What is Friendship?: Plato's Lysis Dialogue Explores Definitions - Essay Sample

Introduction

Lysis is one of the five dialogues of Plato that addresses the question of definition. The characters and especially Socrates in the Lysis dialogue finds it challenging to understand the meaning of different words. The discussion focuses on answering the question of "What is friendship," with which other phrases come into the conversation between the three main characters in the Lysis dialogue. The problems of definition are evident with Socrates providing descriptions that are difficult to understand. The primary purpose of such depictions does not come out clear even when the reader tries to establish the meaning of Socrates' sayings throughout the dialogue. The method of defining various terms is difficult to comprehend. The reader cannot determine whether Socrates was attacking specific concepts through a direct search of the definitions of he was devising a solution to ideas brought to his attention. The structural problem in the Lysis dialogue is evident based on the sayings of Socrates in a conversation with Menexenus and Lysis. Therefore, the essay will discuss the issue with Lysis dialogue as the inability of the characters to get a substantive definition and meaning of friendship and love, likeness and identity, good, evil and neutral, usefulness, and desire.

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Friendship

The problem of defining friendship is evident in Lysis dialogue. As a central focus on the Lysis dialogue, friendship is a concept that brings out the problem of definition as described by the characters. The relationship between Lysis and Menexenus provides a context within which Socrates provides several hypotheses regarding friendship. Socrates describes the role of a person as a true friend and the universal liking of becoming one. After being requested by Lysis, Socrates asks Menexenus,

"What is friendship? You, Menexenus, who have a friend already, can tell me, who am always longing to find one, what is the secret of this great blessing" (Jowett 40).

Menexenus answers Socrates that a friend is" he who loves or he who is loved? or are both friends?" The definition of friendship moves from one supposition to another. The first supposition drives the second, while the latter explains the third one. From one answer to another, the three characters fail to provide a meaningful definition of the word friendship. Socrates refers to the poets such as Homer and defines friendship by stating that "God brings like to like." He also references the views of philosopher Empedocles and asserts that "like is the friend of like" (Jowett 44). Terms such as the lover, the like, unlike, good and beloved are used to define the question "what is the friend?" in the dialogue. However, Socrates rejects the definition of friendship by Lysis and Menexesus based on the problem of interaction where an individual does not need to look like a friend to be one. The characters cannot explain why people need or desire each other. There is not an accurate account of friendship, and Socrates describes the situation as "Monstrous" with possibilities of the good becoming friends to the wrong people (Jowett 65).

This evidence complicates the definition of friendship and helps in addressing the essay thesis my show how the characters in the dialogue failed to achieve a conclusive meaning of the word association. It becomes tricky in explaining desire and not accepting its compatibility with unacceptable situations. Socrates shows Hippothales the appropriate approach to desire Lysis, and thus friendship and passion have a common ground of desiring. Based on Socrates' views, friendship entails desiring someone who does not have to be a friend of like.

Love

Love is a phrase that lacks proper definition in the Lysis dialogue. For instance, at the beginning of the conversation, Socrates describes the meaning of love to Hippothales as a form of foolishness. He addresses Hippothales as a "foolish lover of Lysis" to describe love as a way of losing oneself. Socrates is helping Hippothales on how to figure out the best approach of courting Lysis. Hippothales is in love with Lysis, and Socrates shows him the importance of humbling Lysis to desire him as a teacher.

Socrates' conversation with Lysis at the start of the dialogue shows that the parents do not love Lysis. He provides a different perspective of love from parents about how it should be. Socrates asks Lysis if his parents love him very much. He compares the love of Lysis parents to that of slaves and notes that even slaves have more freedom, unlike Lysis. Socrates asks Lysis"But do you think that anyone is happy who is in the condition of a slave, and who cannot do what he likes?" (Jowett 55).

This evidence complicates the definition of love when Socrates compares the love of parents to a child with the freedom of slaves. Socrates concludes that the parents do not love Lysis since he is not wise. He associates love with wisdom and wants to show the reader that when a person has nothing to offer to others, then it is not possible to be loved. If a person knows something, then others will trust him based on his knowledge. However, the connection between the love of parents and the wisdom of Lysis fails to explain Socrates' view of understanding the term love. The above evidence supports the thesis on the problem of definition whereby Socrates moves from one description of love to another without achieving a definitive answer. Furthermore, it becomes difficult to understand what Socrates wanted to describe in his effort to express the love of Lysis's parents towards their son. Knowledge is not the only thing that can make parents love their children.

Likeness and Identity

The aspects of likeness and identity dominate the Lysis dialogue and help in expanding on the problem of definition evident during the conversation with the characters. For instance, Socrates defines the word likeness by refereeing to other poets and philosophers. In his explanation of friendship to Lysis, Socrates describes likeness and identity as "God is ever drawing like towards like, and making them acquainted," and that is how intimacy is created (Jowett 63). What Socrates wanted the reader to understand is that friends are developed from likeness, and it is the 'likes' that identify with friendship. Therefore, likeness and identity go hand in hand. It is not possible to define likeness without identification. If you like someone, then you must identify with such a person. Socrates' efforts to draw evidence from poets and philosophers advance the aspect of likeness in the dialogue and help in addressing the problem of definition examined in this essay. The entire claim by Socrates creates a dilemma that frustrates meaning as the whole of likeness and identity for the characters of Lyris and Menexesus.

When reflecting on the theory of identity, Plato rejects the proposition of foundational elements based on the basics of expressing the meaning of identity and difference. According to Socrates, "like is drawn to like" as an implication that evil people have the possibility of becoming friends to competent individuals (Jowett 45). Socrates finds such an argument wrong since it is not possible for people who are harmful to become real friends. He says that

"But the bad are not friends, for they are not even like themselves, and still less are they like one another. And the good does not need one another, and therefore do not care about one another" (Jowett 44).

The above statement by Socrates is an objection based on the theory of identity. Bad people cannot become genuinely like others, which are useful because they are not at peace with themselves. Socrates also objects the definition of likeness by showing how two individuals who are like each other cannot desire anything from one another. Socrates says

"But then again, will not the good, in so far as he is good, be sufficient for himself? Certainly, he will. And he who is sufficient wants nothing" (Jowett 64).

Based on the definition of likes in the text, the two people that are alike already have what they want from each other. Therefore, they are similar, and their likeness limits their possibility of wanting something from each other. The good do not require friends as they are sufficient for themselves. These assertions by Socrates create a problematic situation of understanding the meaning of likeness and identity. A reader gets caught up in the revolving definition of the terms whereby only Socrates can follow the given description of the concepts. Therefore, Socrates' claims of likeness and identity complicate the problem of definition discussed in the essay.

Usefulness and Desire

When looking at the definition of friendship, the value becomes a vital term that supports the meaning of friendship. In Lysis dialogue, Socrates sees bond in the perspective of usefulness. If a person cannot be useful to another, then such a person cannot be a friend. Socrates differs from the description of friendship by Lysis that only the good are friends. He stated that "I am not quite satisfied with this answer. ... Assuming that like, in as much as he is like, is the friend of like, and useful to him" (Jowett 63). In this statement, Socrates wants Lyris to understand that a person who is not of any use to another cannot become a friend to another. Socrates says these words to value the importance of being kind and at the same time on must be useful to others. He puts the description in a different way that

"Can like do any good or harm to like which he could not do to himself, or suffer anything from his like which he would not suffer from himself?"... Can they now? They cannot. And can he who is not loved to be a friend? Indeed not" (Jowett 63).

The definition of usefulness comes into play in Lysis dialogue with Socrates, providing a description that does not hold. Socrates says these words in a manner that meaning-making becomes a challenge. The above statement advanced the definition of use as used by Socrates in the conversation and addressed the essay thesis by bringing out the problem of interpretation. Socrates is a character who wants the reader to see usefulness as a mediating term between abstract virtues that are developed during the conversation. He is keen on including Plato's knowledge and morality into the aspect of value when defining friendship. Socrates sees the usefulness practically that it is a virtue that must be in existence for people to be regarded as friends. Therefore, Socrates' view of usefulness complicates the problem of definition in Lysis dialogue whereby the reader realizes that friendship should be a profitable exchange.

Good, Evil and Neutral

The engagement of suitable, evil, and neutral in Lysis dialogue creates the problem of defining the three terms. Socrates suggests good as a choice that is obvious to motivate friendship. , the friend is the good whereby like befriends like (Jowett 63). The evil cannot be a friend of anyone because such a person is not at peace with oneself and thus not able to be like the other suitable person. The proposition of good becoming the friend creates a similar problem to the like befriending the like. What is already good does not require becoming good or better than the way it is. Socrates sees the good, not requiring a friend. They should not desire a friend since such a need is reinforced by the necessity to improve. The evidence complicates the definition of good and evil. It creates a possibility of having neither excellent nor evil people, and thus such individuals are friends of the like. Socrates st...