From the book
Alcibiades II
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordTo prosechein ton noun is to apply or turn one’s mind to something, hence pay attention.
- In Alcibiades IIAt 139e Alcibiades correctly refuses to identify all disease with ophthalmia but is at a loss about what he is saying.
- In this editionThe edition renders the nous idiom as “pay attention”.
- A place to readAlcibiades recognises a difference but cannot explain what he means.
Meaning
To prosechein ton noun is to apply or turn one’s mind to something, hence pay attention. Skeptomenō is the dual participle used of the two people looking together; heuriskein is to find or discover. The vocabulary gives examination an interpersonal form without making agreement alone the measure of truth.
Use in the book
At 139e Alcibiades correctly refuses to identify all disease with ophthalmia but is at a loss about what he is saying. Socrates answers at 140a that if he attends, perhaps the two of them looking into it together will discover the matter. The pupil’s inability to articulate the distinction is treated as a reason for continued shared inquiry, rather than as proof that he has no useful judgment at all.
The invitation immediately leads to a carefully repeated agreement: every ophthalmia is disease, but not every disease ophthalmia. Attention is directed toward the asymmetry of the claims, not toward memorising a new list. This is the local work through which the failed identification of madness and unintelligence can be replaced by a more differentiated account.
Socrates’ “perhaps” and the invitation to work together modestly describe the prospect of discovery. They do not promise that every question in the dialogue will be solved. At 143a and 150b he again invites Alcibiades to say what he has in mind to set against the argument. Active attention thus includes the opportunity to object, although Alcibiades’ repeated assents and later instability show that participating in an exchange is not yet possessing a stable understanding.
Places to read
- 139eAlcibiades recognises a difference but cannot explain what he means.
- 140aJoint examination is offered on the condition that Alcibiades attends.
- 140a–bThe shared inquiry distinguishes a disease from disease as such.
- 143a; 150bAlcibiades is invited to contribute a response rather than remain merely silent.
Translation in this edition
The edition renders the nous idiom as “pay attention”. Its note identifies an echo of the Iliadic two-going-together tag, with looking substituted for going. The dual form and “perhaps” keep both collaboration and the provisional prospect of finding an answer visible.