Abstract
In this study we investigate the extract 154b8–156c9 from the introductory chapters of the Platonic dialogue Charmides so that to examine how the terms of Aesthetics are formed, which focuses on the selfhood and makes it the core of dialectics. Specifically, we structure our study in two chapters each of which includes two subchapters. In the first subchapter we focus on the soul, which in the Platonic text appears to be the criterion for moral perfectness. In the second subchapter, which systematizes the former, we show how Socrates contrives to do the transition from subjective judgments to logical propositions and the terms of the authentic Aesthetics. In the third subchapter, paying attention to the first communication between Socrates and Charmides, we discuss how the Athenian philosopher sets beauty within its true boundaries and activates the logical part of the soul. In the fourth subchapter, we follow the introduction in dialectics, which will lead anyone involved in truth. The main contribution of our study is that we show how in this dialogue Plato succeeds to go from vulgar hedonism to the beauty of the soul, which is a requirement for the inner transformation of selfhood.
Highlights
The Platonic dialogue Charmides, which is included in the first Period of Plato’s literary activity, is a text that works with the method of nested stories, for Socrates is presented as someone who describes in an unknown interlocutor the argumentation on sophrosyne developed between him, Chairephon, ΣΧΟΛΗ Vol 14. 2 (2020) www.nsu.ru/classics/scholeCritias and the young Charmides.1 From a historical point of view, the debate is supposed to have taken place at the palaestra of Taureas after the Athenian philosopher’s return to Athens from Potidea in 432 BC
We will investigate how in the context of this early Platonic dialogue the question on the moral integrity is raised, which is the core of the Athenian philosopher’s dialectics, and how in this field the priority is given to the soul, without ignoring the importance of the body? What is the role of this distinction in the prolific communication between two interlocutors, where the first one, as more experienced, undertakes the responsibility of being a counsellor for a second person, who is presented as possessing some capabilities with regard to the criteria of the main question on virtue raised by Socrates?
Interesting is here how through a literary text Socrates approaches the young man. This is a highly inventive and educational way of setting from the beginning the terms and conditions of the communication and the philosophical debate. In this part of our study, we attempt to investigate how irrational criteria are incorporated into rational approaches as a tool of achieving the final goal. b) “The strategy in which a channel of communication opens”, where we examine how Charmides responds in his own special way to dialectics and leads Socrates to undertake the role of a counsellor and teacher, in the sense of a person who can make possible the transition from hedonism to spirituality, which clearly requires a critical discussion with the participation of everyone involved
Summary
The Platonic dialogue Charmides, which is included in the first Period of Plato’s literary activity, is a text that works with the method of nested stories, for Socrates is presented as someone who describes in an unknown interlocutor the argumentation on sophrosyne (temperance) developed between him, Chairephon, ΣΧΟΛΗ Vol 14. 2 (2020) www.nsu.ru/classics/schole. B) “The strategy in which a channel of communication opens”, where we examine how Charmides responds in his own special way to dialectics and leads Socrates to undertake the role of a counsellor and teacher, in the sense of a person who can make possible the transition from hedonism to spirituality, which clearly requires a critical discussion with the participation of everyone involved. This part reveals the beginning of the dialectical method, which, even though it is still at an early stage, serves as the starting point for the course towards truth. From the body to the soul: the formation terms of the Aesthetics of the ‘person’
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