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Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher

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As a beginning student of philosophy, I had to take my time with this book and read it carefully. Prof. Vlastos writes very clearly and makes his arguments step by step so that there is no mistaking his point, which you are then able to judge for yourself. He is persuasive, not dogmatic, but you have to be able to follow his train of reasoning.

In my opinion, it is unfair to accuse Prof. Vlastos of "special pleading", that is, presenting only evidence that supports his own arguments. Vlastos spent his life studying Socrates, and no doubt developed strong feelings for the object of his study, but it seems to me that he goes to great lengths to acknowledge evidence contradicting his own conclusions. But Vlastos makes his points very thoroughly, so if you want to quibble with him you have to have your own ducks in a row.

Vlastos covers the following topics:

- Socratic Irony.
- The "Socratic problem" - what we can know about Socrates as an actual historical figure, as opposed to the various impressions handed down to us by Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon, and others.
- The shift from the Socratic method ("elenchus") to mathematics in Plato's middle dialogues.
- Does Socrates cheat? (Yes, but only in jest.)
- Socrates' religious beliefs. (He believed in his "daimonion", but was not a mystic.)
- Socrates' rejection of the "lex talionis". (I found this to be by far the most interesting chapter, Socrates articulating the "Golden Rule" 400 years before Christ.)
- An explication of Socrates' theory that Happiness and Virtue are identical.

Vlastos concludes that Socrates, believing what he believed, died a happy man.

Anyone interested in philosophy will benefit from spending a few hours with Professor Gregory Vlastos and his friend, Socrates.

Gregory Vlastos was the most celebrated scholar of classical Greek philosophy in the last third of the twentieth century, if not the most important of the past hundred years. Virtually every major project in Platonic studies since 1960 has been in some way informed by him. For the reason of the maginitude of his scholarship alone, one really cannot go wrong with this book, in my opinion, one of his best.
What made Vlastos such a seminal figure is demonstrated abundantly in this study: 1) his ability to identify, elucidate, and interpret, in the light of the relevant contexts, the defining issues; 2) his closely reasoned justification for those interpretations.
The book is really a collection of papers and lectures extending from the late 1950's through the 1980's which illumine Vlastos' position that Socrates was "... the first to establish the eudaemonist foundation of ethical theory which becomes common ground for all the schools that sprung up around him, and more; he is the founder of the non-instrumentalist form of eudaemonism held in common by the Platonists, Aristotelians, Cynics, and Stoics, i.e. of all Greek moral pholosophers except the Epicureans."
As noted, Vlastos gives detailed insights into the elements of Socrates' moral theory and method of argument. The famous paper, "Socratic Irony", which opens the book (23 pages) is by far the most informative I have read on the subject, and, as Vlastos shows us, indispensible for understanding both Socratic moral theory and method of argument. A perfect source for undergraduate papers on these subjects, as well.
Chapter 7, "Socrates' Rejection of Retaliation" is very likely the most important work on this crucial subject at the heart of Socratic moral theory and sine qua non for any deeper understanding of Socrates and his "mission" (he articulated the "Golden Rule" 400 + years before Christ). In it (page 198), Vlastos claims: "In saying that it is never good to do a wrong, and making this the foundational reason for breaking with the accepted morality, Socrates must be using the word in its most inclusive sense. He must be saying: 'If an act of yours will wrong another, then it is bad for you, the agent, so bad that no good it offers could compensate you for its evil for you.'"
The final chapter "Happiness and Virtue in Socrates' Moral Theory", is the cumulation of nearly half a century of research, and again, a benchmark in Socratic studies. The same is felt universally by those professionally involved in such work: here is seminal, accessible scholarship on a subject which nearly 2,500 years since its original articulation still imperatively commands our attention.

A deeply profound scholarly work that is both well-written and a pleasure to read is hard to find, but Vlastos achieves this in this wonderful book. Although i do not agree with some of Vlastos' points concerning Plato, i must acknowledge the fact that most, if not all, of my ideas on Plato were either improved or disproved by either agreeing or disagreeing with Vlastos' interpretation of Plato. This book is one of the best ways for any reader of the Plato to be initiated into the various interpretations of his thought. The various theses raised by most scholarly works on Plato today can be traced to have developed either in agreement or in disagreement to this book. Some ideas that you will find in this work are: -a theory on how to chronologically arrange the Platonic corpus -an influential approach to understanding the reasons behind and the limits of the Socratic method -a theory on how to separate Plato's thought from Socrates' thought

This is a superb book on the philosophy of Socrates. You may not agree with Vlastos point by point; but if you disagree, you will have to work out your objections very carefully. One minor quibble: Vlastos seems to determined to defend whatever Socrates does and however he argues. This sometimes leads to (what looks very much like) special pleading. But the book is a masterpiece of readable, analytic philosophy.

Absolument passionnant. Se lit comme une enquête policière faite par un policier d'une impressionnante érudition et d'une grande honnêteté !

More references to other writings than the authors own thoughts. Difficult to follow very bad choice.