Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
S. Reden (1997)
Money, law and exchange: coinage in the Greek PolisThe Journal of Hellenic Studies, 117
M. Burnyeat (2003)
Apology 30b 2-4: Socrates, money, and the grammar of "gígnesthai"The Journal of Hellenic Studies
E. Keuls (1974)
Plato on PaintingAmerican Journal of Philology, 95
P. Gooch (1974)
The Relation Between Wisdom and Virtue in Phaedo 69a6-c3Journal of the History of Philosophy, 12
G. Cerri (1968)
La terminologia sociopolitica di Teognide: I. L'opposizione semantica tra ἀγαϑός ἐσϑλός e ϰαϰός δειλόςQuaderni Urbinati Di Cultura Classica
Tragic Money (1998)
Tragic MoneyThe Journal of Hellenic Studies, 118
E. Bakola (2009)
Cratinus and the Art of Comedy
G. Vlastos (1941)
Slavery in Plato's ThoughtThe Philosophical Review, 50
D. Kamen (2013)
The Manumission of Socrates: A Rereading of Plato's PhaedoClassical Antiquity, 32
R. Stroud (1974)
An Athenian Law on Silver CoinageHesperia, 43
D. Blank (1985)
Socratics versus Sophists on Payment for TeachingClassical Antiquity, 4
AbstractThis paper uses a problematic passage at Phaedo 69a–c as a case study to explore the advantages we can gain by reading Plato in his cultural context. Socrates argues that the common conception of courage is strange: people fear death, but endure it because they are afraid of greater evils. They are thus brave through fear. He proposes that we should not exchange greater pleasures, pains, and fears for lesser, like coins, but that there is the only correct coin, for which we must exchange all these things: wisdom (phronēsis). Commentators have been puzzled by the precise nature of the exchange envisaged here, sometimes labelling the coinage metaphor as inept, sometimes describing this stretch of argument as “religious” and thus not to be taken seriously. The body of the paper looks at (1) the connection between money and somatic materialism, (2) the incommensurability in Plato of financial and ethical orders, (3) financial metaphors outside Plato that connect coinage with ethics, (4) intrinsic and use values in ancient coinage, and (5) Athenian laws on coinage, weights, and measures that reflect anxiety about debased coins in the fifth and early fourth centuries. It sees the Phaedo passage as the product of a sociopolitical climate which facilitated the consideration of coinage as an embodiment of a value system and which connected counterfeit or debased currency with debased ethical types. Athenians in the early fourth century were much concerned with issues of commensurability between different currencies and with problems of debasement and counterfeiting; understanding this makes Socrates’ use of coinage metaphors less puzzling. Both the metaphor of coinage and the other metaphors in this passage of the Phaedo (painting and initiation) engage with ideas of purity, genuineness, and deception. Taken as a group, these metaphors cover a large area of contemporary popular culture and are used to illustrate a disjunction between popular and philosophical ways of looking at value.
Rhizomata – de Gruyter
Published: Apr 6, 2021
Keywords: coinage; currency; value; purification; metaphor
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.