# Socrates — The Story of Utopias character guide

> Socrates in The Story of Utopias by Lewis Mumford.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0003-the-story-of-utopias

## Who they are

Classical Greek philosopher who appears in Plato's dialogues on ideal states.

## In the story

### [How the Greeks lived in a New World, and utopia seemed just round the corner. How Plato, in The Republic, is chiefly concerned with what will hold the ideal city together.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii)

Socrates appears as the main interlocutor in Plato's Republic, driving the discussion on justice and social harmony.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii)

Referenced indirectly through Plato's works and the philosophical context of the Republic.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iv)

Plato's mouthpiece in the Republic, describing the healthy state and the 'inflamed constitution' that arises from multiplying wants.

### [Plato's Republic: The Foundation of Civic Unity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi)

Referenced indirectly through Plato's dialogues, as the Republic is presented through Socratic discourse.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/viii)

Implied as the speaker in Plato's dialogues, particularly in the discussion of the Republic.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ix)

Implied as the speaker in the Republic, presenting Plato's ideas on the Guardians and the ideal state.

### [The Business of the Guardian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/x)

Implied as the interlocutor in the Republic, though not explicitly named in the excerpt.

### [How something happened to utopia between Plato and Sir Thomas More; and how utopia was discovered again, along with the New World.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii)

Socrates appears as a character in Plato's dialogues, central to the discussion of justice and the ideal state.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iv)

Mentioned in a simile: Morris evokes the spirit of the River God as Socrates and Phaedrus called forth the spirit of Pan by the Ilyssus.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii)

Quoted from the 'Phaedrus' to illustrate the humanist outlook of literature, emphasizing learning from men rather than nature.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/socrates
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters