Plato - Five Dialogues (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, figures, concepts, and motifs across Plato’s Five Dialogues (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo).

Five Dialogues

A collection of Plato’s dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, and Phaedo, as translated in Hackett’s edition.

Euthyphro

A dialogue in which Socrates questions Euthyphro about the nature and definition of piety, illustrating the Socratic method.

Piety

The virtue discussed in Euthyphro; traditionally defined as what pleases the gods, or what all gods love, leading to questions about universal definitions.

Impiety

The opposite of piety; in Euthyphro, actions or beliefs considered contrary to divine law and righteousness.

Form (eidos)

The eternal, universal pattern or essence underlying particular things; early Platonic discussion of form appears in the dialogue on piety.

Gadfly

Socrates’ self-description as a provocative informer who stings Athens into philosophical examination.

Divine sign (daimonion)

Socrates’ inner divine voice or sign that warns him against wrongdoing and guides his actions.

Oracle of Delphi

The famous prophecy that Socrates is the wisest of men, prompting his famous quest for understanding.

Sophists

Rhetoric teachers in ancient Greece (e.g., Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias) often paid for teaching; criticized by Socrates in the Apology.

El enchus (elenchus)

Socratic method of cross-examining beliefs by asking questions to expose contradictions.

Apology

Socrates’ defense speech at his trial; not an apology in the modern sense, but a defense of his life and philosophy.

Meletus

The chief accuser in Socrates’ trial (charges of impiety and corrupting the youth).

Anytus

A politician and one of Socrates’ accusers; represents the democratic faction in Athens.

Gorgias/Prodicus/Hippias

Famous Sophists cited in the Apology as exemplars of teaching for pay and persuasive rhetoric.

Gorgias’ protreptic

Rhetorical instruction celebrated by Sophists; contrasted with Socratic pursuit of truth.

Socrates’ gadfly

Metaphor for Socrates’ role in provoking the city to examine itself and its values.

The unexamined life

Socrates’ claim that life without philosophical inquiry is not worth living.

Crito

Dialogue about Socrates’ duty to the laws and the city, and why he does not escape prison.

The Prytaneum

Public hall where meals were provided; used in Apology to symbolize civic honor and reward.

The Laws (nomoi)

Personified Athens’ laws in the Crito dialogue; argument about obedience to the city and social contract.

Euthyphro’s definition of piety

The claim that piety is what is dear to the gods; leads to discussion of whether piety is the form that makes all pious acts pious.

Meno

Dialogue exploring virtue: whether virtue is teachable, the nature of virtue, and recollection via a geometric slave problem.

Virtue

Central theme in Meno; questions about its nature, teachability, and unity (one form vs many virtues).

Recollection (anamnesis)

The theory that learning is remembering knowledge already possessed by the soul prior to birth.

Hypothesis (in geometry)

A provisional assumption or working principle used to investigate and derive conclusions, as Socrates does with geometry in Meno.

Even and Odd

Mathematical pairs used by Socrates to illustrate forms and the pursuit of a unifying definition of virtue.

Shape/Form discussion in Meno

Use of geometric and metaphoric language to seek a single form that underlies all shapes (and virtues).

Phaedo

Dialogue on the immortality of the soul; Socrates’ final hours and apposite myth about the afterlife.

Soul (psyche)

The immortal, non-physical essence of a person, central to Phaedo’s discussion of death and afterlife.

Immortality of the soul

Socrates’ claim that the soul survives death, supported by arguments in Phaedo (recollection, forms, and afterlife).

The four rivers of the underworld (Acheron, Cocytus, Pyriphlegethon, Styx)

Mythic rivers described in Phaedo as channels of the afterlife’s geography and judgment.

Tartarus

A deep underworld prison in Greek myth; a place of punishment described in Phaedo.

Acheron, Cocytus, Pyriphlegethon, Styx

Rivers of the Greek underworld featured in Phaedo’s account of the afterlife.

Daedalus/Proteus

Mythic figures invoked in Euthyphro and related discussions to illustrate human cleverness and changeability.

Daemon (divine sign) vs. gods’ love

Exploration in Euthyphro of whether the pious is loved by the gods and how divine approval is determined.