Overview
Chapter 11 concludes Part Two by drawing together all the threads of the course through the lens of Plato's Phaedrus. Dr. Bannon reflects on how Socrates' method in the Phaedrus — following Phaedrus into the cave, listening, inspiring — is the concrete embodiment of everything the course has been building toward. Philosophy doesn't end; it begins — again and again, with each new metanoia. See the Phaedrus reading pages for the primary text.
Key Concepts
- Where Philosophy Begins: not at the end of an argument, but at every new metanoia — every new turning
- The Phaedrus as synthesis: the dialogue embodies Plato's complete philosophical vision
- Socrates as teacher: his method of liberation — following, praising, criticizing Lysias, listening, inspiring
- The Three Metanoias across the course: Cave (turn from shadows), Symposium (climb the ladder of desire), Phaedrus (liberate others through inSpiring discourse)
- Philosophy as a mode of discourse: not a body of doctrines but a practice of discourse
- Rhetoric and logic as tools: both can liberate or oppress; virtue (arete) is using them for the Good
- 'We only get out of the cave together': the final, repeated refrain of the course
- The philosophy you emBody: the only philosophy that matters is the one you live
- AtopŌtatos: to be truly philosophical is to be always 'out of place' — always questioning the given
Vocabulary & Glossary
- AtopŌtatosGreek: 'most out of place' — to feel totally out of place is the beginning of genuine philosophy
- Embodied PhilosophyThe only philosophy that matters is the one you embody — not the one you know about or claim to hold
- Whole SoulThe soul in which intellect, logic, and desire are rightly ordered — all three moving together toward Justice, Beauty, and Truth
- SvaDharmaSanskrit: one's own duty or proper function — doing what one is truly called to do
- Metanoia (final sense)Each genuine philosophical encounter involves a 'turning' — philosophy is an ongoing practice of metanoia
Key Examples & Analogies
After all the tools — epistemology, phenomenology, logic, ontology — the final word of the course is: it only matters if you live it. The only philosophy that matters is the one you emBody. Dr. Bannon quotes this as the conclusion of both the course and the Conclusion chapter.
From Plato's Republic to the Phaedrus, the course's deepest insight is communal: philosophical liberation is not a solo achievement. Socrates follows Phaedrus into the cave. Diotima teaches Socrates. The liberated prisoner returns. We only get out of the cave together.
Exam Prep Questions
- What does Dr. Bannon mean by saying 'this is where philosophy begins'? Why is this an ending and a beginning?
- How does the Phaedrus bring together the themes of rhetoric, desire, education, and liberation developed throughout the course?
- What is 'embodied philosophy'? Why does Dr. Bannon insist that this is the only philosophy that matters?
- What is the significance of 'atopōtatos' as a conclusion to the course?
- Trace the arc of the course: how do the tools of Part One (Chapters 1–7) become applied in Part Two (Chapters 8–11)?