Charmides by Plato audiobook.

Genre: philosophy

In Charmides, Plato stages a tense, witty conversation about what it really means to be temperate - and why the answer matters for how a person should live. Returning to Athens after military service, Socrates meets the striking young Charmides and the influential guardian Critias. What begins as a seemingly simple request to define sophrosyne (often translated as temperance, moderation, or self-control) quickly becomes a searching investigation of character, knowledge, and moral authority. Charmides offers confident definitions drawn from good manners and quiet behavior; Critias pushes more sophisticated claims about self-knowledge and the mind's ability to know itself. Socrates, with relentless questions and careful logic, tests each proposal, exposing hidden assumptions and the risks of treating virtue as a slogan rather than a discipline. As the discussion tightens, the stakes rise: if temperance is a kind of knowledge, what does it know, and how could it guide a life? At the heart of the dialogue is a conflict between reputation and genuine wisdom, and between political power and ethical clarity. The result is a brisk, dramatic introduction to Socratic inquiry and the uneasy gap between seeming good and being good.

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:38:20) Chapter 02

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices