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Overview
Charmides is a philosophical dialogue mostly focused on the subject of self-knowledge that was written by Plato around 380 BCE
. Like other early Platonic dialogues, it focuses on the philosophy of Socrates, Plato’s teacher. Criticized by some scholars as being inferior to other Platonic dialogues in the sophistication of its arguments, it nonetheless offers us an early glimpse into ideas that later dialogues, including The Republic, would later explicate more thoroughly and convincingly.The particularly intimate tone of the narration of Charmides makes it notable among the dialogues, as do the vividly colorful glimpses it gives us into social aspects of Greek life and the life and personality of Socrates in particular. Plato makes Socrates into a whole, human hero in parts of the dialogue in a way that he will not in his later, increasingly theoretical works.
Read the free full text of the work, the overall summary, and explanations of important quotes from Charmides. Or, learn more by studying SparkNotes guides to other works by Plato.
