Euthydemus

by Plato

"Euthydemus" by Plato is a dialogue written around 384 BC. In this satirical work, Socrates recounts to his friend Crito a meeting with two Sophist brothers who claim philosophical superiority. Through a series of increasingly absurd logical tricks and fallacies, the brothers attempt to trap Socrates in verbal puzzles designed to be impossible to refute. Plato contrasts genuine Socratic education with what he presents as the deceptive methods of Sophist argumentation, exposing the emptiness behind their intellectual showmanship.