# Young Socrates — Dialogues character guide

> Young Socrates in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Young Socrates True, Young Socrates Impossible, the younger Socrates

**First appearance:** 0081-parmenides

## Snapshot

The philosopher as a young man, still intoxicated by argument, who spares neither parent nor dog in his eagerness to test every idea he meets.

## Who they are

This younger Socrates appears among Plato's later dialogues, a figure whose first taste of dialectic has left him delighted and relentless. He turns every conversation into a hunt, rolling many things into one and splitting one into many, puzzling himself before he puzzles anyone else. His exuberance is both charming and alarming, a portrait of philosophy before it learned restraint, and he matters because he shows what the examined life looks like when it is still a young man's fever.

## In the story

### [Introduction and Analysis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/introduction-and-analysis)

Socrates' namesake, mentioned in the context of the Statesman dialogue and Socrates' jest about relationship.

### [Sophist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/sophist)

Present as a silent auditor, mentioned as a potential helper for Theaetetus.

### [Statesman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/statesman)

Young Socrates responds to the Stranger's questions, helping to refine the definition of the statesman through dialectic.

### [Statesman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/statesman)

Engages in the discussion, asking clarifying questions about the statesman's art and the classification of governments.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/the_young_socrates
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters