Editing Socratic dialogue (section)

==Platonic dialogues==
Most of the Socratic dialogues referred to today are those of [[Plato]]. '''Platonic dialogues''' defined the literary genre subsequent philosophers used. Plato wrote approximately 35 dialogues, in most of which Socrates is the main character.

The protagonist of each dialogue, both in Plato's and [[Xenophon|Xenophon's]] work, usually is [[Socrates]] who by means of a kind of interrogation tries to find out more about the other person's understanding of moral issues. In the dialogues Socrates presents himself as a simple man who confesses that he has little knowledge. With this ironic approach he manages to confuse the other who boasts that he is an expert in the domain they discuss. The outcome of the dialogue is that Socrates demonstrates that the other person's views are inconsistent. In this way Socrates tries to show the way to real wisdom. One of his most famous statements in that regard is "The unexamined life is not worth living." This philosophical questioning is known as the [[Socratic method]].

Strictly speaking, the term ''Socratic dialogue'' refers to works in which [[Socrates]] is a character. As a genre, however, other texts are included; [[Laws (Plato)|Plato's ''Laws'']] and [[Hiero (Xenophon)|Xenophon's ''Hiero'']] are Socratic dialogues in which a wise man other than Socrates leads the discussion (the Athenian Stranger and [[Simonides of Ceos|Simonides]], respectively). In some dialogues, Plato's main character is not Socrates but someone from outside of [[Athens]]. In Xenophon's ''Hiero'' a certain ''Simonides'' plays this role when Socrates is not the protagonist.

Generally, the works which are most often assigned to Plato's early years are all considered to be Socratic dialogues (written from 399 to 387). Many of his middle dialogues (written from 387 to 361, after the establishment of his [[Platonic Academy|Academy]]), and later dialogues (written in the period between 361 and his death in 347) incorporate Socrates' character and are often included here as well.<ref>Plato & Socrates, The Relationship Between Socrates and Plato, [http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/plato&soc.html www.umkc.edu]</ref> However, this interpretation of the corpus is not universally accepted.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Nicholas|last2=Brickhouse|first2=Thomas|title=The Trial and Execution of Socrates : Sources and Controversies|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University press|location=New York|isbn=9780195119800|page=[https://archive.org/details/trialexecutionof0000unse/page/24 24]|url=https://archive.org/details/trialexecutionof0000unse/page/24}}</ref> The time that Plato began to write his works and the date of composition of his last work are not known and what adds to the complexity is that even the ancient sources do not know the order of the works or the dialogues.<ref name="Handbook Plato">{{cite book|last1=Fine|first1=Gail|title=The Oxford handbook of Plato|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0199769193|pages=76,77}}</ref>

The complete list of the thirty-five Platonic dialogues that have been traditionally identified as authentic, as given in [[Diogenes Laërtius]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0258:book=3:chapter=1|title=Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book III, Plato (427–347 B.C.)|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> is included below in alphabetical order. The authenticity of some of these dialogues has been questioned by some modern scholarship.<ref name="Roots">{{cite book|last1=Pangle|first1=Thomas L.|title=The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Forgotten Socratic Dialogues|date=1987|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca|isbn=0801419867|pages=1–20}}</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* ''[[First Alcibiades]]''
* ''[[Second Alcibiades]]''
* ''[[Apology (Plato)|Apology]]''
* [[Charmides (dialogue)|''Charmides'']]
* [[Clitophon (dialogue)|''Clitophon'']]
* ''[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]]''
* ''[[Critias (dialogue)|Critias]]''
* ''[[Crito]]''
* ''[[Epinomis]]''
* ''[[Euthydemus (dialogue)|Euthydemus]]''
* ''[[Euthyphro]]''
* ''[[Gorgias (dialogue)|Gorgias]]''
* ''[[Hipparchus (dialogue)|Hipparchus]]''
* ''[[Hippias Major]]''
* ''[[Hippias Minor]]''
* ''[[Ion (dialogue)|Ion]]''
* ''[[Laches (dialogue)|Laches]]''
* ''[[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]]''
* ''[[Lysis (dialogue)|Lysis]]''
* ''[[Menexenus (dialogue)|Menexenus]]''
* ''[[Meno]]''
* ''[[Minos (dialogue)|Minos]]''
* ''[[Parmenides (dialogue)|Parmenides]]''
* ''[[Protagoras (dialogue)|Protagoras]]''
* ''[[Phaedo]]''
* ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]''
* ''[[Philebus]]''
* ''[[Republic (dialogue)|Republic]]''
* ''[[Rival Lovers]]''
* ''[[Sophist (dialogue)|Sophist]]''
* ''[[Statesman (dialogue)|Statesman]]''
* ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]''
* ''[[Theaetetus (dialogue)|Theaetetus]]''
* ''[[Theages]]''
* ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]''
{{div col end}}