Plato's Charmides

"This book has the form of a text commentary on one of Plato's so-called Socratic dialogues, the Charmides. After a comprehensive introduction, the commentary proceeds closely following Plato's text, quoting sections of the Charmides in translation, and discussing in detail the passages quoted. The primary task of the analysis is to track the argument, from the early definitions of sôphrosynê (temperance) suggested by Charmides to the deeply puzzling question whether a kind of self-knowledge identified by Critias as 'science of science' is possible or, conceding that it is, whether the greatly beneficial virtue of sôphrosynê is the same thing as the 'science of science. In parallel to the argument, the commentary also pursues historical and literary themes, notably the development of the characters of Charmides and Critias and the utilisation of the historical subtext by Plato for dramatic and philosophical purposes. The commentary tries to pull together the different strands of the dialogue, show how they evolve, and argue that they form an attractive and coherent whole. The book has twelve chapters, plus an Appendix containing a new translation of the dialogue, a bibliography, and indices"--