Who is Afraid of Being Smart?

Abstract

Although the dialogue is formally aporetical, this paper argues that Plato succeeded in grapsing – between the lines – the phronesis Charmides is looking for. However, this is not possible by means of a definition, since phronesis is neither a thing nor substantial knowledge. It seems to be a sort of self-reference, an ability to project one’s acting in unpredictable situations, to judge if something was done well or wrong, to consider what one knows and what not. Hence phronesis is the ability which precedes and makes any knowledge possible and without which nobody can act well and be happy. In this sense the phronesis of this dialogue is closely connected with the Platonic concept of the good and has much in common with the Platonic concept of human "immortality"