Plato, Phaedrus

Plato, Phaedrus

We know from the opening lines of the dialogue that Socrates finds himself in an unusual position: beyond the city walls of Athens. This is the only Platonic dialogue in which Socrates leaves the city to engage in philosophical discussion.

227D: What motivates his departure from Athens? Why is this important?

228B & 228D: How does Plato attend to the process of revealing, unfolding that which Socrates desires most?

228A & 228D: Note the presence of a text here. How is the “what” of the “what you are holding” referred to? Why does the dialogue foreground the very notion of textuality at the very beginning of the dialogue? How are we asked to think about the differences between recitation from a text and oral recitation from memory? How could this relate to exchanges found later in the text about the difference between speaking and writing? (274B-227E)

228E: Why is it important here that they are reading? What ensues after this encounter with this book; this materially transmitted composition?

230D & 230E: What attention is given to this object? What is its status?

231A-234C: We then find ourselves in the jolly world of Athenian pederasty. A note on context: it was common practice in ancient Athens for older men to fall in love with young boys. The young boy was expected to reward the advances of this older male citizen but only if these advances were excessive. The end result of this dynamic (or, this game) was that the older man received sexual pleasure and the young boy received education and socialization. This is the general subject of Lysias’s speech, but what is the argument being made? What is the speech’s central idea? To you, what does the speech accomplish?

234D & 234E: How does Socrates react? How does Phaedrus? Think about the relationship between the form and content here.

235B & 235E: What does Socrates disagree with? What points does he concede? Does the dialogue present or introduce the conditions of Socrates’s speech differently than Lysias’s? Think about the relationship between speech and writing.

237B-241D: How does Socrates’s speech on the same subject differ from Lysia’s? Does Socrates’s version of the speech exceed the efforts of Lysias? If so, how? If not, why?

242D: Why does Socrates recant? How is this an example of being critical of your own point of view? Why is that important?

244A: What is different about madness in Second Speech (or the “Great Speech” as it is so often called) compared to the other two?

245B: Why must Socrates prove that love madness is actually positive?

244A: Explain the important of the chariot simile in the context of Socrates’s primary position about love.

249D-249E: What inspires the madness of love? How is this related to conceptions of love presented at the beginning of this speech? How is madness a way towards truth? Why does Socrates think this is important?

257C: The conclusion of this speech occasions a transition into the subject of rhetoric. Why? Further, why is love not mentioned again? What does that suggest to you about the purpose of the previous speeches on the subject of love? Considering these questions, how would you interpret the ‘unity’ of the dialogue as a whole?

What is philosophy’s relationship to rhetoric and vice versa?

257C-257D; 257E-258D: Why does Plato reorient the dialogue the subject of writing?

258D-262D: What is the difference between good ‘writing’ and ‘bad’? Why is this important for considerations of rhetoric?

262D: Why is it important that Socrates asks Phaedrus to READ the speech again? What does this suggest about writing? How can you connect the ensuing conversation to Ong’s “Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought?”

262D-265B: How does Socrates critique Lysias’s speech?

262D-274B: What makes a good speech? Why? In consideration of these points, how does the dialogue therefore implicitly encourage you to readdress and think again about Socrates’s second speech?

274B-277A: Briefly this portion of the dialogue in the context of the argument made by Ong. According to Socrates, when is writing proper? When is it improper?

Think back to the initial questions of this guided inquiry: what is the relationship between separation, writing, and Socrates’s position outside of Athens?

277C-E: Can writers be philosophers?

Walter Ong, “Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought”

What is the relationship between expression and the medium within which expressions are manifested?

Thinking of Ong’s essay as an argument: does it succeed, rhetorically and philosophically, according to the rubric outlined by the Phaedrus? What would Socrates think about it?