ABSTRACT
In the Symposium, Phaedrus, Republic, and elsewhere, Socrates describes himself as an expert on love and that the eros plays a major role in his understanding of philosophy. But as Socrates acknowledges, eros might also turn to unbounded desires, affecting a person to pursue a tyrannical life rather than a philosophical one. So if the philosopher and the tyrant are driven by the same force, how can one focus on reason and wisdom instead of power and egoism? This chapter argues that the Socratic method consists in realigning an erotic–and therefore potentially tyrannical–soul towards philosophy as evident in Alcibiades I. Even though history shows that Socrates finally did not succeed in persuading Alcibiades of philosophy, the dialogue offers a great insight in the Socratic understanding of pedagogy in both its methods and its purpose.
