• Dancing Naked with Socrates

    Author(s):
    Christopher Long (see profile)
    Date:
    2012
    Group(s):
    Philosophy
    Subject(s):
    Philosophy
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Menexenus, Plato, Socrates
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6CP6Q
    Abstract:
    This article offers an interpretation of Plato’s Menexenus in which the figure of Socrates emerges as critical of both the Periclean and Aspasian vision of politics. By speaking in the voice of Aspasia in the Menexenus, Socrates is able to draw out the limitations of the Periclean politics of freedom without straightforwardly identifying himself with the Aspasian politics of care. By distancing himself from both positions, Socrates elucidates the limitations of each: The Periclean vision of politics is grounded in a conception of self-sufficiency that leads to imperialism, the Aspasian in the dangerous myth of autochthony. Socrates’ playful dialogue with Menexenus, and Menexenus’ incapacity to appreciate the ambiguity and nuance of the Socratic position, lend new insight into the meaning and nature of philosophical citizenship. Socrates, as the philosopher citizen, distances himself from two main ideological visions of politics in such a way that a new conception of politics emerges, one grounded as much in justice as in freedom.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.5840/ancientphil20032312
    Publisher:
    Philosophy Documentation Center
    Pub. Date:
    2012-10-4
    Journal:
    Ancient Philosophy
    Volume:
    23
    Issue:
    1
    Page Range:
    49 - 69
    ISSN:
    0740-2007
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    7 years ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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