what does it mean for socrates to be plato's mouthpiece?

Answer 1

It means that Plato used Socrates in his writings to further his own (Plato's) ideas to the Greeks.

Socrates was a respected philosopher but for Plato he was a character that could tell the Greek society about Platonian ideas. Everyone would think the ideas were Socrates but they were not.

However, all that we know of Socrates is through Plato's writings and we can not trust this because we know that Plato had his own agenda and was biased since Socrates was his teacher.

Answer 2

Some people have argued that Socrates was not a real person and that he was just a reoccurring fictional character. Kind of like James Bond. There are several authors who have written books about James Bond. These books could be about any spy, James Bond just happens to fill that role for those books. In addition, we all know a little about James Bond. We have expectations for his actions but he's always a bit different. Socrates is the same way, he changes as the dialogs go on, taking on more well defined theories.

Socrates would then be a character who could stand in for The Philosopher in your story. He appears in other works aside from Plato's and presents different faces in each work. Plato would just be one author who used Socrates as a mouthpiece. That is, a character to voice their own views through. If you think Socrates is not accurately presented then you probably think he's Plato's mouthpiece.

Answer 3

Socrates is sort of like the teacher of Plato. What Plato knows might have been derived from an idea or teaching of Socrates.

Here's something that i've read...

Plato's description of Socrates's final days continued in the Kritwn (Crito).

Now in prison awaiting execution, Socrates displays the same spirit of calm reflection about serious matters that had characterized his life in freedom. Even the patent injustice of his fate at the hands of the Athenian jury produces in Socrates no bitterness or anger. Friends arrive at the jail with a foolproof plan for his escape from Athens to a life of voluntary exile, but Socrates calmly engages them in a rational debate about the moral value of such an action.

Answer 4

It sounds like it means that without Plato, no one would have known what Socrates said. He was Plato's mouthpiece, the person who spoke for him.

Answer 5

Socrates left no written records of his teachings. Plato's writings 'taught' the world about Socrates. Much of what Plato said, he learned from Socrates.

Answer 6

He wasn't. Plato was SOCRATES mouthpiece, i.e. he put forward Socrates' ideas (with a little of his own).