Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews October 11, 2023 October 4, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The elenchus is the primary method of Socratic philosophy. Essentially a cross-examination, it proceeds by an intensive series of questions and aims to lead the interviewee to conclude for himself that he does not know what he assumed to know previously. The elenchus is Socrates's primary means of deepening the wisdom of his students. By convincing other characters in an elenchus that they do not actually know the nature of something they thought they did, Socrates brings these characters closer to one single truth and grain of knowledge—namely, that they know nothing.
Socratic irony is a form of indirect communication employed by Socrates to reveal the ignorance of his interlocutors while insincerely praising their abilities. This technique is deeply informed by the elenchus. Socrates even occasionally practices it against himself although philosophers today are divided as to his sincerity while doing so.
The search for the meaning of courage is the central theme of the Laches. This is a search that ultimately fails in the end since neither Socrates nor any one of his companions is able to adequately put into words the meaning of courage. However, this failure is itself a noteworthy point of the dialogue.
The sophists were a class of rhetoricians and philosophers who were widely hired as teachers in ancient Greece. Socrates mentions them mainly in sarcasm when he states that he wishes he could afford to absorb their wisdom. Socrates dislikes the sophists because they pretend to have knowledge of the nature of virtue and they give grand, pretentious explanations rather than the clear and concise definitions preferred by Socrates. In short, they practice rhetoric rather than true philosophy.
Please wait while we process your payment