W poszukiwaniu prawości. Analiza filozoficzna dialogu Sokratesa z Kefalosem w I księdze Politei Platona (328b–331d)
In search of righteousness. Philosophical analysis of Socrates' dialogue with Kefalos in Book 1 of Plato's Politea (328b – 331d)

Author(s): Piotr W. Juchacz
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Platos’ Republic; Socrates; Cephalus; dikaiosyne; righteousness
Summary/Abstract: The chapter provides a detailed philosophical analysis of the dialogue between Socrates and Cephalus in the first book of Plato’s The Republic (328b–331d). In the first part of the paper, this dialogue between the philosopher Socrates and the merchant Cephalus is considered in a broad context, in which the following issues are tackled, firstly: public culture as the backbone of moral philosophy; secondly, the genealogy of the concept of dikaiosyne in Greek thought; and thirdly, the place of this dialogue in the structure of the first book of The Republic. Next, the considerations focus on the significance of the setting, the political context of the dialogue and the people participating in it. In the subsequent sections the analysis focuses on the four questions that Socrates poses to Cephalus: What is old age like? What is the importance of having wealth in old age? How did he come by his fortune? And what was the greatest advantage he got from being wealthy? In the last section of the chapter, the definition of righteousness provided by Cephalus is first juxtaposed with the considerations on just or right conduct from the earlier tradition (Herodotus), and then Socrates’ criticism of this definition is analyzed.

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