Chapter 25 Volume Three, Chapter Eight

Socrates replied to Aristippus' question about the good and the beautiful by explaining to him that nothing is good or evil in itself, but only in connection with other things. Words, 1st— Section 3, nothing is beautiful or ugly in itself, the beauty of a thing must be considered in terms of its usefulness, Sections 4-7.His remarks about houses have the same meaning, §8-10. When Aristippus tried to question Socrates as Socrates once questioned himself, Socrates, in order to benefit those with him, did not answer him with the same caution as those who were with him. The man whose words would be distorted answered him as someone who firmly believes that, at the very least, he ought to be doing the right thing.

Aristippus asked Socrates whether it is good to know something or not, meaning that if Socrates said that things like food, money, health, strength, courage, etc. were good, he could prove to him , these things are sometimes not good.However, Socrates knew that when something caused our pain, we always needed something to stop it, so he replied very tactfully: "You are asking me, what is good for fever?" ?" "No," replied Aristippus. "Then what is good for ophthalmia?" "No." "Is it good for hunger?" "It's not good for hunger either."

Socrates said, "If you ask me if I know what I know, it is neither good for anything, so I have to say, I don't know, and I don't want to know."Aristipus asked again, "Do you know what is beautiful?" Socrates replied: "There are many beautiful things." "Are they all the same as each other, then?" asked Aristippus. "No, some things are very different from each other," Socrates replied. "But how can the beautiful be different from the beautiful?" asked Aristippus. "Naturally," replied Socrates, "for the reason that a beautiful wrestler is different from a beautiful runner; a beautiful buckler for defense is also very different from a beautiful javelin that is easy to throw with great force and speed," replied Socrates. .

"It's not one bit different than the answer you would give me if I asked you if you knew something was good," Aristips said. "Do you think," replied Socrates, "that it is one thing to be good and another to be beautiful? Don't you know that all things are both beautiful and good for the same thing? First, virtue is not good for some things and beautiful for others. Similarly, a person is both beautiful and good for the same thing; the human body is beautiful for the same thing. That is to say, to appear both beautiful and good, and what mortals use is both beautiful and good to the things to which they are applied.”

"Then a dung-basket is also beautiful?" "Certainly, and even a golden shield may be ugly if, for their respective uses, the former is well made and the latter not." "Do you mean that the same thing is both beautiful and ugly?" "Indeed, I say so—good and bad. For what is good for hunger may be bad for fever, and what is beautiful for running may be bad for wrestling. Often it may be ugly, for all things are beautiful and good to what they fit, and ugly and bad to what they are not." When Socrates says that the same house may be both beautiful and useful, I think he is teaching us what kind of house we should build.Here's how he thinks about it:

"Shouldn't a man who desires to have a proper house try to make it as most comfortable and useful as possible?" Once this had been agreed, he asked , "Then, won't it make people feel comfortable to live in it if it is made to be cool in summer and warm in winter?" In a house where the sun shines in the corridors in winter, but in summer it shines on our heads and on the roofs, and thus gives us shade. If this is good, we shall When building a house, the south-facing part should be made higher so that the winter sun will not be blocked, and the north-facing part should be made shorter so that it will not be attacked by cold winds; The most comfortable and nicest house is the one in which one can be most pleasant to live in at all times, and store one's things in the most safe place. As for books, pictures, and ornaments, they do not provide as much pleasure as they diminish. many".

Socrates says that the most proper place for temples and altars is wherever the easiest to see and the most peaceful; for it is pleasant to pray in such a state, and so is approaching such a place with a pure heart. happy.