TY - JOUR AU - Anfinsen, Roar PY - 2014/11/16 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Sokrates og oss: Et essay om Sokrates’ forsvarstale, tekstfortolkning og filosofihistorie JF - Nordlit JA - Nordlit VL - 0 IS - 33 SE - Articles DO - 10.7557/13.3181 UR - https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3181 SP - 117-137 AB - <p><em>Socrates and Us: An Essay on the </em>Apology of Socrates<em>, Philological Interpretations and History of Philosophy. </em>I start out with a philological problem, the question of how to translate a disputed passage (30b 2–4) in Plato’s Apology. This problem is connected to a philo­sophical question, the Socratic and Platonic opinion on the relation between virtue, material goods and happiness. I then discuss the role of our «pre-understanding» in the interpretation of historical texts. Is a «purely» historical interpretation possible? Is a «purely» historical reading of philosophical texts worthwhile, if it does not concern our modern philosophical problems? In discussing these hermenutical questions I use John Stuart Mill’s reading of Plato as an example. A peculiar problem in the history of philosophy is the question of the historical Socrates and the different roles he has played. I investigate especially Mill’s use of the character of Socrates, but I also include examples from the twentieth century. Furthermore, I analyze Plato’s staging of Socrates in the <em>Apology</em> as a moral hero and the mythological status he is given. Finally, I discuss whether the Socratic philosophy is of any value today. I argue that the Socratic method ought to have an important place in moral and political education, and that this method is not value-neutral. It presupposes certain virtues, virtues taught and incarnated by the historical Socrates.</p> ER -