Extra Credit Opportunity

This is very much a work in progress, and I've typed most of it directly on to the web page with an interface that doesn't do any spelling or grammar checking. So, if you see any errors, please message me on Pronto, and I'll give you extra credit for the help. Also, if anything seems like it is worded wrong, or just doesn't make sense, let me know about that, and I'll give you some extra credit. 

The Iliad

Both the Apology and the Symposium assume the reader is quite familiar with the Iliad. We will read the Apology next, and then the Symposium a little later. So, it is important that we gain the assumed familiarity with the Iliad before getting into the works of Plato. 

Theme

Homer opens the Iliad with the line,

"Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles ..." 

The main theme of the Iliad is the anger of Achilles. As you read the work, please focus on figuring out why Achille's anger is so important. In what ways is Achilles' anger a characteristic of his heroic greatness? And in what ways does his anger lead him into tragic failure? Most importantly, why exactly is Achilles so extraordinarily angry? 

Reading

I have prepared the following significant abridgement — just 38 pages compared to the some 230 pages of the full text — which is sufficient for our purposes:

Selections from the Iliad 

As you read through the work, focus on the theme of Achilles' anger. 

Essay

Main Question

Why is Achilles so angry about the death of Patroclus? 

Prompt

In the development of the story of the Iliad, we see that Achilles' anger builds. At first Achilles broods over the insults received at the hands of Agamemnon. But in the end Achilles unleashes an unhinged fury upon Hector over the death of Patroclus. Why is Achilles so flipped out about the death of Patroclus? In my abridgement of the work, I cut out a lot of the blow-by-blow gore. Homer fills so many many pages with blood and guts. The Achaeans and the Trojans are cutting each other down left and right. They are up to their breasts in corpses. Amidst all that killing, why does Achilles take Hector's slaying of Patroclus as such an act of disrespect and challenge to his personal honor? Why is it so personal? How are we supposed to make sense of the anger of Achilles? Standard answers to this question — like those given by ChatGPT or Grok — are unsatisfactory. What ideas do you yourself have? What do you think would help make sense of it for your fellow students? 

Word Count: 250 - 500 words

The minimum word count is just a suggestion. The maximum is a strict cut-off. Do not go over the maximum word count. The word count only applies to the body of the essay excluding quotes. 

500 words is just about a page. So, get to the point quick. Focus on argumentation. Keep any description to a minimum. What is your personal take? And why does your take contribute to a better understanding of the question? 

Minimum Number of Quotes: 1

This minimum number of quotes needs to come from the assigned work, my abridgement of the Iliad listed above. You can include additional quotes from other sources, but your minimum number of quotes must come from the assigned work. Cite all sources with a footnote, even when summarizing or paraphrasing.

Essay Preparation

Make sure that you adhere to the "General Guidelines for Essays," follow the rubric, and complete any exercises assigned.  

The Apology

Touchstone

The Apology is the touchstone of the Platonic corpus. All of the dialogues that Plato would subsequently write allude back to the themes of the Apology, and by and large they are merely elaborations upon the basic themes introduced in the Apology. 

Furthermore, it has been said that "all of philosophy is just footnotes to Plato." To the extent that this is true, the Apology is not only the touchstone of the Platonic dialogues, but is also the touchstone of all western philosophy. 

This is a work that every good student of philosophy returns to over and over again to test and refine their understanding of what it means to be a "philosopher." 

Ethos

An "ethos" is a way of life. I want to take this as the primary theme that ties together all the various themes of the Apology, because what the Apology does most of all is to introduce us to the way Socrates lived his life. 

EPISTEME

Socrates' "apology" — his legal defense — begins with a prologue on the "eloquence of truth." Socrates asks to speak in his "accustomed manner ... using the words which [he has] been in the habit of using in the agora [the marketplace], at the tables of the money-changers, or anywhere else." He asks to speak according to his manner of living — his ethos. 

The kind of discourse that fits within Socrates' ethos is discourse focused on truth. In other dialogues Plato depicts Socrates elaborating on what he means by "truth." In one inflection — especially in the "Divided Line" section of the Republic — Socrates develops the meaning of "episteme," which comes out to be what we today would mean — or maybe should mean — by "scientific truth." It is in fact from the Greek word "episteme" by way of the Medieval Latin "scientia" that we get our English word "science." So, Socrates' ethos is an ethos of scientific episteme. 

In the Apology, Socrates' epistemic ethos is contrasted with the way that his prosecutors Meletus, Anytus and Lycon have just spoken to the judges. Their way of speaking comes from the art of rhetoric that they learned from sophisticated and wise men such as the famous teacher of the day, Gorgias. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, which does not hold epistemic truth in high regard. So, in sticking to his ethos, Socrates will unfortunately have to rely on the "force of." 

As you read through the Apology, you might ask yourself, If Socrates is genuinely speaking with the eloquence of epistemic truth, then why were the judges not persuaded by the truth? Such a question falls under the branch of philosophy known as "epistemology," the study of knowledge. 

What is knowlege? How do we know what we know? These are epistemological questions. The Apology is particularly effective at driving home a fundamental epistemological aspect of Socrates' ethos. He goes into much detail to support his assertion that "I [Socrates] am conscious that I am not wise either much or little" (21b). He in fact argues that no human being "really knows anything fine and good" (21d). So, Socrates' answer to the central questions of epistemology is that we don't really know anything. 

And Socrates demonstrates this core tenet of his epistemology through what we called the "Socratic method." This is what Socrates describes as "our dialectic process of questions and answers" in the Phaedo (75d). In the Apology Socrates gives a narrative of his lifestyle of questioning. But more than just recounting his typical experience, he demonstrates the power of questioning and answering right in the courtroom. He cross-examines Miletus, who is required by law to answer before the judges. And through this method of cross-examination, he proves that Miletus does not know what he claims to know for the purpose of prosecuting Socrates. But Miletus is no different from anyone else. When it comes to solemn and profound things, we are all tempted to believe that we know something about them. But we don't really know. 

SOPHIA

What the ancient Greeks meant by "wisdom" — or "sophia" in Greek — was primarily some practical or technical knowledge. In the Apology, Socrates emphasizes three fields of this kind of ordinary practical wisdom — politics, poetics, and craftmanship. The politicians, the poets, and the craftsmen are wise — having wisdom, being wise, "sophos" — each in their own way. These are fields of study of the type where you can go to an expert in the subject matter, and learn what they know. They possess a kind of wisdom that can be learned. 

But — according to Socrates' understanding of philosophy — such wisdom is not what the philosopher is interested in. The philosopher is interested in a higher wisdom — a sophia that the politicians, poets, and craftsmen don't have — and that the philosopher themself does not have. For, as we learn in the Apology, the highest wisdom among mortals is the wisdom of Socrates — the wisdom that one does not possess true wisdom. 

To become aware of this lack of genuine wisdom is to achieve a "sort of wisdom" (20c). And it is certainly superior to the pretense of wisdom. In the Apology Socrates shows how he realized that was wiser than any pretender to knowledge, coming to the conclusion, "[F]or neither of us really knows anything fine and good, but this man thinks he knows something when he does not, whereas I, as I do not know anything, do not think I do either. I seem, then, in just this little thing to be wiser than this man at any rate, that what I do not know I do not think I know either" (21d). This is not "some wisdom greater than human" (20e) — true sophia, which the philosopher is always seeking after. But it is a "human wisdom" (20c) — which the philosopher, as a human, can attain. And in attaining this minor degree of wisdom, the philosopher then becomes conscious of the desire for true sophia. 

EROS

And this brings us to a theme that through our course of study we will come to see as the mainspring of Socratic notion of philosophy. The theme is that of "eros" — desire. 

The literal meaning of the word "philosopher" is "one who feels affection for wisdom." Frequently in the Platonic dialogues the word is translated into English as "lover of wisdom." In reading the dialogues, it becomes clear that ancient Greeks generallly took the word "philosopher" to mean something rather mundane — simply someone who was fond of books and learning. 

But Socrates construed the meaning of the word in a distinctly "erotic" way — where the "affection" of the philosopher is understood to be fraught with all the passion and angst of an erotic obsession. The philosopher does not have a mild flirtation with wisdom — because the wisdom that the philosopher loves is not such a thing to be so easily trifled with. The philosopher has a deep abiding desire for a wisdom that perpetually eludes the grasp of the lover — a heavenly sophia ever beckoning, but seemingly never to be embraced — certainly never to be taken into the philosopher's possession. The Socratic ethos is saturated with dissatisfied desire — erotic longing. 

THANATOS

Being mortal, the philosopher will ever desire heavenly and immortal sophia. So, death — "thanatos" — looms over the life of the philosopher — as it so clearly looms over the life of Socrates in the Apology. The legend of Socrates and the way he was unjustly sacrificed to the vanity of the Athenian people was a story that spread quickly throughout Greece and the wider Mediterranean world. When Plato's Apology reached the general public decades later, every reader knew that Socrates had been sentenced to death. The death of Socrates is even foreshadowed in the words of Socrates himself — in his own presentation of his defense — before the guilty verdict is even reached. Socrates knows he is facing death. The reader knows he is facing death. 

From the first line to the last — as Socrates explains the ethos of the philosopher to his judges — keep before your mind the death sentence. The philosopher — like Socrates — is condemned to death — never knowing wisdom. 

THYMOS

But the philosopher — like Socrates — does not cower at the face of death. Socrates knows he is to be found guilty. And he knows that the death penalty will be proposed by the prosecution. But he also knows that the judges will accept the penalty of exile — if Socrates acquiesces to familiar Athenian social convention. Socrates, however, willingly takes death upon himself — and in doing so condemns the people of Athens to inglorious infamy. Like Achilles, Socrates chooses the path of glory — vanquishing and humiliating Athens — knowing it will cost him his life. But unlike Achilles, the life Socrates gives up is not long and prosperous. Socrates is old and poor. Also unlike Achilles, Socrates does not succumb to impious wrath. Socrates conquers the people of Athens for their own good. But then again, very much in the spirit of Achilles, Socrates sacrifices himself as a matter of honor. And he does it all for love — for the love of wisdom. 

There have arisen very few times in the history of the world where a human being has shown such courage and valor — blessing the world in death, rather than acceding to the ways of the world. It takes a certain kind of spirit that the world rarely knows. This faculty of the soul is so absent from our own Anglo-American culture that we don't even have a word for it in English. 

But the Greeks had a word for it. They called it "thymos" (with a long "oo" sound, "thoomos"). Literally "thymos" means the "spirit of vitality," and has connotations of "heart" and "courage" — like when we say, "They really have heart." But it also is a fighting spirit that has connotations of "righteous indignation." And if there is anything that captures the spirit of Socrates in the Apology it is seeing him as animated by a thymatic righteous indignation. Thymos is also that aspect of the soul that can drive us to heroic anger — like that of Achilles. 

The philosopher has to have thymos — even unto death. 

PROPHECY

Apollo is the god of prophecy. And Apollo plays a big part in the Apology. The oracle — the prophetic answer to Chaerephon's question — saying that there is "no man wiser than Socrates" — is what sets Socrates off on his philosophical quest. The words of the prophetess of Delphi are the impetus for his mature formalized way of life — the Socratic ethos.

Furthermore, Socrates utters a prophecy of his own in his parting remarks: 

"And now, O men who have condemned me, I would fain prophesy to you; for I am about to die, and in the hour of death men are gifted with prophetic power. And I prophesy to you who are my murderers, that immediately after my departure punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await you."

When Plato wrote the Apology, the prophecy put in the mouth of Socrates had, of course, already come true. But there is something to be said for the way that Plato put the death of his hero in a historical context that forms a kind of prophecy of its own. Plato seems to know that the story of the trial and death of Socates would live well into the future beyond his own day. And there is nothing that confirms more the truth of the Socratic prophesy contained in the Apology than the fact that we are still reading and rereading it very nearly some 2,400 years after it was first written down. 

The Apology is one of the foundational documents of the western tradition of prophets who — like Socrates — thymatically speak truth to power — especially unto death. 

ETHICS

The word "ethics" is etymologically derived from "ethos." And Socrates' ethos certainy comprises an ethics. As you read the Apology, think about the ethical lifestyle Socrates exemplifies for the lover of wisdom. Could you see yourself choosing this way of life? 

Touchstone

On a first reading of the Apology, the student is not likely to comprehend all the themes I have drawn together as a potrait of the Socratic ethos — the philosopher's way of life. I only sketch them out for you in order to make you aware that Plato's weaving of the story is a rich tapestry of depths that can be returned to over and over again for a fresh revelation of beauty and meaning. It has a way on each rereading of refining our understanding of that Socratic ethos — sometimes affirmingly — sometimes reprovingly. The Apology truly is the touchstone for anyone who desires wisdom. 

Reading

Apology of Socrates 

Scenes 1 and 2: First Half of Chapter 1, Socrates' Defense Argument

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read Stephanus pages 17-24, covering the following scenes from the Apology: 

Scene 1: "Preamble on the Virtue of Speaking the Truth"

Scene 2: "Reply to Older Accusers"

This is the first half of Socrates' "apology" — his defense argument in his legal trial. As we will see later in the work, the accusations that Socrates addresses here are not the specific charges for which he is being tried — but they are common misconceptions that Socrates thinks may bias the judges/jurors. 

EVALUATION OF COGENCY

Complete the Google form entitled "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading" for this portion of the Apology. You can complete this by yourself, or with any group of students that you might want to work with. Take this assignment seriously, because it will very directly help you to do a good job on the essay. 

Scene 3: "Reply to Current Accusers" — Socrates' Direct Apology to the Charges

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read pages 24-35, Scene 3: "Reply to Current Accusers." In this section, Socrates directly address the charges against him. 

EVALUATION OF COGENCY

Complete the Google form entitled "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading" a second time for this portion of the Apology. 

In evaluating the cogency of what Plato is saying, think of the difference between the cogency of what Socrates presents versus the cogency of what Meletus says. Take note that Socrates is demonstrating for the judges his standard method of examination. This is an example of the "Socratic Method." Meletus claims to know certain things, and Socrates logically demonstrates that Meletus does not know what he thinks he knows. What Socrates is doing is the epitome of congency. The portrayal of Socrates in this section of the Apology is very specifically a key exemplar of precisely what we mean by a "cogent" argument. And what Meletus is doing is a key example of uncogency. 

Scene 4: "Proposed Penalty"

Read pages 35 - 38, and complete the Google form entitled "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading" again for this section. 

Scene 5: "To Those Who Have Condemned to Death"

Read pages 38-39, and complete the Google form entitled "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading" yet again for this section. 

Scene 6: "To Those Friends Who Would Have Socrates Acquitted"

Read pages 39-42, and complete the Google form entitled "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading" again for this final section. 

Essay

Main Question

What does the Apology reveal about the ethos of Socrates? 

Prompt

Reread my discussion above of the "themes" of the Apology, and think about how those themes relate to the main question of the essay assignment. Home-in on something that stands out to you. 

There are many ways to approach answering the main question. You might want to focus on the Socratic method. You might want to draw a connection between Socrates' ethics and his epistemology. You might want to compare Socrates with Achilles. You might have some other approach. In your essay explain how some aspect of the Apology can give your fellow students on campus at school — who maybe haven't read the Apology — a good initial grasp of Socrates' way of life. Focus on something specific, and make a tight argument. 

Word Count: 500 - 1,000 words

The minimum is just a suggestion; the maximum a strict cut-off. The word count only applies to the body of the essay excluding quotes. 

Minimum Number of Quotes: 2

This minimum number of quotes needs to come from the assigned work, the Apology. Cite all sources with a footnote, even when summarizing or paraphrasing.

Essay Preparation

Make sure that you adhere to the "General Guidelines for Essays," follow the rubric, and complete any exercises I may have assigned.  

The Phaedo

Secondary Touchstone

If the Apology is the quintessential touchstone for the philosopher practicing in the way of Socrates, then the Phaedo is perhaps a secondary touchstone. Where the Apology epitomizes Socrates' courageous and prophetic ethos in the outward world — the Phaedo epitomizes the inward and eternal depths of that ethos. And as Plato guides us in exploring that ethos, the treatment takes on a distinctive Platonic aspect. 

In the decades after Socrates' death — inspired by the man and his ethos — Plato gathered together likeminded lovers of wisdom. They gathered within the sacred grove known as the "Academy," named after the mythic hero Akademos. Gathering there in some sort of communal living situation, Plato and the other devotees laid the foundations of "academic" philosophy, which today is formalized into four branches: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. 

The Phaedo gives us exceptional insight into the way Plato originated modern academic philosophy. In a relatively concise and poetic presentation, we see the way the primordial forms of epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics emerged within the coherence of Plato's vision for a spiritual life devoted to wisdom. It is a work that — like the Apology — can be returned to over and over again to refine and reprove our understanding of the Socratic lifestyle. 

Main Theme: Psyche

The main theme of the Phaedo is the soul — "psyche." In the dialogue, Plato gives his argument for the immortality of the soul. For this reason — in discussing the epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics of the Phaedo — I'm bringing them under the heading of the psyche. 

Since the Phaedo is primarily about proving the survivability of the psyche after death, it is natural to lean into the conception of "psyche" as "soul." However, the words "psyche" and "soul" alike – in English – have all sorts of facets of meaning. Psyche/soul can mean breath, life, spirit, ghost, mind, intellect or understanding. Make sure you are keeping all of the nuances here in your awareness. 

Epistemology

In the Apology, we saw that the commitment to truth was a central feature of the Socratic ethos. Socrates was willing to die in defense of rigorous scientific knowledge — episteme. In the Phaedo, we see Socrates and his friends develop that epistemic commitment into a proper theory of knowledge — an "epistemology." 

RECOLLECTION

A central feature of Socratic epistemology is the theory of "recollection." When developing the argument for recollection in the Phaedo, Socrates asks, "When one has a recollection of anything caused by like things, will he not also inevitably consider whether this recollection offers a perfect likeness of the thing recollected, or not?" (74a)— which is certainly true. Using an example offered by Socrates, it is very possible that someone "on seeing a picture of Simmias ... can be reminded of Simmias himself" (74a). And when that recollection of Simmias comes to mind it is also very possible that the person will reflect on how well the picture resembles Simmias. Certainly on some such occasion the question of the fidelity of a resemblance to the actual thing being recollected must come to mind. 

The question regarding the perfection of a representation brings in the notion of equality. And in this situation the human mind is naturally inclined to employ the concept of abstract equality, which Socrates' line of argument flows right into (at 73e and following). In the abstract, we can say that the number 3 is equal to 12 divided by 4. In fact, we can say that the two quantities are absolutely equal. And this idea of absolute equality — or what Socrates calls equality "itself" — is a guiding principle when we think of the perfection of a representation. And with a physical image representing a physical object — like the example of a picture representing Simmias, the likeness is never going to be perfectly equal — not in the way 3 is equal to 12 divided by 4. 

Furthermore, this shows that the idea of absolute equality cannot be derived from experience of physical objects — at least not in any obviously direct way. We do not simply observe absolute equality in the world around us. Socrates thinks this implies that we are born with the idea of absolute equality, and that our experience with physical objects reminds us of what we knew about absolute equality at some time before we were born. 

This is a particularly salient example of the theory of recollection. When we see any similar things in our sensory experience of the world, we are inclined to compare that similarity to absolute equality. But absolute equality is never directly experienced through our senses. So, the theory of recollection explains this by arguing that we had some knowledge of absolute equality prior to any of our sensory experience in life, and our experience of physical similarities sparks our recollection of that prior knowledge. As Socrates puts it, 

"Then before we began to see or hear or use the other senses we must somewhere have gained knowledge [episteme] of equality itself howsoever it really exists, if we were to compare with it the equals which we perceive by the senses, and see that all such things yearn to be like real equality itself but fall short of it" (75b). 

ABSOLUTE IDEAS

But absolute equality is just one among many absolute ideas. As Socrates says, the argument regarding absolute equality is "no more concerned with 'the' equal than with beauty 'itself' and 'the' good 'itself' and 'the' just and 'the' holy, and, in short, with all those things which we stamp with the seal of the 'real' thing 'itself' in our dialectic process of questions and answers" (75c-d). 

Note that none of these ideas is directly experienced in our lives of sensation. We have never seen anything absolutely beautiful. We have never found a person or institution that is absolutely just. We have never experienced with our senses any physical object that is absolutely holy. We all know this. Yet somehow in our mind we have knowledge of these absolute conceptions. And it is these very ideas that facilitate our scientific analysis of the sensory phenomena of the world. These absolutes constitute our very notion of scientific precision. But they are not discovered in experimentation. The absolute ideas operate purely as knowledge — as episteme. And we only experience them within the soul — within the psyche. 

Metaphysics

As all similarities found in the world of sensations "fall short of being like abstract equality" (74d), all beautiful sensual objects fall short of beauty itself, and all just humans fall short of justice itself, and so on. In falling short, objects of the senses are less authentic, and less genuine than the absolutes. In the language of Socrates, they are less "real." Only "real beauty" is legitimately beautiful (78e). 

Metaphysics is the contemplation of what is truly real. It is the questioning of what really exists. Sometimes we say it is the study of "being." And it is also the study of "becoming." 

CAUSES

When Socrates mounts his argument to address Cebe's concern about the survivability of the soul after death (96a and following), he goes into some detail about his thinking on causes. This is an extended discourse on metaphysics. 

All I want to point out now in preparation for you reading the entire dialogue is some of what Socrates has to say about beauty itself as a cause of beautiful things in the corporeal world. He argues against explanations of beauty in terms of material causes, and instead claims that the idea of beauty is what "causes" beauty in any ordinary beautiful object. He says, 

"If anyone tells me that what makes a thing beautiful is its lovely color, or its shape or anything else of the sort, I let all that go, for all those things confuse me, and I hold simply and plainly and perhaps foolishly to this, that nothing else makes it beautiful but the presence ... of beauty itself" (100c-d). 

Socrates then says that he must "insist that beautiful things are made beautiful by beauty" (100d). Real beauty itself "makes" any beautiful thing beautiful. This is the way that Socrates understands causation, because when things are phrased in the way that Socrates does, it is hard to argue against it. But other theories of causation — what we would normally think of as more scientific theories — are always open to criticism and falsification. 

IDEALISM

And just as equality itself was earlier just an example of the functionality of absolute ideas within the psyche's understanding, here again beauty itself is just an example of the way absolute ideas cause material reality. For example, Socrates would say that a just government is caused by justice itself. To the degree that a government shares in the idea of justice itself that government is just. And we could multiply examples for all of the absolute ideas. 

Socrates' confident and secure conception of causation is called "idealism," because it takes "ideas" as fundamental. This is opposed to the more common "materialism" that most of us favor, where material things — such as atoms — are taken as fundamental. 

Ethics

As I mentioned above, materialist theories of causation are always open to falsification. Logically it is possible to prove them wrong. They have to be tested by experience and experimentation. Socrates' idealist theories are more secure, because they cannot be falsified. Socrates finds this very appealing. But, of course, idealist theories are not of much practical use. We don't ordinarily improve technology by resorting to idealism. So, what is the point of Socrates' idealist epistemology and metaphysics? 

At the outer reaches of any scientific reasoning, both materialism and idealism must be symbiotically at work (see my lecture on "Plato's Divided Line"). But most of us are not worried about theoretical physics, or the philosophy of mathematics, or the like. We don't regularly need to think way outside of the box to achieve practical results. There is, however, a very practical use for Socrates' idealism. It goes back to our theme of ethos. 

Where in the Apology we saw the Socratic ethos as a lifestyle, in the Phaedo we see Plato transform that ethos into a proper theory of "ethics." It is legitimately an academic kind of ethics, precisely because it is grounded in a coherent system of epistemology and metaphysics. 

Although the main theme of the Phaedo is the description of the soul, Socratic ethics is so intertwined with that description of the psyche that it wouldn't be wrong to argue that the main theme is ethics. And the Phaedo is an excellent introduction to not only Socratic ethics itself, but also ethics in general. While intellectuals tend to eschew idealism when it comes to considerations of causality, they tend to hold idealist ethics in high regard (for example, Immanuel Kant's ethics from the Critique of Practical Reason is a regular feature of almost any introductory course on ethics). Ethics tends to be mixed up with contemplation of the psyche, and the Phaedo gives us great insight into why this is the case. 

THANATOS

The desire to prove the immortality of the soul is quite poignant in the Phaedo, because it takes place on the day that Socrates is executed for his capital crimes against the Athenian people. So, death — thanatos — comes to the fore even more than in the Apology. His fellow philosophers that gather to his side on his final day hope that Socrates can convince them of the survivability of the psyche in the underworld — just as they as young novitiates were promised upon induction into the "mysteries" (esoteric rituals in devotion to various gods). Socrates' friends, however, have their doubts. They have their fears. 

THYMOS

But the narrator of the story, the eponymous Phaedo, tells us that Socrates "recalled us from our flight and defeat and made us face about and follow him" (89a) when the arguments "seemed to be throwing us again into confusion and distrust" (88c). The same thymatic character that comes through in the Apology comes through in the Phaedo — but in a more intellectualized and spiritual aspect. Socrates proves that "all except philosophers are brave through fear" — something ironically self-contradictory — and he argues that "that which is called courage [is] especially characteristic of philosophers" — the lovers of wisdom — the lovers of sophia (68c). 

SOPHIA

The thymatic courage of the philosopher is one that always seeks genuine sophia. And genuine wisdom demands a level of virtue — personal excellence — that goes beyond ordinary conceptions of virtue. Socrates criticizes the conventional exchange of "pleasures for pleasures, pains for pains, and fears for fears, swapping and trading greater for lesser just as if currencies" — and proceeds saying, "Rather this alone is the right currency: wisdom — for which all of these must be exchanged. And all things, when bought and sold with wisdom, become courage, moderation, justice, and altogether true virtue" (69a-b). 

Socrates contrasts the true virtue of the philosopher to a "shadow-painted illusion" of virtue (69b). This illusory virtue is not actual virtue. The obscure resemblance is what people ordinarily take to be ethics. It was true in Socrates' time, and it is true today. Ordinary "virtue" that calculates the exchange of pleasures and pains is self-contradictory — encouraging people to, for example, be "brave through fear" (as above). 

Common "virtue" is nothing the lovers of wisdom should have anything to do with as they pursue after their immaculate vision of authentic sophia. 

PURIFICATION

On the last day of his life, as death comes ever nearer, we see a mystical aspect of Socrates' ethos come to the fore. He compares the philosopher's "true virtue" with "ritual purification" (69c). Socrates tells us, "What's true ... is the authentic purification of all such things, becoming moderation, justice, courage, and wisdom itself — not just some ritual purification" (69b-c). The philosopher's virtue is a thoroughgoing purification — not just some ordinary rite of cleansing. So, the purification of the philosopher is unlike the purification rituals of the mystery cults. But then Socrates suggests that the philosopher's purification is the true mystery of of the initiation rites saying, 

"And these things are very likely what those who founded these initiation rites for us — they being no triflers — in reality were long ago intimating but darkly — in saying that whoever arrives into Hades' realm uninitiated and unperfected will lie in mire — whereas the one having arrived there both purified and perfected will dwell among the gods" (69c). 

Socrates is suggesting that the outward washing of the body in the rituals is a sign that should be interpreted as a purification of the inward soul that will survive after the death of the body. 

ETHOS

Socrates tells of his own purification: "I myself—so far as possible—have left nothing undone in life, having striven in every way to become such" (69d). In his typical way, Socrates exemplifies the ethos of the philosopher, and shows it to be a life-long struggle to become one who in the underworld might be pure enough and finally perfected so as to "dwell with the gods." 

With its emphasis on purification, the philosophers' ethos certainly teaches them to "despise the body" (68c-d). But be sure to recognize that the Socratic loathing of the body is not predicated on the desire to "dwell with the gods." The philosopher detests the body because it hinders the philosopher's way of life immediately and directly. Socrates describes the essential problem the philosopher has with the body as follows: 

"It seems there is a path, of sorts, that guides our speculation through reason—but as long as we have the body, with our soul kneaded together with its evil, we will never get satisfactorily what we have set our ardor [thymos] upon—which, we declare, is simply the truth" (66c).

Socrates is describing the philosopher's love of wisdom in an expressive manner as "setting our ardor upon ... truth." And he is saying that the body keeps the philosopher from satisfying their desire for wisdom. Continuing on, he explains, 

"For the body burdens us with endless distractions merely to sustain itself. Sickness, too, obstructs our pursuit of real existence. We are consumed by passions, cravings, dread, manifold images, and empty chatter, so that—as the saying truly goes—not even a shred of understanding ever arises in us through the body" (66c). 

The philosopher seeks understanding. And the body is not a source of understanding. For Socrates, the body and the psyche are radically distinct. The mind of the psyche is alone the seat of understanding. The body does not contribute to the acquisition of wisdom and understanding. Furthermore, the body "burdens us with endless distractions" and "obstructs our pursuit of real existence." The body not only is of no positive help in the philosopher attempt to embrace wisdom, but also is a hinderance — a negative. Far from being neutral, the body is "evil" to the philosopher — but not for any other reason than because it makes philosophy as a lifestyle — as an ethos — a life of struggle. Because of the body, the philosopher has to muster up a heroic and courageous "ardor," and "set their thymos upon" wisdom. 

And take note of another way in which Socrates expressively paraphrases the "love of wisdom." The body "obstructs our pursuit of real existence." The philosopher's love is a "pursuit of real existence." And real existence is what the absolute ideas in themselves share in common. Philosophy, according to Socrates, is the desire to possess the pure absolute ideas. So, the Socratic ethos is a lifestyle of purification in that it is a practice of purifying the psyche from the evil of the body by a persistent effort to nurture the contemplation of the pure ideas themselves. Socrates describes the philosophic lifestyle of contemplation in this way: 

"The lovers of knowledge ... perceive that when philosophy first takes possession of their soul it is entirely fastened and welded to the body and is compelled to regard really existing things through the body as through prison bars, not with its own unhindered vision, and is wallowing in utter ignorance. ... The lovers of knowledge, then, I say, perceive that philosophy, taking possession of the soul when it is in this state, encourages it gently and tries to set it free, pointing out that the eyes and the ears and the other senses are full of deceit, and urging it to withdraw from these, except in so far as their use is unavoidable, and exhorting it to collect and concentrate itself within itself, and to trust nothing except itself and its own abstract thought of abstract existence; and to believe that there is no truth in that which it sees by other means and which varies with the various objects in which it appears, since everything of that kind is visible and apprehended by the senses, whereas the soul itself sees that which is invisible and apprehended by the mind" (82e-83b). 

By diligently encouraging the soul to "collect and concentrate itself within itself," and focus on its "own abstract thought of abstract existence," the philosopher purifies the soul from the "senses ... full of deceit." 

Socrates calls the purified state of the soul "mindfulness:"

"When the soul inquires alone by itself, it departs into the realm of the pure, the everlasting, the immortal and the changeless, and being akin to these it dwells always with them whenever it is by itself and is not hindered, and it has rest from its wanderings and remains always the same and unchanging with the changeless, since it is in communion therewith. And this condition is called mindfulness, is it not?" (79c-d)

PERFECTION

But the body keeps the soul from being entirely purified. Socrates says that "he who prepares himself most carefully to understand the true essence of each thing that he examines [comes] nearest to the knowledge of it." The philosopher comes "nearest" to understanding the abstract ideas that make up the "essence of each thing." But they only come "nearest" — not fully grasping any essence. 

Socrates emphasizes the crucial point when he says the following: 

"In reality, it has been shown to us that if we are ever to know anything purely, we must get rid of it [the body] and, with the soul alone, contemplate circumstances themselves. It seems that only then will we attain what we have set our ardor [thymos] upon and also claim to be lovers of: mindfulness—once we have died ... but not while we live" (66d-e).

This is how, as discussed above, Socrates hopes to arrive in Hades both "purified and perfected" — purified through a lifestyle of mindfulness, and perfected in this mindfulness through death. This is why Socrates tells us that "those who pursue philosophy aright study nothing but dying and being dead" (64a). So, Socrates' ethics is an ethics of perfection through death. The soul of the philosopher must become perfect, just as wisdom itself is perfect. 

Aesthetics

The theme of perfection in Socrates' ethics is a component part of Socrates' general aesthetics. Aesthetics is the philosophical contemplation of beauty. As we have seen above, Socrates does touch upon aesthetics in the Phaedo. But at this point we don't need to go into all that. When we read the Symposium next, we will get a full-blown treatment of Socrates' aesthetics as the master discipline of philosophy. 

Reading

I've been able to integrate the Phaedo into my website. I think this will make the reading easier. 

Read the Phaedo, filling out the Google form entitled "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading for each chapter. You don't need to evaluate the cogency of the introduction, which mainly just sets the scene of the dialogue. 

Essay

Main Question

What have you learned about the Socratic ethos from the Phaedo? 

Prompt

How has the Phaedo significantly changed your understanding of the Socratic ethos? Reread your essay on the Apology. Then reread my treatment up above on the theme of "psyche" in the Phaedo, keeping in mind the main question of this current essay assignment. Compare what you now understand about Socrates' philosophy to what you though about it when you were writing the Apology essay. What is something major that you have learned from the Phaedo? Focus on just one thing that significantly changed your understanding of Socrates and his love of wisdom. Your thesis should be some definitive claim about Socrates' ethos. Then you need to give an argument proving that your claim is true, supporting your argument with quotes from the Phaedo. Write for a reader who is a community college student, but has not taken this course. Make sure any random community college could understand your thesis, and follow your argument. Use language, and examples that will help your community college student reader get what you are saying. 

Big Hint: Examples from your own life often work well as evidence in an argument. You are the supreme expert on your life experience. 

Word Count: 750 - 1,500 words

The minimum is just a suggestion; the maximum a strict cut-off. The word count only applies to the body of the essay excluding quotes. 

Minimum Number of Quotes: 3

This minimum number of quotes needs to come from the assigned work, the Phaedo. Cite all sources with a footnote, even when summarizing or paraphrasing. 

Essay Preparation

Make sure that you adhere to the "General Guidelines for Essays," follow the rubric, and complete any exercises I may have assigned. 

The Symposium

New Touchstone

The Symposium is much more challenging than either the Apology or the Phaedo. It is multifaceted, presenting several discourses on Eros in sequence—each simultaneously building upon the prior treatment, and undermining them. The dialogue is also written in a highly poetic form with eloquent language, and many layers of narrative structure. So, it takes very careful reading. 

However, once you are able to wrap your mind around the grand arc of argumentation culminating in Socrates' speech that recounts the teachings of Diotima—then the Symposium becomes a new touchstone for the Platonic corpus through which all the other dialogues can be interpreted. 

Eros

The ostensible main theme of the Symposium is the god Eros. Eros is the god of love. But in ancient Greek the concept is quite different from what is typically suggested by the English word "love." In English, the word "love" incorporates many different kinds of love, for which the ancient Greeks had three different words: φιλία (philía),  ἀγάπη (agápē), and ἔρος (eros). Philía is fraternal fondness felt among family members and close friends. Agápē also has connotations of familial and friendly affection, but with the essential element of jealous protection—the way one cherishes someone or something that is one's own. Then there is eros. Eros is the type of love explored in the Symposium—and as you may suppose, this is erotic love—romantic sexual affection. 

The Symposium is one of the fundamental historical documents by which we gain an understanding of what eros meant in ancient Athens. As you will see, the main social institution of erotic love was homosexual pederasty. Among the elites that Socrates socialized with it was common for a mature man to take pubescent boys as erotic "beloveds." These relationships would combine sex with mentorship. The practice is described in detail in the Symposium. 

Ethos

As we see in the Symposium, a major social concern was that some mature lovers were taking advantage of their young beloveds—and rather than mentoring them toward moral excellence, were actually leading them into moral corruption. Now, recall that Socrates was executed for the crime of corrupting the youth—that is, young men—of Athens. The implication was that among all the young men hanging around Socrates, he was taking sexual advantage of some, and otherwise general degrading the prospects of the bunch, if they had any hopes of becoming respectable members of high society. The people of Athens condemned Socrates' lifestyle—his ethos. 

Of course, Socrates logically showed in the Apology that the people of Athens were wrong—that the prosecution was totally ignorant of and unconcerned with the proper pedagogy of the young men of Athens. But the Symposium goes further in the defense of the Socratic ethos. As is made clear in the Symposium, Socrates had great affection for his young companions—even a great erotic love for them—but Socratic eroticism is quite different than what people normally expect. I will allow you to discover the details on your own as you read the dialogue. 

Also recall that Socrates was executed for the crime of atheism. Again, in the Apology, Socrates showed that the Athenian people were wrong about this. The prosecution was entirely logically inconsistent on this charge. But in the Symposium, we see something that on the surface might seem to lend legitimate credence to the prosecution’s case. Socrates logically demonstrates that Eros is not a god. To the religious sensibilities of the Athenian people this would be shocking—outrageous! But then Socrates explains that Eros is a great beneficent spirit. And more than that, Socrates shows that Eros is the very embodiment of philosophy. So, what appears at first as sacrilege turns into a great adoration of Eros—the kind of subtlety that, of course, despicable power elites rarely have patience for. 

Aesthetics

Although ostensibly the Symposium is focused on the theme of erotic love, the main theme is actually the contemplation of beauty—aesthetics. In any traditional western treatment of aesthetics, the Symposium plays a fundamental role. It is a foundational document of aesthetics. The core argument of the dialogue turns on the image of Eros' love of Aphrodite. Erotic love is the love of beauty—so that an examination of the character of Eros always leads to a revelation of beauty. And what Plato argues through the course of the narrative of the Symposium is that erotic aesthetics, as unpacked by Socrates, is not only the essential drive behind the love of wisdom, but also the thing that drives all human endeavor—not only in the quest for long lasting, yet mortal fame, but also in the yearning for true immortality. 

Again I don't want to say too much so as to allow you to discover the aesthetically pleasing way in which Plato develops the notion. But I do want to point to key passage of the dialogue. Socrates recounts the words of his teacher concerning matters of eroticism. Similar to Socrates' description in the Phaedo of the philosophical ethos, Diotima describes the erotic aesthetic in the metaphor of the initiation rites of the mysteries: 

"When a man has been thus far tutored in the lore of love, passing from view to view of beautiful things, in the right and regular ascent, suddenly he will have revealed to him, as he draws to the close of his dealings in love, a wondrous vision, beautiful in its nature; and this, Socrates, is the final object of all those previous toils. First of all, it is ever-existent and neither comes to be nor perishes, neither waxes nor wanes; next, it is not beautiful in part and in part ugly, nor is it such at such a time and other at another, nor in one respect beautiful and in another ugly, nor so affected by position as to seem beautiful to some and ugly to others. Nor again will our initiate find the beautiful presented to him in the guise of a face or of hands or any other portion of the body, nor as a particular description or piece of knowledge, nor as existing somewhere in another substance, such as an animal or the earth or sky or any other thing; but existing ever in singularity of form independent by itself, while all the multitude of beautiful things partake of it in such wise that, though all of them are coming to be and perishing, it grows neither greater nor less, and is affected by nothing. So when a man by the right method of boy-loving ascends from these particulars and begins to descry that beauty, he is almost able to lay hold of the final secret. Such is the right approach or induction to love-matters. Beginning from obvious beauties he must for the sake of that highest beauty be ever climbing aloft, as on the rungs of a ladder, from one to two, and from two to all beautiful bodies; from personal beauty he proceeds to beautiful observances, from observance to beautiful learning, and from learning at last to that particular study which is concerned with the beautiful itself and that alone; so that in the end he comes to know the very essence of beauty. In that state of life above all others, my dear Socrates, said the Mantinean woman, a man finds it truly worthwhile to live, as he contemplates essential beauty" (210e-211d). 

The final mystery of all human existence—according to Plato—is the perceptible form of beauty itself—which is eternal, unchanging, all-beautiful, and all-good. This is the ultimate revelation that the philosophical ethos leads to. But the soul is led to the path of philosophy first by the erotic passion for bodily sexual intercourse. 

Metaphysics

In the above we see how the Symposium contributes to a thorough understanding of Platonic metaphysics. Beauty itself is shown to be the master idea. All perceptible forms are only so by sharing to some degree in beauty. The highest object of contemplation is immortal unchanging beauty. But again, that object is intimated in every erotic passion. 

Ethics

In the Symposium we also see that beauty itself is nearly identical with the good itself—so that Plato's erotic aesthetics also forms the metaphysical basis of Platonic ethics. Plato does not present an easy ethics of prudent social etiquette—as Aristotle and many others do. He presents the endeavor toward justice and the good as the struggle for philosophical mindfulness—something that can be quite elusive—but also something that is persistently pointed to by the commonplace impulse of human erotic love. 

Epistemology

Considering the emphasis place on truth and rationality that we find in the Apology—and elsewhere in the works of Plato—it is of extreme import to note that in the Symposium wisdom and mindfulness are subordinated to beauty. The highest object of human existence is not epistemic knowledge itself. The highest object is neither philosophy, nor wisdom. Ultimately epistemic science leads to the contemplation of beauty—which is actually beyond human knowledge. Beauty itself is what the philosopher loves and erotically yearns for. Just as described in Diotima's simile of an erotic "ladder" or "ascending steps" of beauty, the philosopher sets out in search of wisdom, but progressively comes to understand that what they lack and need is beauty itself. The epistemology of Platonism—like its ethics and metaphysics—are subsumed within its erotic aesthetics. 

Reading

Read the Symposium, filling out the Google form entitled "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading for each chapter. You don't need to evaluate the cogency of the introduction. 

Essay

Main Question

Do you agree with the erotic aesthetics of the Symposium? 

Prompt

Briefly describe the erotic aesthetics of the Symposium, and then critique it. Does the Symposium properly analyze beauty? Is the Socratic ethos of following erotic desire a good one? If you disagree with any aspect of the Socratic aesthetics, give a modified or better analysis of beauty and the love of beauty. What is your aesthetics, and how does it fit within your personal ethos? Use examples from your own life. 

Word Count: 750 - 1,500 words

The minimum is just a suggestion; the maximum a strict cut-off. The word count only applies to the body of the essay excluding quotes. 

Minimum Number of Quotes: 3

This minimum number of quotes needs to come from the assigned work, the Symposium. Cite all sources with a footnote, even when summarizing or paraphrasing. 

Essay Preparation

Adhere to the "General Guidelines for Essays," follow the rubric, and complete any exercises I may have assigned. 

Basic Buddhist Scriptures

Dropping Touchstones

I have presented the Apology, the Phaedo, and the Symposium as touchstones for an understanding of the Platonic corpus, and as touchstones for anyone who would like to adopt the Socratic ethos. Perhaps you have found the Socratic ethos appealing. Perhaps you have begun to adopt the Socratic ethos. But now we come to some of the fundamental scriptures of Buddhism. 

Buddhism is very interesting from the perspective of traditional western philosophy, because it is so problematic. Anyone who has fully absorbed Socratic aesthetics will find the arguments of the Buddhist scriptures somewhat convincing. But once one begins to become fully convinced, Socrates' erotic aesthetics becomes undone—because the Buddha argues that even the "pure gold" found in the contemplation of absolute beauty itself is yet another impediment to achieving true mindfulness. Adopting the Buddhist ethos means dropping all Platonic touchstones. 

Letting Go of That Very Craving

As you work through the Buddhist scriptures, use eros as the key concept by which to compare Buddhism with Socratic aesthetics. We have focused so intently on the erotic aspect of western philosophy so as to clearly understand the ethos of the Buddha—and thereby all the better understand the Socratic ethos. 

Plato taught that the philosopher must be guided by erotic desire. Now, as Pausanias says in the Symposium, the Greeks distinguished between a "popular" eros, and a "heavenly" eros (180c-185c). So, later in that same dialogue, Socrates recounts how he was led upon the "ascending steps" of the erotic mysteries by his teacher Diotima (209e-212a). The philosopher must gradually sublimate popular bodily desire into the psyche's heavenly desire for the form of beauty itself—the supreme ideal object through which everything good and beautiful in the universe has its being. This heavenly eros, of course, hardly resembles the popular notion of erotic desire. But Diotima argues that the two are united through a continuum of forms. In the Phaedo, although he laments that "as long as we have the body, with our soul kneaded together with its evil, we will never get satisfactorily what we have set our ardor upon" (66b), Socrates hopes that through many reincarnations the soul will eventually shed every last visible form of the body, and finally transmigrate from the "pure abode" to "even more beautiful abodes" (113d-114c). And in the Symposium, Diotima makes it clear that even the most base and vulgar forms of craving cannot be entirely denounced, because they are all initial steps upwards towards the everlasting mindful contemplation of real beauty. 

The Buddha teaches something quite different. Buddhism is encapsulated in the following "four noble truths:"

"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the beloved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. ...

"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming—accompanied by passion and delight, relishing now here and now there—i.e., craving for sensuality, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming. 

"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading and cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, and letting go of that very craving. 

"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this noble eightfold path—right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration ("Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion"). 

When approaching Buddhism, there may be some initial temptation to interpret the noble truths as being compatible with Socratic aesthetics. But the whole hope of Socrates' erotic aesthetics is for "further becoming"—what Diotima calls "giving birth in beauty" (Symposium, 206b-e). But note that the second noble truth says that "craving for becoming" is the "origination of stress." 

And the "Aflame" sutta makes the disagreement even more apparent: 

"The instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with the eye ... 

"He grows disenchanted with the ear …

"He grows disenchanted with the nose … 

"He grows disenchanted with the tongue … 

"He grows disenchanted with the body ... 

So far so good. We might be able to make this work within Socratic aesthetics. But then comes the final disenchantment: 

"He grows disenchanted with the intellect, disenchanted with ideas, disenchanted with intellect-consciousness, disenchanted with intellect-contact." 

Socrates urges us to purify the psyche by erotically loving beauty in such a way that the intellect becomes ever more conscious of the pure idea of beauty. The Buddha teaches the "letting go of that very craving."  

Reading

Read all of the Basic Buddhist Scriptures. Fill out the "Evaluation of Cogency of Current Reading" just for the suttas that I have assigned. Those particular suttas you should read several times. 

Essay 

Main Question

Which is better as a source of inspiration for your personal ethos: the Socratic ethos, or the Buddhist ethos? 

Prompt

Briefly describe the disagreement between the Buddhist ethos and the Socratic ethos—especially when it comes to the everlasting perpetuation of desire versus the cessation of desire—and then give an argument as to which better contributes to your own way of life. 

You may feel hesitant, or find yourself in a quandary when trying to make such an evaluation. That is normal. Most students have never studied either Platonism or Buddhism before this course. The best way to approach the essay is to make it very personal. Describe your personal ethos—to the extent that you might have had one before taking this class. How has reading Plato and the Buddhist suttas impacted your ethos? How have these teachings challenged your ethos? What is the thing that you struggle with most in trying to answer these questions? Describe that struggle. Think about the future. What would you like your personal ethos to be? What should it be? Why? What are the ethical and aesthetic considerations that seem most important to you? With all of this taken into account, which is better: the Socratic ethos, or the Buddhist ethos? 

You may have trouble giving a definitive answer to the main question. Whatever the case may be, organize your essay around a clearly defined thesis. Your thesis might be about your personal struggle with this assignment. It might be about how neither the Socratic ethos nor the Buddhist ethos is compatible with your own ethos (but maybe one is more compatible). Crystalize your personal thinking in a precise statement of fact. Then give a strong argument that proves your thesis. Evidence from your own experience should be included. A narrative of your thought process in trying work all of this out can be very effective. Remember, you are the supreme expert on your own life. 

Word Count: 750 - 1,500 words

The minimum is just a suggestion; the maximum a strict cut-off. The word count only applies to the body of the essay excluding quotes. 

Minimum Number of Quotes: 4

This minimum number of quotes needs to come from either the Buddhist suttas, or the Platonic dialogues we have read. 

Essay Preparation

Adhere to the "General Guidelines for Essays," follow the rubric, and complete any exercises I may have assigned.