Author(s): Paul Chan, M.D. (Lecturer, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, UK)

Culture & Ideas

One of Plato's most controversial dialogues, "Hippias Minor" details Socrates' claims that there is no difference between a person who tells the truth and one who lies, and that the good man is the one who willingly makes mistakes and does wrong. But what if Socrates wasn't merely championing the act of lying--as the dialogue has been traditionally interpreted--but, rather, advocating the power of the creative act? In this new translation by Sarah Ruden, "Hippias Minor" is rendered anew as a provocative dialogue about how art is a form of wrongdoing. The accompanying introduction by artist Paul Chan and essay by classicist Richard Fletcher argue that an understanding of the dialogue makes life more ethical by paradoxically teaching one to be more cunning.