HIPPIAS MINOR: PLATONIC PEDAGOGY, HOMER, AND INTELLECTUALISM

This article points out the fallacies that Socrates uses in the Hippias Minor and why he uses so. After showing the fallacies involved in passing from capacities to moral dispositions, the "lie" about Achilles' and Odysseus' behavior in the Iliad, and the use of false analogies, the article explains why Socrates and Plato engage in these fallacies. Three important lessons are drawn from this reading of the Hippias Minor: the first is about an aspect of Plato's pedagogical method, the second about the relevance of Homer to the Dialogues, and the last points to the problem of intellectualism. A propos this third lesson, the article finishes by connecting the Hippias Minor with the Ion.