Gregory Vlastos, University of California, Berkeley, delivered four Townsend Lectures in the Spring of 1986 on "Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher."
The dates and titles of his four lectures were:
February 25, 1986 - "Socrates' Contra Socrates' in Plato"
Vlastos claims that there are two different Socrates, one which might be called "historical" and the other which might be called "philosophical". He asserts that the "second" Socrates is prevalent in Plato's writings.
February 28, 1986 - "Socratic Irony"
Vlastos discusses and defines common uses of irony by referring to the classical works of Aristotle and Socrates.
March 11, 1986 - "Elenchus and Mathematics"
Vlastos reflects on Plato's interest in mathematics and how this affected his beliefs in Socratic forms of debate and reasoning.
April 8, 1986 - "Socratic Piety"
Vlastos discusses conflicting accounts of Socrates' piety and the meaning of piety.
Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher is a part of the Townsend Lectures Series of Cornell Studies in Classical Philology.
Photo of Gregory Vlastos: University Archives, Princeton University Library
