Socratic Philosophy and Its Others

Engaging a broad range of Platonic dialogues, this collection of essays by distinguished scholars in political theory and philosophy explores the relation of Socratic philosophizing to those activities with which it is typically opposed-such as tyranny, sophistry, poetry, and rhetoric. The essays show that the harder one tries to disentangle Socrates' own activity from that of its apparent opposite, the more entangled they become; yet, it is only by taking this entanglement seriously that the distinctive character of Socratic philosophy emerges. The collection sheds new light on the ways in which Plato not only represents philosophy in relation to what it is not, but also makes it "strange" to itself.

Introduction: Strange FellowsPart I: Friendship, Resistance, and the Question of the GoodChapter 1: Why Socrates and Thrasymachus Become FriendsChapter 2: The Daimonic Soul: On Plato's TheagesPart II: Philosophy and Sophistry: The Limits of 'Logos'Chapter 3: Philosophy and Sophistry in Plato's 'Euthydemus'Chapter 4: Socrates Talking to Himself? On the 'Greater Hippias'Chapter 5: The Sophist Hippias and the Problem of PolytropiaChapter 6: On Wolves and Dogs: The Eleatic Stranger's Socratic Turn in the 'Sophist'Part III: Imagery, Tragedy, and TyrannyChapter 7: Philosophers as Painters: On the Corruptibility of the Philosophic Nature in Plato's 'Republic'Chapter 8: Plato's 'Apology' as TragedyChapter 9: Sophist and Philosopher in Plato's SophistChapter 10: Socrates' Odyssean Return: On Plato's CharmidesPart IV: Philosophy, Rhetoric, and DialogueChapter 11: Philosophy, Rhetoric, and the Question of Harmony in Plato's 'Phaedrus'Chapter 12: Philosophy in the Perfect Tense: On Plato's 'Lovers'About the Contributors