Plato's Greater Hippias

By Platon

Hippias of Elis travels throughout the Greek world practicing and teaching the art of making beautiful speeches. On a rare visit to Athens, he meets Socrates who questions him about the nature of his art. Socrates is especially curious about how Hippias would define beauty. They agree that "beauty makes all beautiful things beautiful," but when Socrates presses him to say precisely what he means, Hippias is unable to deliver such a definition. The more Socrates probes, the more absurd the responses from Hippias become. This is one of Plato's best comedies and one of his finest efforts at posing the philosophical problem of the difference between particular things and universal qualities.-

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Jul 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9788726627640

Platon

Platon wird 428 v. Chr. in Athen geboren. Als Sohn einer Aristokratenfamilie erhält er eine umfangreiche Ausbildung und wird im Alter von 20 Jahren Schüler des Sokrates. Nach dessen Tod beschließt Platon, sich der Politik vollständig fernzuhalten und begibt sich auf Reisen. Im Alter von ungefähr 40 Jahren gründet er zurück in Athen die berühmte Akademie. In den folgenden Jahren entstehen die bedeutenden Dialoge, wie auch die Konzeption des „Philosophenherrschers“ in Der Staat. Die Philosophie verdankt Platon ihren anhaltenden Ruhm als jene Form des Denkens und des methodischen Fragens, dem es in der Theorie um die Erkenntnis des Wahren und in der Praxis um die Bestimmung des Guten geht, d.h. um die Anleitung zum richtigen und ethisch begründeten Handeln. Ziel ist immer, auf dem Weg der rationalen Argumentation zu gesichertem Wissen zu gelangen, das unabhängig von Vorkenntnissen jedem zugänglich wird, der sich auf die Methode des sokratischen Fragens einläßt.Nach weiteren Reisen und dem fehlgeschlagenen Versuch, seine staatstheoretischen Überlegungen zusammen mit dem Tyrannen von Syrakus zu verwirklichen, kehrt Platon entgültig nach Athen zurück, wo er im Alter von 80 Jahren stirbt.

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Platon

Plato’s Greater Hippias

Translated by Albert A. Anderson

SAGA Egmont

Plato’s Greater Hippias

Ἱππίας μείζων

Copyright © 390 BC, 2020 Plato and SAGA Egmont

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ISBN: 9788726627640

1. e-book edition, 2020

Format: EPUB 2.0

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Plato’s greater hippias

Characters

Socrates

Hippias

[281] Socrates: Beautiful and wise Hippias, it has been a long time sinceyou have landed in Athens.

Hippias: My time is not my own, Socrates! Whenever Elis needs to dobusiness with another republic, I am the first citizen they choose to be their ambassador. They think I am the one who is most capable to judge and interpret messages from any other republic. I have led delegations to many republics, but I have gone most often to Sparta where I have handled the most important matters. That explains why I come here so seldom.

Socrates: Hippias, that’s how it is to be a truly wise and talented man! Inyour private life, you are able to earn a lot of money from the young and provide them with even greater benefits. And as a public servant, you are able to do a lot of good in your republic, as one must who wants to be honored rather than ignored by the people. But Hippias, why is it that men from earlier times who are famous for their wisdom — I mean Pitticus and Bias, Thales from Miletus and his followers, and later ones up to the time of Anaxagoras — clearly avoided political life?

Hippias: Socrates, is it not because they were powerless to apply theirwisdom both to the public and private realms?

Socrates: Then, by the gods, your craft is just like the ones in which theskill of the earlier craftsmen is poor when compared to those of today. In the same way, can we say that your skill as a sophist far surpasses the inferior ability of the ancients?

Hippias: That’s exactly right, Socrates.

[282] Socrates: So, Hippias, if Bias came back to life today, his wisdomwould be a joke when compared to yours — in the same way that sculptors say Daedalus would be ridiculous if he were reborn and produced works like the ones that made him famous.

Hippias: What you say is true, Socrates. However, I usually praise theancients and others who came before us more than I do the current generation. Although I fear the jealousy of the living, I fear the anger of the dead even more.

Socrates: You are putting beautiful thoughts into beautiful words, Hippias,if you ask me, and I affirm the truth of what you say. The skill that you sophists have developed in managing both public and private affairs has definitely increased over the years. Consider Gorgias, the sophist from Leontini, who came here as ambassador because he was best qualified to deal with public matters. He became famous as the best speaker in the legislature. In private he gave demonstrations to young people, earning him a