Mr. Poste observes justly, in his note on p. 40 C:— “The falsely anticipated pleasure in mistaken Hope may be called, as it is here called, False Pleasure. This is, however, an inaccurate expression. It is not the Pleasure, but the Imagination of it (i.e. the Imagination or Opinion) that is false. Sokrates therefore does not dwell upon this point, though Protarchus allows the expression to pass.” The last phrase of the passage which I have thus transcribed (“Sokrates therefore does not dwell upon this point”) is less accurate than that which precedes: for it seems to imply that the Sokrates of Philêbus admits the inaccuracy of the expression, which seems to me not borne out by the text of the dialogue. Both here and elsewhere in the dialogue, the doctrine, that many pleasures are false, is maintained by Sokrates distinctly — τὸ ἥδεσθαι is put upon the same footing as τὸ δοξάζειν, which may be either ἀληθῶς or ψευδῶς.
When Sokrates (p. 37 B) puts the question, “You admit that δόξα may be either ἀληθὴς or ψευδής: how then can you argue that ἡδονή must be always ἀληθής?” the answer is, that pleasure is not, if we speak correctly, either true or false: neither one predicate nor the other is properly applicable to it: we can only so apply them by a metaphor, altogether misleading in philosophical reasoning. When Sokrates further argues (37 D), “You admit that some qualifying predicates may be applied to pleasures and pain, great or small, durable or transient, &c. You admit that an opinion may be correct or mistaken in its object, and when it is the latter you call it false: why is not the pleasure which accompanies a false opinion to be called false also?” Protarchus refuses distinctly to admit this, saying, “I have already affirmed that on that supposition the opinion is false: but no man will call the pleasure false” (p. 38 A).
Plato acknowledges no truth and reality except in the Absolute — Pleasures which he admits to be true — and why.
What seems present to the mind of Plato in this doctrine is the antithesis between the absolute and the relative. He will allow reality only to the absolute: the relative he considers (herein agreeing with the Eleates) to be all seeming and illusion. Thus when he comes to describe the character of those few pleasures which he admits to be true, we find him dwelling upon their absolute nature. 1. The pleasures derived from perfect geometrical figures: the exact straight line, square, cube, circle, &c.: which figures are always beautiful per se, not by comparison or in relation with any thing else:[133] and “which have pleasures of their own, noway analogous to those of scratching” (i. e., not requiring to be preceded by the discomfort of an itching surface). 2. The pleasures derived from certain colours beautiful in themselves: which are beautiful always, not merely when seen in contrast with some other colours. 3. The pleasures of hearing simple sounds, beautiful in and by themselves, with whatever other sounds they may be connected. 4. The pleasures of sweet smells, which are pleasurable though not preceded by uneasiness. 5. The pleasures of mathematical studies: these studies do not derive their pleasurable character from satisfying any previous uneasy appetite, nor do they leave behind them any pain if they happen to be forgotten.[134]
[133] Plato, Philêbus, p. 51 C. ταῦτα γὰρ οὐκ εἶναι πρός τι καλὰ λέγω, καθάπερ ἄλλα, ἀλλ’ ἀεὶ καλὰ καθ’ αὑτὰ πεφυκέναι, καί τινας ἡδονὰς οἰκείας ἔχειν, οὐδὲν ταῖς τῶν κνήσεων προσφερεῖς.
51 D: τὰς τῶν φωνῶν τὰς λείας καὶ λαμπράς, τὰς ἕν τι καθαρὸν ἱείσας μέλος, οὐ πρὸς ἕτερον καλὰς ἀλλ’ αὐτὰς καθ’ αὑτὰς εἶναι, καὶ τούτων ξυμφύτους ἡδονὰς ἑπομένας.
[134] Plato, Philêbus, p. 62 B.
We may illustrate the doctrine of the Philêbus about pleasures and pains, by reference to a dictum of Sokrates quoted in the Xenophontic Memorabilia (iii. 13).
Some person complained to Sokrates that he had lost his appetite — that he no longer ate with any pleasure (ὅτι ἀηδῶς ἔσθιοι) — “The physician Akumenus (so replied Sokrates) teaches us a good remedy in such a case. Leave off eating: after you have left off, you will come back into a more pleasurable, easy, and healthful condition.”
Now let us suppose the like complaint to be addressed to the Platonic Sokrates. What would have been his answer?