HIPPIAS (major) by Plato - Complete text

Page 10

Soc.: "Then this — I mean justice — is something?"

Hip.: Certainly.

Soc.: "Then, too, by wisdom the wise are wise and by the good all things are good, are they not?"

Hip.: Of course.

Soc.: "And justice, wisdom, and so forth are something ; for the just, wise, and so forth would not be such by them, if they were not something."

Hip.: To be sure, they are something.

Soc.: "Then are not all beautiful things beautiful by the beautiful?"

Hip.: Yes, by the beautiful.

Soc.: "By the beautiful, which is something?"

Hip.: Yes, for what alternative is there?

Soc.: "Tell me, then, stranger," he will say, "what is this, the beautiful?"

Hip.: Well, Socrates, does he who asks this question want to find out anything else than what is beautiful?

Soc.: I do not think that is what he wants to find out, but what the beautiful is.

Hip.: And what difference is there between the two?

Soc.: Do you think there is none?

Hip.: Yes, for there is no difference.

Soc.: Well, surely it is plain that you know best ; but still, my good friend, consider ; for he asked you, not what is beautiful, but what the beautiful is.

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