Analysis reveals Socrates does not charm Charmides, suggesting implications for psychagogy and irrational soul techniques.
In the Charmides, Socrates tells Charmides he has a charm to treat his soul. Most scholars assume that the elenchus that follows is this promised treatment. However, as I will show in this paper, a careful reading of the dialogue shows that Socrates never tries to charm Charmides. This has implications for views of Plato’s psychagogy, and to what extent he endorses irrational forms of affecting the soul.
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Marta Heckel (2025) studied this question.
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