Abstract

PALPACELLI, Lucia. Plato’s Euthydemus: an invitation to philosophy and virtue. A protreptic dialogue on protrepsis. Educação e Filosofia [online]. 2017, vol.31, n.62, pp.865-908.  Epub Mar 09, 2021. ISSN 1982-596X.  https://doi.org/10.14393/revedfil.issn.0102-6801.v31n62a2017-p865a908.

This article suggests a protreptical reading of the Euthydemus, offering a possible hermeneutic key to understand one of Plato’s most bewildering dialogues. The scene is indeed dominated by two erists, Euthydemus and Dionosodorus, who do nothing but build sophisms, in order to be declared, at the end, winners in the discussion with Socrates and Clinia. We are apparently dealing with a big play on words that go back to themselves, but in this dialogue, built like a comedy, Plato actually debates a very serious theme: the education of young people. Through the scenes, seeing as protagonists the erists first and Socrates after, the philosopher develops a particular invitation to philosophy and virtue, that is to say a protrectic, in a dialogue that is conceived for the readers as a structurally protrectical one. Euthydemus can ultimately be read at two levels: at a first level, on the scene, Plato invites to cultivate philosophy and virtue; at a second level, the reader, following Plato throughout his scheme and his “games”, is faced with a very nice protrectic that pushes him to philosophize and initiates him to Plato’s philosophy.

Keywords : Protrectic; Education; Virtue; Eristic; Philosophy.

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