Socratics

This philosophical essay aims to return to the Socratic problem, ask it anew, and make an attempt to find its possible solution. In the introduction, the author briefly discusses to genesis of the Socratic problem and the basic methodological problems we encounter when dealing with it. Further on, it defines five basic sources of information about Socrates on which the interpretation tradition is based. Then the author outlines two key features of Socrates’ personality, aligned with the vast majority of sources: (1) Socrates’ belief that he has no theoretical knowledge; (2) Socrates’ predilection towards practical questions, and the practical dimension of his activity. In conclusion, the author expresses his belief that it is just this practical dimension of philosophy that has been in the ‘blind spot’ of the modern study of Socrates which paid too much attention to the search for his doctrine. The history of philosophy, however, does not only have to be the history of doctrines, but can also be the history of reflected life practices which inspire followers in their own practices while reflecting on them. The author therefore proposes to understand the historical Socrates as the paradigmatic figure of practical philosophy.

The leading idea of this chapter is that a momentous change in anthropology occurred with Socrates and his direct pupils. Many texts, Homer to Demosthenes, give ample and univocal evidence of how prevailing was, among the Greeks, the attitude at emphasizing the limits of the will and the many ways in which human behavior is conditioned. Quite a different anthropology surfaces within the Socratics and the Socratic literature of the beginnings. They seem to have endorsed and disseminated the idea that the agent is largely responsible for his/her behavior and to take it under control is essential to one's self-esteem. All that without being immediately able to rely on the ad hoc apparatus of notions giving rise to the sense of duty, to the moral laws, to the moral character and so on. All that just followed.

In the 2013 Verso Book list of the Year
REVIEWS:

"Compulsive reading", Denis O'Brien
" A pleasure to read",  Harold Tarrant
"It is essential reading for all students of ancient philosophy", George Boys-Stones
"It represents a valuable addition" Chris Gill
"All readers should find this an accessible and enjoyable book", Kurt Lampe
"This is a bold book", Robin Waterfield
"An Important contribution to the continuing rehabilitation of Hellenistic philosophy", Christopher Rowe

In 1953, just outside the southwest corner of the Athenian Agora a small building was identified with the house and workshop of Simon the shoemaker. Our sources report that despite his humble profession, this man was blessed with a smart mind and diverse customers among the citizens of Athens between the 5th and the 4th century BCE. Starting from the remains of some of his belongings, I will reflect on how the position of his shop helped him attract both Pericles and Socrates, and how his profession contributed to shaping his intellectual profile, getting him good as well as bad reputation. Cynics regarded him as the truest interpreter of Socrates’ way of life, whereas Cyrenaic Aristippus criticized him, mocking the toil of his job and the frugality of his existence. Simon perfectly knew how to address those spiteful words, as I shall show in the last part of the paper, devoted to the writings that ancient and modern scholars attributed to him. There, I shall also suggest a new reading of Diog. Laert. 2.123, arguing that, rather than as the inventor of the literary form of the Socratic dialogue, Simon is there described as Socrates’ first philosophical interlocutor.

The notion of "metacognitive skill" is familiar to students of cognitive sciences as well as to educationalists, but looks alien to most philosophers. However, given the special interest of philosophers for the context, the frame, the system coordinates, the transcendental (etc.), such a disregard may well be taken for unexpected. In likewise manner, the prevailing cognitivist attitudes of most contemporary philosophers looks strange when considering how often, when a well-assessed body of knowledge comes to be available within the area of philosophy, it is quickly assigned to some other discipline (as it has just occurred with cognitive sciences).
Il this paper it will be argued in favour of a better balance and, in view of that, a special attention will be paid to the Sophists and the Socratics, who had the merit of exploiting, for the first time, a prevailing meta-cognitive way of doing philosophy and being philosophers. -------
[ POSTSCRIPT 2018: ...Or better: a prevailing meta-cognitive strategy of communication, and a better idea of what enlightened intellectuals can do. ]