Pleasure Between Plato and the Sophists

This contribution investigates the ethical debate surrounding pleasure that emerged in the 5th–4th centuries BCE through an analysis of Platonic and Sophistic texts. The discussion Plato engages in with the Sophists in his dialogues is exemplary from two perspectives. From a historical perspective, the positions of the Sophists are reconstructed, following two main orientations: the traditionalist-moderate approach, which asserts the possibility of pursuing pleasure by distinguishing its types and subjecting it to the control of reason; and the hedonistic-extremist approach, which, identifying pleasure with the good, accepts and pursues all pleasures indiscriminately. From a theoretical perspective, Plato adopts a dual attitude: he appreciates the contributions of the first orientation, further developing some of its aspects, while he critiques the Sophists of the second orientation, highlighting the fallacies in their arguments. In this endeavor, contrary to what has often been assumed, the philosopher does not prove to be an anti-hedonist. Instead, he outlines a third path between hedonism and anti-hedonism.