Hermeneutic ethics: Virtuous circularity between knowledge and pleasure from Plato’s Philebus

Abstract

In the context of my project to justify the ethical dimension of Hermeneutics, in this article I will propose answers to the central question around which Plato’s Filebo dialogue is articulated, namely, “what is the state and disposition of the soul (hexis kai diathesis)? that can grant men a happy life? Is it for knowledge, or for pleasure?” From the clues proposed in the dialogue, I will develop the notion of a good and happy life as a process and result of the correct mixture between knowledge and pleasure. Under the aegis of Gadamerian hermeneutics, taken as an ethical praxis, the objective is to substantiate the thesis that happiness is the result of the virtuous circularity between knowledge and pleasure as opposed to the vicious circularity that implements unhappiness, establishes a slave life that implies the personal, social and environmental destruction. I will do this by explaining, initially, the type of ontology and the rationality proper to dealing with the good and happy life combined with pleasure; this will make it possible to indicate clues of the appropriate alchemy – through dialogical-phronetic investigation – between knowledge and pleasure to establish a good and happy life. Finally, the original contribution of this reflection lies in proposing criteria to assess whether the mixture was well done by presenting the implications of the vicious circularity and corollaries of the virtuous circularity between knowledge and pleasure. I will show that vicious circularity fosters unhappiness, while virtuous circularity enables the creation of a good and happy life in individual and social terms, in addition to establishing a harmonious relationship and integration with the environment.