Plato's Pod: Dialogues on the works of Plato

Plato’s Hippias Minor: Truth, Lies, and Feedback Loops


Listen Later

What is the truth? In our previous discussion, we heard the conclusion of Socrates that measurement is the greatest skill that we can exercise. The title character of Plato’s Lesser Hippias, or Hippias Minor, is unable to separate cause and effect in the motions of time, and the dialogue challenges not only Hippias but the reader to measure the difference that separates truth and lie – not just in objective physical outcomes but also in subjective value judgments. It’s a matter of special importance now, 2,400 years later, as technology is used to generate and broadcast value judgments globally, often anonymously and of questionable intent. As one participant pointed out, truth and lie can both be present at the same time and, as the observer, it’s the soul’s job to measure its own relative perspective in distinguishing the difference. Recalling the division of the line of knowledge that Socrates describes in The Republic, gauging differences in perspective may be our guide to the path of truth that connects our hypotheses to the first principles of things – especially with predictive technologies like ChatGPT that we discussed in the conclusion.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Plato's Pod: Dialogues on the works of PlatoBy James Myers

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

9 ratings


More shows like Plato's Pod: Dialogues on the works of Plato

View all
The History of English Podcast by Kevin Stroud

The History of English Podcast

6,414 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,807 Listeners

The New Statesman: politics and culture by The New Statesman

The New Statesman: politics and culture

148 Listeners

Mere Fidelity by Mere Fidelity

Mere Fidelity

335 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,376 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

7,033 Listeners

The Duran Podcast by The Duran

The Duran Podcast

601 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,197 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

14,276 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,144 Listeners

The Nietzsche Podcast by Untimely Reflections

The Nietzsche Podcast

220 Listeners

Judging Freedom by Judge Napolitano

Judging Freedom

889 Listeners

The Rest Is Entertainment by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Entertainment

877 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics: US by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics: US

2,234 Listeners

The Chris Hedges Report by Chris Hedges

The Chris Hedges Report

332 Listeners