Cutting that out now, I thought it might have been used in some of the dialogues because it was popular around the time of the first translation into English, which is presumably where we get the turns of phrase from.
To be clear, this is a heavily fictionalised account so I’m not trying to accurately depict anyone’s views (except Caplan’s). What I was going for there was, in a sense, making Caplan’s point for him: that there are major limitations on the extent to which philosophy makes you a better person.
Idk, I’ve not read tons of Plato or anything, it’s certainly possible that early translations would have used “pray tell”. Probably just an artifact of the particular translations I’ve read that it sounded out of place to me.
Oh! I see, you were trying to imply that just because Socrates had done lots of philosophy didn’t improve his moral views about women and slaves. I still kind of like the interpretation where, in this alternate timeline, Socrates gets his (for the time) progressive views about the education of women and slaves from a conversation with a time-traveller, even if it’s not what you initially intended. (Although again, that means the dinner conversation Caplan went to can’t be the conversation depicted in the Republic, not sure if you were intending it to be. The details that made me think you were implying that are: 1. The fact that Socrates says that at dinner he talked about his views on the tripartite soul, which come up in the Republic—I think they’re introduced there, though it’s possible they’re first mentioned in an earlier dialogue I haven’t read; and 2. The fact that Thrasymachus says everyone is familiar with his views on justice, which again come up in the Republic—though I suppose his views would probably be known before the conversation in the Republic.)
Cutting that out now, I thought it might have been used in some of the dialogues because it was popular around the time of the first translation into English, which is presumably where we get the turns of phrase from.
To be clear, this is a heavily fictionalised account so I’m not trying to accurately depict anyone’s views (except Caplan’s). What I was going for there was, in a sense, making Caplan’s point for him: that there are major limitations on the extent to which philosophy makes you a better person.
Idk, I’ve not read tons of Plato or anything, it’s certainly possible that early translations would have used “pray tell”. Probably just an artifact of the particular translations I’ve read that it sounded out of place to me.
Oh! I see, you were trying to imply that just because Socrates had done lots of philosophy didn’t improve his moral views about women and slaves. I still kind of like the interpretation where, in this alternate timeline, Socrates gets his (for the time) progressive views about the education of women and slaves from a conversation with a time-traveller, even if it’s not what you initially intended. (Although again, that means the dinner conversation Caplan went to can’t be the conversation depicted in the Republic, not sure if you were intending it to be. The details that made me think you were implying that are: 1. The fact that Socrates says that at dinner he talked about his views on the tripartite soul, which come up in the Republic—I think they’re introduced there, though it’s possible they’re first mentioned in an earlier dialogue I haven’t read; and 2. The fact that Thrasymachus says everyone is familiar with his views on justice, which again come up in the Republic—though I suppose his views would probably be known before the conversation in the Republic.)