菲力帕斯篇

《菲力帕斯篇》（古希腊语：Φίληβος Phílēbos、拉丁语：Philebus）是柏拉图的一篇哲学对话，通常归于其晚期作品，对话的主题是“享乐”。文中，苏格拉底与代表享乐主义哲学的菲力帕斯讨论享乐的道德，后者则让他的支持者、智辩家普洛塔耳科斯捍卫他的论点。尽管对话的主题是关于伦理学，双方在文中花费很长的篇幅讨论了一系列关于“一与多”“存在的四元素”等本体论和辩证法的话题，代表了晚期柏拉图在这些领域的思想。

The Philebus (Φίληβος, Phílēbos) is a work by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Written in dialogue form, it presents a fictional conversation between Plato's teacher Socrates and two young Athenians, Philebus and Protarchus. The main topic is the ethical evaluation of pleasure.

Philebus and Protarchus are hedonists who consider pleasure as the highest good and equate it with the absolute Good. Socrates represents the opposing view, prioritizing reason and insight. While he does not dispute the legitimacy and value of pleasure, he points out the diversity of pleasures and argues for a more nuanced assessment. He rejects some forms of pleasure as harmful and assigns a subordinate rank in the hierarchical value order to the remaining "pure" pleasures. The distinction between types of pleasure leads to general considerations about the unity and plurality of types that are subsumed under a generic term, and about the categories into which all being can be divided. Socrates explores the causes, origins, and characteristics of various forms and mixtures of pleasure and pain that occur in human life and their changing combinations, which result in diverse emotional states. The specifics of each form of pleasure are analyzed, and the reasons for their varying evaluations are explained. At the end of the dialogue, Socrates presents a universal value order. In this, proper measure, proportionality, takes the highest place, and pleasure – as far as it is justified – takes the lowest. Harmful pleasures are to be avoided. The right mixture of desired factors is supposed to enable a successful life and bring about a balanced emotional state. Protarchus agrees, while Philebus no longer comments.

The Philebus is considered one of Plato's most challenging dialogues. Manuscripts of the work give it the subtitle "peri hēdonēs, ēthikos" ("ethics/moral concerning pleasure") implying that its topic is "concerning pleasure" and it is a work on ethics — that is, the question of what way of life is best. However, in addition to the core theme of pleasure, it discusses a range of other philosophical questions; "there are large parts in the dialogue that deal with dialectics and ontology but have nothing to do with pleasure and ethics, or if so, only indirectly". In modern research, the classification of all being into four classes by Socrates and the relationship of this classification to Plato's Theory of Forms and to his "unwritten doctrines" receive particular focus.

Composition

Research is almost unanimous in classifying Philebus among Plato's "late" dialogues. It has been proposed that the work was composed between 360 and 347 BC, and that it is among the last of the late dialogues of Plato. This is supported both by statistical linguistic evidence and the content's similarity to other late works, especially the Timaeus. However, the prominent role of the character Socrates in this late work is atypical; many of the other "late" dialogues do not figure Socrates as the main speaking character. Some prefer a slightly earlier dating – originating in the last phase of Plato's middle period. For a more precise placement within the group of late dialogues, there is a lack of sufficient evidence. The hypothesis that Philebus was Plato's response to the hedonism of Eudoxus of Cnidus has led to the suggestion that the composition dates soon after 360 BC, though this attribution is highly uncertain.

The textual transmission of Philebus is more problematic than that of other dialogues due to some corruptions, posing special challenges for textual criticism. The oldest surviving medieval manuscript of Philebus was produced in the year 895 in the Byzantine Empire for Arethas of Caesarea, while older manuscripts are limited to a few small papyrus fragments.