The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
Title
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1962
Abstract
On the level of ideas the dialogue remains incomplete. A satisfactory conception of courage is never formulated. On the level of personalities, however, there is a solution, in the person of Socrates. He has fought bravely at Delium and has matched or surpassed Laches in steadfastness. But he can also examine courage rationally and realizes the importance of knowledge to virtue, like Nicias. Neither Laches nor Nicias is fully worthy as a person of courage, as Socrates is. But there is a harmony between the incomplete definitions they offer and their own characters. The unity of the Laches is both a piece of dramatic literature and an essay in philosophy, and the purposes of the dramatist and the philosopher are in perfect agreement.
Recommended Citation
O'Brien, Michael J., "The Unity of the Laches" (1962). The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter. 46.
https://orb.binghamton.edu/sagp/46
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, History of Philosophy Commons
Notes
Michael J. O’Brien presented “The Unity of the Laches” to the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy at its meeting with the American Philological Association in Baltimore, 1962. It was published in Yale Classical Studies 18 (1963) 131-147, and reprinted in John P. Anton & George Kustas, eds. 1971. Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy vol. 1, SUNY, 303-315.