Socratic dialogues 

Part of a series on
Platonism
Platonic idealism
Platonic realism
Middle Platonism
Neoplatonism
Articles on Neoplatonism
Socratic dialogue
Socratic method
Platonic doctrine of recollection
Platonic epistemology
Theory of forms
Form of the Good
Participants in Dialogues
Socrates
Adeimantus
Alcibiades
Aristophanes
Callicles
Glaucon
Gorgias
Hippias
Protagoras
Parmenides
Theaetetus
Thrasymachus
Timaeus of Locri
Notable Platonists
Plotinus
Porphyry
Iamblichus
Proclus
Discussions of Plato's works
Dialogues of Plato
Chariot allegory
Allegory of the cave
Metaphor of the sun
Analogy of the divided line
Philosopher king
Plato's five regimes
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The Myth of Er
Third Man Argument
Demiurge
This box: view  talk  

Socratic dialogue (Greek Σωκρατικός λόγος or Σωκρατικός διάλογος) is a genre of prose literary works developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BC, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems, illustrating the Socratic method. Socrates is often the main character.

Most accurately, the term refers to works in which Socrates is a character, though as a genre other texts are included; Plato's Laws and Xenophon's Hiero are Socratic dialogues in which a wise man other than Socrates leads the discussion (the Athenian Stranger and Simonides, respectively). Likewise, the stylistic format of the dialogues can vary; Plato's dialogues generally only contain the direct words of each of the speakers, while Xenophon's dialogues are written down as a continuous story, containing, along with the narration of the circumstances of the dialogue, the "quotes" of the speakers.

According to a fragment of Aristotle, the first author of Socratic dialogue was Alexamenes of Teos, but we do not know anything else about him, whether Socrates appeared in his works, or how accurate Aristotle was in his unfavorable judgement about him. In addition to Plato and Xenophon, Antisthenes, Aeschines of Sphettos, Phaedo of Elis, Euclid of Megara, Simon the Shoemaker, Theocritus, Tissaphernes and Aristotle all wrote Socratic dialogues, and Cicero wrote similar dialogues in Latin on philosophical and rhetorical themes, for example De re publica.

Contents

Texts

Plato

Generally, the works of Plato's early years are all considered to be Socratic dialogues, but many of the later ones are often included here as well.

Xenophon

Cicero

References