- Socrates, Sophistry, and AristophanesPanera Bread, Raleigh, NC
Our discussion of Cartesian rationalism stoked some interest in reading some other models of philosophical reasoning and intellectual activity. For that we read two books.
The first is a set of two very accessible Platonic dialogues:
Plato Protagoras and Meno
In which Socrates matches wits with the sophist, Protagoras of Abdera, (Protagoras) and another in which Socrates explores what means to be a good person (Meno).
We will also read a bit of literature in:
Aristophanes The Clouds
In which the intellectual fashions of the time (sophistry, notably) are lampooned.