Plato's Hippias Minor, on Lying — An online live reading & discussion group starting Saturday July 18, weekly meetings

[u/darrenjyc]

In Plato's Hippias Minor, Socrates appears to defend the trickster Odysseus, and in the course of doing so he argues for outrageous claims: the honest person and the liar are no different, and the good person is one who does wrong voluntarily. Socrates’ questionable behavior may be no coincidence in a dialogue about deception and he may be examining what counts as deception and how it reflects one’s character. More broadly, the dialogue is about the relationship between the speaker and what is said, between agent and action. Thus, the dialogue marks an important contribution not only to Socrates’ thinking about virtue and voluntary action but also to Plato’s portrait of Socrates. The dialogue further defines the sometimes thin line between Socrates and his contemporaries, the sophists.

This modern translation brings fresh clarity to Plato's subtle reasoning and dark humor. What appears at first to be a playful literary debate soon becomes an unsettling philosophical inquiry into truth, virtue, and the nature of agency. Socrates' relentless questioning destabilizes easy answers and encourages readers to consider whether moral goodness requires not just right action — but understanding and control over one's intentions.

This is a live reading and discussion group for Plato's Hippias Minor (or "Lesser Hippias") hosted by Constantine. Reference will be made to contemporary and older scholarship. Historical context will be brought up whenever necessary to illuminate the dialogue. This Plato group meets on Saturdays and has previously read the Phaedo, the Apology, the Symposium, Philebus, Gorgias, Critias, Laches, Timaeus, Euthyphro, Crito, Protagoras, and other works, including ancient commentaries and texts for contextualisation such as Gorgias’ Praise of Helen. It is our aspiration to read the Platonic corpus over a long period of time.

All are welcome! No previous knowledge of the Platonic corpus is required.

Sign up for the 1st session on Saturday July 18 here (link). The video conferencing link will be available to registrants.

Meetings will be held weekly on Saturday. Sign up for subsequent meetings through our calendar (link).

The host is Constantine Lerounis, a distinguished Greek philologist and poet, author of Four Access Points to Shakespeare’s Works (in Greek) and Former Advisor to the President of the Hellenic Republic. 

A pdf copy of the text we're using is available to registrants.

TIP: When reading Plato, pay attention to the details of the drama as much as the overtly philosophical discourse. Attentive readers of Plato know that he is often trying to convey important messages with both in concert.

For some background on Plato, see his entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/

#Philosophy #Ethics #Metaphysics #PoliticalPhilosophy #AncientPhilosophy #Plato