The wise men: notes
on Plato’s Phaedrus
Luiz Maurício Bentim da Rocha Menezes
Abstract
On
Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates, in his
Second Speech (243e9–257b6), decides to make a demonstration [ἀπόδειξις] that the madness of love
was given to us by gods for our happiness. This consist in find the truth about
human nature of the soul [ψυχῆς φύσεως], both divine and human. We
take this demonstration as an object of our analysis, specifically the passage
245c, where Socrates will affirm that demonstration will be only credible by
the wise men (sophoí) and incredible by
skilled (deinoí). This work aims to
clarify what kind of distinction is that made by Socrates and why only the wise
men can believe in such demonstration.
Subject Areas
Philosophy. Ancient Philosophy.
Keywords
Plato, Phaedrus,
Nature of the Soul, Myth, Ancient Philosophy.
Link to the article: here.
