Studies in Xenophon
Xenophon provides perspective on and background for the philosophical debates anchored to Socrates, self-improvement, and the rapidly differentiating intellectual culture of late fifth and early fourth century BC. He can do so without our having to answer the ‘Socratic problem’ or to query his own analytic acumen. Here are three of my recent studies:
Self-knowledge in Xenophon’s Memorabilia 4.2 [proof]
Socrates argues that knowing oneself is not “knowing your powers” (as is usually thought) but both committing yourself to beliefs you can accept, and becoming just and therefore master of yourself.
Xenophon’s Socratic education in Memorabilia 4 [draft]
Xenophon presents Socrates as providing a sequential education in self-development, differentiating courses that make one more sôphrôn, enkratês, dialektikos, praktikos, and so on.
Socrates and ‘philosophy’ in Xenophon [draft]
Xenophon never calls Socrates a ‘philosopher’ in his own voice, and has Socrates do so at most once; this paper suggests that Xenophon wants to distinguish his teacher, exemplary for moral and intellectual excellence, from practitioners of the fad called ‘philosophy.’
My long-term goal is to depict a comprehensive and coherent outsider’s view – i.e., Xenophon’s – of philosophy, philosophical argument, and the interchange between philosophers.
Curricular relevance
Xenophon continually portrays models of wisdom, advice, and good sense. He also attempts to explain the good of those models for life, justifying self-improvement and practical consequence over theoretical contemplation. This leads him to careful analysis of the virtues of self-mastery and self-control. He thereby provides important counter-arguments for when we study Plato and Aristotle.