Plato: Menexenus

Are the long, wildly inventive etymologies in Plato’s Cratylus just some kind of joke, or does Plato himself accept them? This standard question misses the most important feature of the etymologies: they are a competitive performance, an agôn by Socrates in which he shows that he can play the game of etymologists like Cratylus better than they can themselves. Such show-off performances are a recurrent feature of Platonic dialogue: they include Socrates’ speeches on eros in the Phaedrus, his rhetorical discourse (...) in the Menexenus, and his literary interpretation in the Protagoras. The paper compares these cases to work out the ground rules, purposes and implications of the Platonic agôn, and the Cratylus etymologies in particular. (shrink)

Can virtue ethics say anything worthwhile about laws? What would a virtue-ethical account of good laws look like? I argue that a plausible answer to that question can be found in Plato’s parent analogies in the Crito and the Menexenus. I go on to show that the Menexenus gives us a philosophical argument to the effect that laws are just only if they enable citizens to flourish. I then argue that the resulting virtue-ethical account ofjust laws is not viciously paternalistic. (...) Finally, I refute the objection that the virtue-ethical account I am proposing is not distinct from a consequentialist account.Peut-on construire une théorie de la loi à partir de l’éthique de la vertu? Qu’est ce qu’une bonne loi? Je dis que l’on trouvera une réponse à la question dans l’analogie entre les lois et les parents présentée par Platon dans le Criton et le Ménéxène. Dans §2, je montre que le Ménéxène apporte une défense philosophique de l’argument que les lois sont bonne seulement si elles amènent les citoyens a la vertu.Dans §3, je montre que celte théorie des lois selon la vertu n’est pas outre mesure paternaliste. Dans la dernière section, je réponds a l’objection suivante : que la théorie que je défend n’est ni plus ni moins qu’une théorie conséquentialiste. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: Can virtue ethics say anything worthwhile about laws? What would a virtue-ethical account of good laws look like? I argue that a plausible answer to that question can be found in Plato’s parent analogies in the Crito and the Menexenus. I go on to show that the Menexenus gives us a philosophical argument to the effect that laws are just only if they enable citizens to flourish. I then argue that the resulting virtue-ethical account ofjust laws is not viciously (...) paternalistic. Finally, I refute the objection that the virtue-ethical account I am proposing is not distinct from a consequentialist account.RÉSUMÉ: Peut-on construire une théorie de la loi à partir de l’éthique de la vertu? Qu’est ce qu’une bonne loi? Je dis que l’on trouvera une réponse à la question dans l’analogie entre les lois et les parents présentée par Platon dans le Criton et le Ménéxène. Dans §2, je montre que le Ménéxène apporte une défense philosophique de l’argument que les lois sont bonne seulement si elles amènent les citoyens a la vertu.Dans §3, je montre que celte théorie des lois selon la vertu n’est pas outre mesure paternaliste. Dans la dernière section, je réponds a l’objection suivante : que la théorie que je défend n’est ni plus ni moins qu’une théorie conséquentialiste. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: Can virtue ethics say anything worthwhile about laws? What would a virtue-ethical account of good laws look like? I argue that a plausible answer to that question can be found in Plato’s parent analogies in the Crito and the Menexenus. I go on to show that the Menexenus gives us a philosophical argument to the effect that laws are just only if they enable citizens to flourish. I then argue that the resulting virtue-ethical account ofjust laws is not viciously (...) paternalistic. Finally, I refute the objection that the virtue-ethical account I am proposing is not distinct from a consequentialist account.RÉSUMÉ: Peut-on construire une théorie de la loi à partir de l’éthique de la vertu? Qu’est ce qu’une bonne loi? Je dis que l’on trouvera une réponse à la question dans l’analogie entre les lois et les parents présentée par Platon dans le Criton et le Ménéxène. Dans §2, je montre que le Ménéxène apporte une défense philosophique de l’argument que les lois sont bonne seulement si elles amènent les citoyens a la vertu.Dans §3, je montre que celte théorie des lois selon la vertu n’est pas outre mesure paternaliste. Dans la dernière section, je réponds a l’objection suivante : que la théorie que je défend n’est ni plus ni moins qu’une théorie conséquentialiste. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Can virtue ethics say anything worthwhile about laws? What would a virtue-ethical account of good laws look like? I argue that a plausible answer to that question can be found in Plato's parent analogies in the Crito and the Menexenus. I go on to show that the Menexenus gives us a philosophical argument to the effect that laws are just only if they enable citizens to flourish. I then argue that the resulting virtue-ethical account of just laws is not (...) viciously paternalistic. Finally, I refute the objection that the virtue-ethical account I am proposing is not distinct from a consequentialist account. (shrink)

La découverte d'un nouveau fragment du papyrus contenant la Vérité d'Antiphon renforce l'hypothèse qu'il nous faut identifier le sophiste avec le rhétoricien de Rhamnonte dont Thucydide fait l'éloge. Si l'on analyse de ce point de vue l'ensemble des témoignages, il est possible de déceler, dans le Ménexène d'un côté, dans le livre X des Lois de l'autre, des pièces à l'appui de la thèse que les idées d'Antiphon étaient une des cibles visées par la polémique platonicienne. The discovery of a (...) new papyrus' fragment concerning Antiphon's work On Truth seems to corroborate the idea that the sophist should be identified with the famous rhetoriciam praised by Thucydides. Starting from this main point of view, the analysis aims at showing that in the Menexenos on the one hand and in book X of the Laws on the other, many tracks can be detected about Antiphon's philosophical position as providing important points for Plato's criticism. (shrink)

The Menexenus is also known as Plato's Epitaphios or Funeral Oration. The body of the work is a fictional funeral oration, composed as an example of what should be said at a public funeral for Athenians who have fallen in war. The oration is framed by an encounter between Socrates and a certain Menexenus, an eager young man who thinks he has reached the end of education and philosophy, but who is still rather young to take an active party in (...) the city's affairs. Nevertheless, he is anxious to follow in the tradition of his family, which has always provided someone to look after the Athenians . Menexenus' interest in public affairs has led him to attend a meeting of the Council at which a speaker was to be chosen to compose and deliver the funeral oration at the imminent public funeral. However, no final decision was reached at the meeting, and Menexenus remarks that by the time the choice is made, the speaker will have almost to improvise his speech. Socrates gently mocks Menexenus' respect for public orators, saying that speeches about a dead person follow a predictable pattern; a speaker exaggerates all a dead person's good points and minimizes all the bad, so that one who has died appears a paragon of virtue even if he was not really good for much. Socrates claims that listening to such public orations, when not only individuals but also the state is eulogized, always makes him feel that in living in Athens he is living in the Islands of the Blessed. (shrink)

, Plato's Menexenus and Pericles' Funeral Oration: Empire and the Ends of Politics) , Socrates and Alcibiades) , Plato's Meno) , Plato and Xenophon: Apologies).

The arguments advanced in this paper suggest that the Menexenus ought to be read as a pendent to the Gorgias and as an example of the way in which rhetoric that engages in flattery can harm the souls of its audience. The Menexenus was composed by Plato to illustrate precisely what sentiments ought to be avoided in public oratory, if the primary concern of speech-making is to benefit the lives of citizens. In addition to demonstrating the connections between the Menexenus (...) and Gorgias, a portion of the paper examines the relation between Plato and Thucydides, arguing that there is perhaps more of an affinity between Plato and Thucydides than has previously been acknowledged. Pericles' Funeral Oration and the speech in the Menexenus suggest that both Thucydides and Plato were deeply concerned with the negative effects of oratory on the political community. (shrink)

Plato's Menexenus is a persistent puzzle for interpreters, in the main because of its obscurity of purpose and apparent lack of philosophical matter. This article argues that, while no doubt an elusive piece, it can be counted quite definitely a dialogue of philosophical import, as well as one of its author's most subtly accomplished works. The article focuses on two portions of Aspasia's oration -- the account of the earliest Athenians and the exhortation to the living in the voice of (...) the dead -- to demonstrate the radical nature of the speech. Close attention to its subtle internal dynamic reveals not only the range of philosophical themes touched upon, but also its outrageous aspects and the strength of its indictment of the Athenian democracy. The article also affirms the consistency of this critique with Plato's reservations regarding that regime as expressed with most force and clarity in Republic and Gorgias. (shrink)

Plato targets the encomiastic genre in three separate dialogues: the Lysis, the Menexenus and the Symposium. Many studies have been devoted to Plato's handling of the funeral oration in the Menexenus. Plato's critique of the encomium in the Lysis and Symposium, however, has not been accorded the same kind of treatment. Yet both of these dialogues go beyond the Menexenus in exploring the opposition between encomiastic and philosophic discourse. In the Lysis, I will argue, Plato sets up encomiastic rhetoric as (...) a foil for Socrates' dialectical method; philosophic discourse is both defined and legitimated by way of its opposition to eulogy. In the Symposium, Plato offers a much more complex critique. First, he illustrates and comments on the vices that inhere in the encomiastic genre. Second, he juxtaposes Socrates' ironic ‘praises’ of his interlocutors with traditional encomiastic discourse, thus inviting the reader to explore the relation between Socratic irony and the rhetoric of eulogy. And, third, the Symposium exhibits two untraditional ‘encomia’ – Socrates' eulogy for Eros and Alcibiades' for Socrates – that illustrate and interrogate the false ontology underlying the rhetoric of praise. (shrink)

Una de las cuestiones más llamativas de las obras de Platón y Aristóteles estriba en su silencio acerca de la historia. Leyeron y criticaron a físicos, filósofos, matemáticos, biólogos, poetas, retóricos, políticos, etc. Sin embargo, sus citas a propósito de los historiadores de su momento cabrían en una cuartilla. En este breve artículo tratamos de ofrecer una explicación a propósito de tal omisión. Así mismo, aprovechamos para ofrecer una razón del Menéxeno y aportar una confirmación de las razones que condujeron (...) a L. Edelstein a cuestionar la autenticidad de las cartas séptima y octava atribuidas a Platón. One of the most showy questions about the works of Plato and Aristotle rests on them silence brings over of the history. They read and criticized physicists, philosophers, mathematicians, biologists, poets, rhetorical, political, etc. Nevertheless, their appointments about the historians of that moment would fit in a sheet of paper. In this brief article we try to offer an explanation about such an omission. Likewise, we are useful to offer a reason of the Menexenus and to contribute a confirmation of the reasons that L. Edelstein led to questioning the genuineness of seventh and eighth letters attributed to Plato. (shrink)

Presented in the popular Cambridge Texts format are three early Platonic dialogues in a new English translation by Tom Griffith that combines elegance, accuracy, freshness and fluency. Together they offer strikingly varied examples of Plato's critical encounter with the culture and politics of fifth and fourth century Athens. Nowhere does he engage more sharply and vigorously with the presuppositions of democracy. The Gorgias is a long and impassioned confrontation between Socrates and a succession of increasingly heated interlocutors about political rhetoric (...) as an instrument of political power. The short Menexenus contains a pastiche of celebratory public oratory, illustrating its self-delusions. In the Protagoras, another important contribution to moral and political philosophy in its own right, Socrates takes on leading intellectuals (the 'sophists') of the later fifth century BC and their pretensions to knowledge. The dialogues are introduced and annotated by Malcolm Schofield, a leading authority on ancient Greek political philosophy. (shrink)

This initial volume in a series of new translations of Plato’s works includes a general introduction and interpretive comments for the dialogues translated: the _Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Gorgias, _and _Menexenus. _ _ _“Allen’s work is very impressive. The translations are readable, lucid, and highly accurate. The general introduction is succinct and extremely clear. The discussion of the dating of the dialogues is enormously useful; there has previously been no brief account of these issues to which one could refer the (...) student. Finally, the particular introductions are first rate: fine jobs of clear philosophical and historical explanation—succinct and yet sophisticated, both close to the text and philosophically incisive.”—Martha Nussbaum, _Brown University_ “This is an important work that deserves our respect and attention.”—_Ethics _ _ _“This and the promised succeeding volumes will probably become the standard English version of the complete dialogues…. The commentaries take advantage of the best scholarship, judge judiciously between divergent views, and often introduce new and brilliant interpretations. This is true both in the area of philosophy and in that of literary criticism.”—Anthony C. Daly, S.J., _Modern Schoolman_ _ _“Allen is a superb translator, whose elegantly simple yet precise language gives access to Plato both as a philosopher and as a literary artist.”—_Library Journal__ _ “An important event in the world of scholarship.”—_London Review of Books_ _ _R.E. Allen is professor of classics and philosophy at Northwestern University. (shrink)

This text brings together for the first time two complete key works from classical antiquity on the politics of Athens: Plato's Menexenus and Pericles' funeral oration.

Cet article discute le thème de l’autochtonie – essentiellement athénienne – en l’intégrant dans la logique du discours patriotique qui est la sienne. La prise en compte des exigences de ce type de discours tout à fait particulier, de même que la prise en compte du renouvellement du regard sur les identités sexuées qu’ont permis les études « genre », permettent aujourd’hui de proposer une interprétation différente de celle de Nicole Loraux. Celle-ci comprenait, dans sa lecture du Ménexène de Platon, (...) le mythe de l’autochtonie comme un « transfert » des compétences reproductives féminines sur un espace tenu par les hommes seuls, façon pour eux de déposséder les femmes de leur « puissance » et de penser la reproduction sans elles. Après avoir montré que les Grecs pensaient généralement la procréation comme une opération mixte et souvent équitablement partagée, surtout dans la tradition littéraire qui précède Aristote, je développe l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’usage du motif de la terre mère est une façon de construire un attachement contraignant au territoire civique. Il ne procéderait donc pas d’une lutte des sexes et d’une peur des hommes envers la puissance des femmes, mais serait l’instrument politique qui, à l’intérieur d’une société patrilinéaire où règne la « domination masculine », permet de susciter une relation particulièrement étroite avec le territoire habité.The earth mother: a reading through gender and patriotic rhetoric. This article tackles the issue of autochtony – mainly Athenian autochtony – fitting it more than has been traditionally the case into the logic of patriotic discourse from which it emerges. Taking into account the demands of this type of very particular discourse, together with the new perspectives on sexed identities made possible by gender studies, allows us today to offer an interpretation that is different from Nicole Loraux’s examining Plato, Menexenus. She understood the myth of autochtony as a “transference” of female reproductive competences to the civic land, an exclusive possession of men and a way for them to dispossess women of their power and to consider reproduction without women. After demonstrating that for the Greeks, mainly in the pre-Aristotelician tradition, males and females were usually equally concerned with the operation of procreation, I will suggest that the use of the mother earth theme is a way of constructing a constraining bond between citizens and their civic territory. This bond does not arise from the sex struggle or even from male fear of female power but, in the context of a patrilineal society dominated by males, it is the political instrument for the alienation of citizens from the land they inhabit. (shrink)

Every winter in the classical period, on a specifically chosen day, Athenians gathered together to mourn the men who had died in war. According to Thucydides, the bones of the dead killed in that year lay in state for two days before being carried in ten coffins organized by tribe to the dêmosion sêma where they were buried and then a speech was made in honour of the dead men by a man chosen by the city. As his description makes (...) clear, this ceremony was a public event attended not only by citizens and foreigners, but also by the female relatives of the dead men. Other sources report that the polemarchos put on the agôn for those who died in the war and these contests included musical, athletic and hippic competitions. The war-dead also received sacrifices. The occasion combined burial with cult and games usually afforded to the divine, although how exactly this combination worked in practice is not clear because Thucydides, our single best source for the Epitaphia, focusses on the burial and the oration given by Pericles in the winter at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War. (shrink)

Plato’s political philosophy is usually seen in the context of domestic politics, justice within a polis. This essay argues that Plato had views on international relations theory as well. We show that Plato had a theory of the causes of international conflict, and that his theory can be seen as a response to Thucydides’ theory as well as theories espoused by other Greek thinkers. Plato’s theory can be generalized to a theory of causation in the social sciences. He also had (...) clear views on what international relations theorists now call “hegemonic stability theory,” “transition theory,” and the nature of political sovereignty. (shrink)