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Chapter 4 - Interpreting Temperance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2023

Raphael Woolf
Affiliation:
King's College London
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Summary

This chapter analyses in detail the major part of Socrates’ long and complex discussion with Critias about the nature of temperance. Central to the discussion is Critias’ proposal that temperance is knowing oneself. It is argued that this discussion brings out several important ways in which Socrates and Critias differ from one another. One is in their respective attitudes towards interpretation: while Socrates is negligent of interpreting the words of others, Critias shows a keen interest in the interpretation of texts. A second difference is in the pair’s conception of self-knowledge. It is argued that Critias’ conception is based on what I call a social authority model, while Socrates’ is based on what I call a reflective model. It is shown that, despite the heavily aporetic nature of the discussion, a substantive conception of temperance can be gleaned from critical engagement with that discussion.

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Plato's Charmides , pp. 145 - 207
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Interpreting Temperance
  • Raphael Woolf, King's College London
  • Book: Plato's <i>Charmides</i>
  • Online publication: 20 July 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009308175.004
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Interpreting Temperance
  • Raphael Woolf, King's College London
  • Book: Plato's <i>Charmides</i>
  • Online publication: 20 July 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009308175.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Interpreting Temperance
  • Raphael Woolf, King's College London
  • Book: Plato's <i>Charmides</i>
  • Online publication: 20 July 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009308175.004
Available formats
×