From the book
Symposium
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordTruth names what the account aims to get right; persuasion names a person’s resulting stance or the activity of bringing another to it.
- In the SymposiumSocrates refuses praise that makes its subject seem splendid regardless of truth.
- Reading contextSocrates refuses praise that makes its subject seem splendid regardless of truth.
- A place to readTruth rather than competitive embellishment governs Socrates’ proposed speech.
Meaning
Truth names what the account aims to get right; persuasion names a person’s resulting stance or the activity of bringing another to it.
Use in the book
Socrates refuses praise that makes its subject seem splendid regardless of truth. When Agathon yields to him personally, he distinguishes refuting Socrates from contradicting truth. At the end he attributes the doctrine to Diotima, declares himself persuaded and undertakes to persuade others. The speech therefore offers both reasons and a reported commitment. Persuasion is not silently equated with proof, nor is the attribution to another speaker a denial of Socrates’ endorsement.
Places to read
ἀλήθεια (alētheia)
alētheia — Truth, distinct from the personal authority of the speaker asserting it.
- 201c — τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. Socrates redirects Agathon’s inability to contradict him towards the truth.
Read: Truth and persuasion.
πείθω (peithō)
peithō — To persuade; in the perfect middle/passive, to be convinced or persuaded.
- 212b — πέπεισμαι. Socrates states his own resulting conviction.
- 212b — πείθειν. He tries to persuade others of Love’s value as helper.
Read: Truth and persuasion.