1. Socrates as
educator
Review of Socrates’s life
Some of his educational
dialogues
Approaching the Laches

2. Life of Socrates
 469BC Born Athens
 Sculptor and soldier (fought at
Samos 440, Potideia 432, Delium
424, Amphibolis 422)
 421. Consulted oracle at Delphi
thereafter educational work
 Complained about the Athenian
pursuance of war with Sparta
 404, 30 tyrants took charge
 399 Arraigned on charges of
corrupting the young
Dr F.Long, Education UCC 2

3. 3
Temple at Delphi
 Cult of Apollo
 Know thyself
 All things in
measure
 Socrates
 Wisdom is knowing
who one is and
where one is in the
world
Dr F.Long, Education UCC

4. 4
Protagoras 490-420BCE versus Socrates 469-399
 see http://www.iep.utm.edu/p/  Socrates
protagor.htm
 paid teacher/educator  non-paid
 the art of speech teaches the  An art does not necessarily do
bearer to be good the person any good. The art of
education claims to do the
 The ‘interior’ is visible in the learner some good
performance  Doing someone good is
 Concentrates on the primarily a moral action
perfection of the technique
 Socrates concentrates primarily
on the interior effect of the
of speech techne of speech on the soul of
speaker and listener
Dr F.Long, Education

5. 5
Socrates
 2 Principles
 Interiority: the important learning occurs on the inside
 Discipline: the disciplined path to learning
 4 steps in Socratic method (Dialectics)
 Elenchus: "argument of disproof or refutation; cross-examining,
testing, scrutiny esp. for purposes of refutation“ Liddell, Scott
and Jones, Greek-English Lexicon, 9th Edition.
 Begin with learner’s position
 Seek the gaps in the position
 Expose the need to learn to the individual (a humbling
experience) Dr F.Long, Education UCC
 Suggest a more fruitful line of inquiry

6. The educational work of Socrates
 Alcibiades
 Charmides
 Ion
 Laches
 Laches, Nicias, Socrates
 Lysimachus and Melesias

7. 7
Alcibiades speaks of Socrates in Symposium:
Socrates was worth seeing, gentlemen, when
the army retreated in flight from Delium… First
of all, he was more self-possessed than
Laches. And he seemed to me, as you put it,
Aristophanes, to advance there just as he does
here, “holding his head high and looking from
side to side,” calmly watching both his friends
and the enemy. It was clear to everyone even
from far off that if anyone laid a hand on him,
he would fight back with everything he had.
And, for that reason, he got away safely, both
he and Laches. For pursuers do not touch the
ones who act like that in a battle. Instead, they
go after those who are in headlong flight.
Dr F.Long, Education UCC

8. 8
Charmides Today?
 Handsome, intelligent,
well-educated, literate,
good appearance, well-
connected
 Living in a hall of mirrors –
identity shaped by
expectations of
others????
Dr F.Long, Education UCC

9. 9
Socrates 469-399 BC
 Charmides suffers from a sickness of
soul which comes from not having
an idea who he is and what he
stands for
 When asked a question about
himself Charmides blushes and
holds his head down.
 Socrates uses questions to move
him forward.
 Socrates promises a remedy and a
charm – the charm of Zalmoxis that
would make a person immortal –
apathananizein (Charmides 156d)
Dr F.Long, Education UCC

10. Ion
 Why is Ion unhappy?
 Would attract 15-20000
listeners
 Has only one interest in life:
Homer (Ion 532b)
 Socrates: “God takes away the
mind of these men and uses
them as his ministers..” (Ion
534c)
 The meaning of the text is
hidden from Ion for he is first
and foremost a servant of the
Muses
Dr F.Long, Education 10

11. Interest?
By a rule of art? By inspiration
 Interested in all poetry  Only interested in Homer
 Leads to a generalised view  Leads to a very individual
that is communicable view that is not particularly
according to rules of art communicable
 Leads to humanly structured  Leads to divinely structured
knowledge which can be knowledge which can be
taught performed

12. Laches: The parents’ concern
 we urge all this upon the lads, pointing out
to them that they will not grow up to
honour if they are rebellious and take no
pains about themselves; but that if they
take pains they may, perhaps, become
worthy of the names which they bear.
Plato, Laches 179d, translated by B.
Jowett

13. 13
Trireme
How the story unfolds…
 Nicias and Laches reply:
 Public affairs may lead to the neglect of
children
 Why have you not consulted Socrates who has
been brave in battle and is also a philosopher?
 They reply that they had not heard of him
 When Socrates is asked, Socrates responds by
asking first for the views of Nicias and Laches
Dr F.Long, Education

14. 14
Answering the parents’ worry
 Nicias
suggests that the wearing of
armour is very important
 Notice: parents’ hunch is reinforced by this
suggestion but it is not realistic
 Laches
 Debunks the suggestion by telling a story
about the soldier whose lance caught in a
sail
 Conclusion is that unless a person is already
brave, the wearing of armour will not make
him so
 Notice: parents’ hunch is not reinforced…
parents are puzzled...Socrates is called
upon
Dr F.Long, Education

15. 15
Socrates’ response
 Whoseopinion would you follow on any
matter?
 He sets aside the hearsay knowledge of
“youth bearing arms”
 He looks for knowledge that reflects the
“soul of the youth”
 Bravery is a virtue and can only be
developed using educational not
technique
 Need for interiority
Dr F.Long, Education

16. Socrates condemned
 It isnot a lack of arguments that
has caused my condemnation, but
a lack of effrontery and
impudence, and the fact that I
have refused to address you in a
way which would give you the
most pleasure
Apology 38c
Dr F.Long, Education UCC 16

17. 17
Socrates’s defence
 He was only ever a minor influence
 That he feared untruth more than death
 That he operated on a divine mission for the good of
humanity not just the good of Athens
 He objected to the idea that the jury should dispense
justice as a favour
 He proclaimed his justice against their injustice
(Apology 32b, his wakefulness against their slumber
(Apology30e), his concern for virtue against their all
too human cares (Apology 23c), his wisdom against
their ignorance (Apology 29a)
 IN short, he made an ‘outrageous’ defence. Why?
Dr F.Long, Education UCC

18. Links
 http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laches.html
 http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/ion.html
 http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/charmides.html