From the book
Symposium
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordNot yet distinguishes what is unavailable now from what could never be available.
- In the SymposiumSocrates’ healthy person desires the future continuation of health, which is not yet possessed.
- Reading contextSocrates’ healthy person desires the future continuation of health, which is not yet possessed.
- A place to readPresent qualities and their not-yet-secured future continuance are distinguished.
Meaning
Not yet distinguishes what is unavailable now from what could never be available. At hand concerns the relevant possession, not merely physical nearness.
Use in the book
Socrates’ healthy person desires the future continuation of health, which is not yet possessed. The negative temporal expression is what makes this an instance of lack despite present health. Elsewhere readiness can describe willingness to act or die; that ordinary use should not be substituted for availability in this argument.
Places to read
- 200c–200ePresent qualities and their not-yet-secured future continuance are distinguished.
ἕτοιμος (hetoimos)
hetoimos — Ready or available; here at hand as an object of possession.
- 200e — τοῦ μὴ ἑτοίμου. The desired object is unavailable in the specified respect.
Read: Not yet and at hand.
οὔπω (oupō)
oupō — Not yet, preserving a temporal qualification rather than a permanent impossibility.
- 200d — ὃ οὔπω ἕτοιμον. Future preservation of present goods is not yet at hand.
Read: Not yet and at hand.