocratic Tradition 12 1.1.5 The Sophistic Revolution 15 1.2 Plato's Educational Objectives in the Earliest Dialogues 18 1.2.1 Awakening the Mind: The Release from Poetry 19 1.2.2 Establishing as Moral 21 1.2.3 Eliminating False Conceit 23 1.2.4 Directing the Pursuit of Arete 25 1.2.5 Approaching a Popular Audience 28 1.3 How Would the Earliest Dialogues Achieve Plato's Agenda? 30 1.3.1 Plato's Use of the Dialogue Form 31 1.3.2 Plato's Use of Dramatic Techniques 34 1.3.3 Elenchus and Aporia 38 1.3.4 Puzzles and Irony 43 1.3.5 Socrates as Hero 46 2. A PUSH FOR CHANGE IN THE APOLOGY AND CRITO 53 2.1 A Challenge to the Educational Establishment in Apology 53 2.1.1 First Offense: A Failure to Pursue Truth and Justice 54 vii 2.1.2 Second Offense: Dogmatic Acceptance of the First Accusers 57 2.1.3 Third Offense: Failure to Acknowledge Ignorance 59 2.1.4 Fourth Offense: Failure to Direct Pursuits toward the Good 63 2.1.5 The Penalty: In Condemning Socrates Athens Harms Itself 66 2.2 Socrates' Mission: A Defense of Philosophy as a Moral Pursuit 71 2.2.1 The Oracle Story: The Divine Origin of Socrates' Mission 72 2.2.2 Socrates' Service to the God 75 2.2.3 Philosophy as Pious Activity 77 2.2.4 Words vs. Deeds: The Practical Utility of the Philosophic Life 81 2.2.5 Penalties 2.3 Socrates: Ironic Moral Hero of the Crito 2.3.1 Does Socrates Practice What He Preaches? 87 2.3.2 The Rejection of Public Opinion Despite the Penalty 89 2.3.3 Moral Decision Derived from Principle 92 2.3.4 Moral Decision Derived from Imagined Dialectic 93 2.3.5 Socrates: An Ironic Moral Hero 95 3. AWAKENING THE MIND IN JON AND HIFPIASMINOR 98 3.1 Engaging the Mind: Interpretation vs. Exhibition in Ion 98 3.1.1 Appearance vs. Ability: The Rhapsode and His Audience 99 3.1.2 Exhibition vs. Expertise: The Limits of the Rhapsode's Art 103 3.1.3 Inspiration vs. Interpretation: The Knowledge of the Poet 106 3.1.4 Techne, Logoi, and Episteme Ill 3.1.5 Conclusion: The Proper Use of Poetry in Education 113 3.2 The Nature of a Wiseman in Hippias Minor 117 3.2.1 Opening: Portrait of a Wiseman 118 3.2.2 The Moral Neutrality of Poetry 122 3.2.3 The Moral Neutrality of Technai 124 3.3.43.2.4 The Intention Behind Hippias' Technai 126 3.2.5 Contrasting Attitudes towards Wisdom 129 3.3 The Nature of the Good Man in Hippias Minor 133 3.3.1 The Moral Category 134 3.3.2 Being Good vs. Being Good at Something 137 3.33 Good Action vs. Competent Action 139 The Argument Applied to the Soul 143 viii 3.3.5 The Good Man 4. A NEW VIEW OF ARETE IN CHARMIDES AND LACHES ... 150 4.1 Reshaping Conceptions of Arete in Cbarmides and Laches 150 4.1.1 Looking for Arete in All the Wrong Places 151 4.1.2 Examining the Aristocratic Ideal of Arete in Charmides 155 4.1.3 Examining the Heroic - Military Ideal of Arete in Laches 159 4.1.4 Craftsmen, Wisemen and the Kalon Connection 162 4.1.5 Discovering To Kalon in the Soul or Mind 166 4.2 Intellectualizing, Unifying, and Idealizing Arete 168 4.2.1 Arete as Intellectual; a Property of the Psyche 169 4.2.2 Arete as Unified 4.2.3 The Educational Impact of the Unification of Arete 173 4.2.4 What Sort of Knowledge Corresponds to Arete? 176 4.2.5 Arete as an Ideal 178 4.3 In Search of Education for Arete 181 4.3.1 Finding a Teacher of Arete 181 4.3.2 Arete Is Not Transmittable 184 4.3.3 Socrates’ Skill as a Teacher 186 4.3.4 Cryptic Expressions: Clues to the Discovery of Arete 188 4.3.5 The Pursuit of Wisdom: Education as Philosophy 192 5. EDUCATIONAL MMS IN AND 196 5.1 The Nature of and Need for Moral Direction in Euthypbro 196 5.1.1 The Dubious Pursuits of Euthyphro and Meletus 197 5.1.2 Mimesis and Morality: Socrates' Request for a Definition 201 5.1.3 First Definition: The Case of the Missing Standard 204 5.1.4 Missing Paradigms and Wandering Words 207 5.1.5 The Possibility of Moral Expertise 210 5.2 Educational Relationships 213 5.2.1 Philosophy, Friendship, and the Pursuit of Wisdom 213 5.2.2 Resemblances among Socrates, Sophists, and Pederasts 218 5.2.3 Friendship in Education 221 5.2.4 The Role of Philia in Education 226 5.2.5 The Pursuit of Wisdom 228 ix Directing the Love and Pursuit of Wisdom in Lysis 230 53.1 Teachers, Friends, and the Objects of Love 231 5.3.2 The Connections among Friendship, and Philosophy 237 5.3.3 The Emergence of an External Ideal 241 5.3.4 Aiming for the Good: Obstacles and Manifestations 243 5.3.5 Kindred Souls in Search of Wisdom 248 APPENDIX: SELECTING THE DIALOGUES 254 BIBLIOGRAPHY nc7 X LIST OF TABLES Table Page A.l Length and Chronology of the Dialogues 256 XI LIST OF GREEK WORDS adikos [o^iKoq, unjust] agathos [ocycxGoc^, good, (Horn.) brave, noble, morally good] ainigmati [aiviy^ati, enigmatic, riddling, cryptic] ainissomai [diviacTO|iai, to speak darkly or in riddles, to hint] aischron [aia^pov,