View source for Phaedrus (dialog)

The '''''Phaedrus''''' (/ˈfiːdrəs/; Greek: Φαῖδρος), written by [[Plato]], is a dialogue between Plato's protagonist, [[Socrates]], and [[Phaedrus]], an interlocutor in several dialogues.

== History ==

The ''Phaedrus'' was presumably composed around 370 BC, about the same time as Plato's ''Republic'' and ''Symposium''.

== Writing and memory ==

[[Socrates]] tells a brief legend, critically commenting on the gift of writing from the Egyptian god [[Theuth]] to King [[Thamus]], who was to disperse Theuth's gifts to the people of Egypt.

After Theuth remarks on his discovery of [[writing]] as a remedy for the memory, Thamus responds that its true effects are likely to be the opposite; it is a remedy for reminding, not remembering, he says, with the appearance but not the reality of wisdom.

Future generations will hear much without being properly taught, and will appear wise but not be so, making them difficult to get along with.

No written instructions for an art can yield results clear or certain, Socrates states, but rather can only remind those that already know what writing is about.

Furthermore, writings are silent; they cannot speak, answer questions, or come to their own defense.

== See also ==

* [[Plato]]
* [[Writing]]

== External links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaedrus_(dialogue) Phaedrus (dialog)]
*[http://www.umich.edu/~lsarth/filecabinet/PlatoOnWriting.html Plato on writing]
* [http://wondermark.com/socrates-vs-writing/ True Stuff: Socrates vs. the Written Word]
* [http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/482/482readings/phaedrus.html The first critique of writing]



[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Plato]]