Riassunto
Riassunto di Eutidemo
A chi è rivolto
For readers who enjoy sharp argument, comedy, and the question of what education is for. It also suits anyone curious about logical fallacies and the difference between winning an argument and seeking truth.
Che cos’è questo libro
Euthydemus is a dialogue by Plato, the Athenian philosopher who was a pupil of Socrates. It was probably written in the first half of the fourth century BC. Socrates is the main speaker. He tells his friend Crito about a strange afternoon at the Lyceum, a public exercise ground in Athens, where two visiting teachers put on a show of argument. Their names are Euthydemus and Dionysodorus, and they claim they can teach virtue faster than anyone alive.
The book is funny, sharp and surprisingly useful. You get a close look at the tricks of word play that were used to win arguments in Plato's day, and you still meet them in debates now. You also get Socrates in action, answering the same young boy with honest questions. Set side by side, the two styles show the difference between winning a quarrel and seeking the truth. Let us begin with the scene at the Lyceum and the two brothers who arrive to teach.
In questo riassunto
- 1Two brothers promise to teach virtueFree
- 2Playing with the word learn
- 3Wisdom is the only good worth seeking
- 4Tricks that turn words against sense
- 5No falsehood and no contradiction
- 6The search that goes in a circle
- 7Philosophy judged by its false practitioners
Punto chiave 1 di 7
Two brothers promise to teach virtue
The book opens with a short frame. Crito meets Socrates and asks who the man was that Socrates was talking with the day before. Socrates answers by retelling the whole episode from memory. He had been sitting alone in the changing room of the Lyceum when two newcomers walked in with a crowd of followers.
These are the brothers Euthydemus and Dionysodorus, originally from Chios. They had lived in Thurii, a colony in southern Italy, before being driven out and wandering Greece. Socrates says they were once expert fighters in heavy armor and then became masters of arguing in law courts. Now they have found a third skill, which is arguing in any way at all, and refuting any claim whatever, true or false.
They also claim they can make anyone good. The young man Cleinias, a handsome and promising boy, has come along with his admirer Ctesippus and other companions. Socrates asks the brothers to show their skill by persuading Cleinias that he must pursue wisdom and virtue. This request sets up the whole book as a contest between two ways of teaching.
Socrates is mildly ironic about the brothers from the start. He treats them as if they were wise experts and begs them to go easy on a beginner. The reader soon sees that he is also measuring them, and that their skill may be much narrower than their boasts.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Socrates
- An Athenian philosopher who recounts the brothers’ arguments to Crito and questions Cleinias about wisdom.
- Euthydemus
- A visiting teacher who joins his brother Dionysodorus in claiming to teach virtue through argument.
- Dionysodorus
- Euthydemus’s brother and fellow teacher, who challenges Socrates and Cleinias with verbal traps.
- Cleinias
- A young boy questioned by both Socrates and the brothers about learning, wisdom, and happiness.
- Crito
- Socrates’ friend, who asks about the previous day’s conversation and listens to his account.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 21,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 25 min
- Listening time2 h 20 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages