Abstract

Alfonso Gomez-Lobo attempts to discover the foundations of "the specifically Socratic system of Ethics" in the early dialogues, by analyzing the relation between happiness and the moral virtues He argues clearly, in the analytic style of Vlastos, that these foundations consist in two principles: A choice is rational if and only if it is a choice of what is best for the agent; and Something is good for an agent if and only if it is morally right. Put differently, the cornerstone of Socratic ethics is the self-interested concern for happiness, but this very concern requires that we act in accordance with what is just and noble. The identity of one's own good with the moral good is the basis for specific Socratic maxims, such as the claim that it is better to suffer injustice than to commit it.