✦ Chapter 24 – Socrates (2) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
“…Sniff, actually, I’ve been quite unhappy with all of you for being so enamored with this playwright, Phantom.”
Professor Prunel dabbed at his teary eyes, his shoulders trembling with emotion.
“I thought he was nothing but a jester, corrupting the souls of you young ones and leading you astray from a righteous path. Distracting you from true knowledge with frivolous pleasures.”
He then held up the <Dialogues> so everyone could see and solemnly exclaimed.
“But this one book… this <Dialogues>, written by his own hand, has actually elevated my soul to a higher plane. Oh, I have finally seen the light. Phantom is more than just a great playwright. He is a philosopher for the ages! A true intellectual of our time!”
He spoke emotionally about self-awareness of ignorance, the quest for true wisdom, the pursuit of objective essence and truth universally agreed upon, and the pursuit of virtues more important than wealth, status, or even life.
Pointing out each perspective that established Socrates as a great philosopher, Professor Prunel’s voice trembled with emotion.
“So, this month’s assignments and quizzes will be replaced with one task — reading this <Dialogues> and writing an essay on it. As proud students of Bronde, delve into the profound intellect of Socrates and the genius of Phantom, who brought him to life!”
“‘Dialogues’? Phantom wrote a book?”
“Are you crazy? I’m hitting the bookstore as soon as this class is over!”
“Wait, I have back-to-back classes all day. Think it’ll still be in stock if I go later?”
As soon as word of Phantom’s publication spread, a race to get their hands on a copy ensued.
Even close friends exchanged sharp glances, the classroom atmosphere as intense as a battlefield.
Professor Prunel, sensing the heated atmosphere, made another grand declaration.
“Class dismissed! Everyone, you are dismissed! Go, I say, and acquire yourselves a copy of Phantom’s Dialogues! It is far more beneficial for your education than a hundred political history lessons!”
…Did he really just say that? As the professor of a political history class?
Whatever my reservations, his words sparked a mass exodus from the lecture hall.
“Move! Out of my way!”
“Don’t shove, you jerk!”
“Ow! Let go of my hair!”
Students poured out of the classroom, a clamor of shouts and jostling bodies.
Caught in the tide of frantic students, Maurice and I were swept out of Professor Prunel’s lecture hall.
And so, <Dialogues> spread throughout the academy, and when the day arrived for everyone to submit their essays to Professor Prunel.…
“You’ve got to be kidding me?!”
I was given a C- for my assignment, the professor citing a “lack of effort in understanding the author’s genius.”
Maurice, meanwhile, flaunted his A+ like it was nothing.
As if I, the actual author, needed to “understand” my own “genius!”
“Argh! Theseus-!!”
Just like with the cosplay competition, I was utterly baffled by the world around me.
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<Dialogues>, the Lesedrama penned by the renowned playwright Phantom, flew off the shelves of every bookstore in the capital.
Thanks to Plato’s literary prowess, the <Dialogues> were much easier to read compared to other philosophical texts.
With Phantom’s meticulous revision and adaptation, readability and entertainment value significantly increased.
Of course, not everyone recognized the true worth of <Dialogues> from the start.
Upon first reading, readers often found themselves puzzled by its inherent philosophical complexities.
…However, a Lesedrama, while a book, was also a play in its own right.
[Oh, great Priestess of Delphi, is there anyone wiser than Socrates in Athens?]
[There is none wiser than Socrates in Athens.]
Readers naturally fell into the habit of dividing up the roles and acting out scenes from <Dialogues>.
Some did it from their sofas, others face-to-face, and some even gathered in cafes. They took turns experiencing the life of the philosopher, almost like a form of psychodrama.
And through this process, their thoughts began to deepen.
Socrates, who sought out the self-proclaimed wise men of Athens and tested their wisdom… People found themselves drawn to this old philosopher who, at first glance, seemed to do nothing but pick at words.
“No one wiser than Socrates?”
“I laughed it off at first, but what does it really mean?”
“Strange… Is simply acknowledging one’s ignorance such great wisdom?”
The wisdom of ignorance that Socrates consistently advocated wasn’t about claiming that humans were stupid or uneducated.
Rather, it was a stimulus to encourage metacognitive thinking.
The aporia—the paradox and impasse that arose from repeated questioning that exposed contradictions in one’s own beliefs—was, after all, the absolute prerequisite for attaining true knowledge.
[My dear Athenians, the unexamined life is not worth living.]
Socrates called himself a gadfly, stinging the slumbering beast that was Athens.
His speech that awakened cognitive thought was referred to by the unique term maieutics.
He believed that it was his mission to awaken the innate human capacity for logical reasoning and the pursuit of truth, even if it meant being annoying and bothersome to those around him.
And that very sense of mission was now resonating within this medieval-esque world, a stark contrast to the ancient Greece Socrates once knew.
[After my execution, punishment, far more painful than the hemlock I drink, awaits you.]
[If you think you can escape the charge of wickedness by putting people to death, you are gravely mistaken.]
[A righteous life comes not from oppressing others, but from continuously refining oneself.]
The elderly bald philosopher who faced death unflinchingly for his beliefs.
The shock of him willingly drinking the hemlock to perfect his philosophy was nothing short of sensational.
People were deeply moved by the life of a philosopher who cared for his soul and cultivated himself.
And by the time they reached his final moments, everyone felt an indescribable sense of poignancy.
[Tend to your soul. Commune with your soul. That is the beginning of a rational self.]
And that poignancy soon transformed into a wave of intellectual curiosity, as a desire to embody Socrates’s teachings began to take root.
Ironically, in a world where the existence of gods was undeniable, the field of philosophy had stagnated. Now, thanks to Phantom’s work, the rusty gears of critical thinking, long neglected, slowly began to turn again, lubricated by a single drop of inspiration.
The study of philosophy, overshadowed for so long by theology, finally began to take shape.
“Virtue, as Socrates described it… Does it stem from nature, or from nurture?”
“Is true goodness inherent to human nature? Or is it a gift bestowed upon us by the Heavenly God?”
“What are the universal values that humans should strive for?”
Just as a single seed could blossom into a field of flowers, a single thought could spark a revolution.
Socrates’s only wish was for people to engage in philosophical inquiry. And <Dialogues>, the Lesedrama, was serving that purpose perfectly.
Thanks to <Dialogues>, more and more people embarked on the quest for universal truths.
By expanding discussions on right and wrong, they were laying the foundations for a more enlightened world.
Phantom had, in essence, unleashed a wave of philosophical thinking upon this world.
…However, unbeknownst to Phantom, this wave also had its share of unintended “side effects.”
“Ah, there’s nothing like Phantom’s Dialogues, is there? Every time I reread it, the message hits me in a different way. It’s like, with Socrates’s wisdom, my innermost being is being cleansed.”
“Right? There’s a reason he was nominated for Hero of the Pen. He definitely deserves his reputation!”
Two academy students , who’d been acting out scenes from the Lesedrama in their dormitory room, sang its praises.
As one closed the book, the other nodded in agreement, giving a thumbs-up.
One of the students, savoring the lingering thoughts sparked by his reading, took a sip from his teacup and spoke.
“But you know, to borrow a phrase from Dialogues, wouldn’t you say Phantom is… well… exhibiting ‘excellence’ in the field of playwriting? To a degree no one else can match.”
“Of course. Who else could even claim to achieve excellence in playwriting like Phantom? Honestly, even calling him the God of Creation wouldn’t be blasphemous.”
“But if there are objective, universal values, wouldn’t that mean that things created through someone’s excellence can also be objectively ranked as superior or inferior?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Why?”
“If that’s true… it makes you wonder…”
The academy student smiled, watching his friend nod thoughtfully.
He jumped to his feet and slung an arm around his friend’s shoulders.
“Which of Phantom’s plays would be considered the most excellent, objectively speaking?”
As was often the case with philosophy, the learner’s interpretation took on a life of its own.
Socrates’s pursuit of objective truth had been unwittingly twisted into something… well, a little different.
The clumsy attempt to grasp the notion of universal values had inadvertently awakened humanity’s primal instinct to rank and compare.
And this instinct wasn’t confined to just one student.
“Objectively, the most excellent work? Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it? Don’t you think so, my brilliant and wise friend?”
“Heh heh, that’s right. You’re thinking of the same one as me, aren’t you?”
“We’re best friends for a reason! Great minds think alike! On the count of three, okay?”
“One, two, three!”
“Admiral Yi!”
“Julius Caesar!”
“…Huh?”
“…What?”
The two friends stared at each other in disbelief, their different answers hanging awkwardly in the air; they backed away slightly, giving each other a scornful once-over before launching into an argument.
“Brother, how can you say Admiral Yi? The best work Phantom’s ever done is Julius Caesar! What work so precisely deals with the rise and fall of a man like Julius Caesar?”
“What are you talking about? Of course, Admiral Lee is objectively better! It’s a masterpiece that solemnly captures the nobility of a loyalist who doesn’t waver even in the face of injustice!”
“Honestly, Admiral Yi was so virtuous, he was practically unrealistic! Caesar, on the other hand, is a relatable character with flaws and complexities! Can’t you see the depth of Phantom’s insight into human psychology reflected in that character?”
“If you want to convey a theme, you should know how to use unrealistic elements effectively! It’s that romanticism that makes the message so much more immediate and powerful!”
Just then…
Clank—!
“Why is it so noisy? What are you two arguing about now?”
The student’s roommate, back from his own classes, opened the door, his gaze falling upon the two friends, faces flushed with the heat of their debate.
Seeing the roommate’s perplexed expression, the two quickly sought his help.
“Hey, Johannes! You read <Dialogues> too, right? So tell us, if we can objectively rank values, what’s the most superior work among Phantom’s pieces in a universally valid sense?”
“What kind of question is that? Obviously, it’s Admiral Yi! It’s a perfect play in terms of both artistry and entertainment value.”
“Nonsense, it’s Julius Caesar! From a humanities perspective, there are very few narratives that offer such a profound and thought-provoking experience!”
“Admiral Yi!”
“Julius Caesar!”
“…Are you two even listening to yourselves?”
While the two continued to yell at each other without waiting for an answer, their roommate just stared at them, a look of complete bewilderment on his face. Adjusting his spectacles, he finally interjected.
“Frankly, isn’t the objectively superior work <Exodus>? Phantom wrote that play and was nominated for Hero of the Pen, right? How can you even compare those other plays to that?”
“What?!”
“Huh?!”
…And just like that, what had been a heated two-way debate escalated into an even more intense three-way standoff.
Humans were, after all, experts at twisting the teachings of great minds to fit their own whims. Hadn’t the philosophies of the four great sages—Jesus, the Buddha, Confucius, and Socrates—suffered similar fates?
Jesus’s concept of agape, misinterpreted, gave rise to the prosperity gospel.
Buddha’s concept of emptiness (śūnyatā), misinterpreted, gave rise to spiritual materialism.
Confucius’s ideas of ren (benevolence) and li (ritual propriety), misinterpreted, gave rise to rigid Confucian orthodoxy.
And now, in this world, Socrates’s beliefs had been warped, giving birth to a generation of extreme… well, pedants who seemed to love nothing more than picking apart every detail.
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Meanwhile…
In a dusty, old laboratory…
“…The wisdom of knowing that one knows nothing…”
An old man sat amidst bubbling flasks and stacks of research papers, muttering to himself as he closed <Dialogues>.
He was a veteran alchemist, part of the Alchemist’s Guild, well past his prime. A seasoned man who had trained countless apprentices and achieved many accomplishments over the years.
— End of Chapter —
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