with Socrates (222c), he is unwilling to follow the way his lover illustrated in their first conver-
sation, i.e.,Alcibiades I. Apparently, Alcibiades does not want to subject himself to reason but to
keep his own arbitrary mind. Instead of turning hiserostoward truth and wisdom, he prefers to stay
the way he is.
In face of Socrates’failure, the difficulty of his method becomes evident. Indeed, one might
wonder if it is possible to apply it at all. Still, the interpretation ofAlcibiades Ioffers some practical
advice.Alcibiades Ihighlights the importance oferosfor education. Only by appealing to the
student’seroscan one gain his or her attention. As long as the student is not addressed both on an
intellectual and emotional–or better at an existential–level, it is unlikely that he or she is willing to
listen. At this point, it is necessary for a reminder of whaterosstands for.Erosis a strong desire
for something we want but do not have yet. This means that if a teacher wants to inspire his or her
student for the love of wisdom, the teacher needs to reveal that the student is not wise yet. Now,
we see the importance of the so-called Socratic ignorance: as long as we think that we already know
something, we do not search for knowledge. And we only learn of our ignorance if our pretended
knowledge is refuted. Once the student has accepted his ignorance and realizes that he needs to
change, he is motivated to learn.
Appealing to the student’seros, however, is no guarantee for success. As we have seen in
Alcibiades I, Socrates seduces Alcibiades but still cannot redirect the young man’seros. The
reasons for Socrates’failure are difficult to detect and require a more detailed analysis. One starting
point for further research may be to put oneself in Alcibiades’shoes in his dialog with Socrates. This
approach may offer insight into Alcibiades’mind and the limits of philosophical seduction–and at
best, it may lead to self-knowledge.
Notes
1 Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith,“Socratic Teaching and Socratic Method,”inThe Oxford
Handbook of Philosophy of Education, Harvey Siegel, ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 183.
2 For chronology of the dialogs, refer to Leonard Brandwood,“Stylometry and Chronology,”inThe
Cambridge Companion to Plato, Richard Kraut, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992),
90 – 120; Terence H. Irwin,“The Platonic Corpus,”inThe Oxford Handbook of Plato, Gail Fine, ed.
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 63–87; Gerard R. Ledger,Re-counting Plato: A Computer
Analysis of Plato’s Style(Oxford: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press, 1989).
3 Nicholas Denyer,Alcibiades(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 3f; Andre Archie,
Politics in Socrates’Alcibiades: A Philosophical Account of Plato’s Dialogue Alcibiades Major(Cham:
Springer, 2015), 4.
4 Brickhouse and Smith,“Socratic Teaching and Socratic Method,”184.
5 Plato,Apology,inPlato: In twelve volumes, R.G. Bury, ed. (Cambridge: Loeb Classical Library and
Harvard University Press, 1984), 23a. All in-text citations and translations of Plato’s dialogs are taken
from here.
6 Brickhouse and Smith,“Socratic Teaching and Socratic Method,”179.
7 Brickhouse and Smith,“Socratic Teaching and Socratic Method,”185.
8 See Jacqueline Romilly,Alcibiade ou les dangers de l’ambition(Paris: Éd. de Fallois, 1996), 28.
9 For the interwoven plots and background story, see Barbara Zehnpfennig,“Einleitung,”inSymposion:
Griechisch-deutsch, Barbara Zehnpfennig, ed. (Hamburg: Meiner, 2000), VIII.
10 CapitalizedErosrefers to the mythological god, while lower-casederosdenotes the psychological
phenomenon of passion and love.
11 According to Zehnpfennig, the awareness of an intellectual principle behind the forms of appearance helps
the lover to transcend himself: he can no longer arbitrarily define what beauty means for him personally but
has to gain an objective access. This becomes evenmore evident when Diotima speaks about beautiful laws
and virtues which, by definition, surpass the individual. Barbara Zehnpfennig,Platon zur Einführung
(Hamburg: Junius, 2005), 152.
12 Gregory Vlastos,Platonic Studies(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981), 31.
13 Descendant of some of the most prestigious Athenian royal houses, Alcibiades was raised by Pericles. He
was said to be the most beautiful, mosttalented, and most infamous man of his time: he provoked numerous
GuidingErosToward Wisdom inAlcibiades I 43