Socrates And Strepsiades's Inferior Argumetion In The Clouds

Frustrated of the status quo, humans have been attempting to alter the circumstance for their favor or overcome adversity by modifying customs and laws, whether it is for a noble cause, such as the American Revolution; or for a selfish purpose, like Strepsides does to avoid the debts in the Clouds. Aristophanes depicts the bizarre logic of characters like Socrates and Strepsides in the Clouds, a satirical comedy, to convey his animosity toward the new education along with its “Inferior Argument”, furthermore advocating an elimination of the new education. Some may assert that the issue might be solved by removing ridiculous educators like Socrates, as what Strepsiades commits in the end of the play, since the so called “philosophy” would …show more content…
At the beginning of the play, Strepsiades has been “up all night trying to concoct a plan to get [Strepsiades] out of this mess” and found “one drastic course, an extraordinary supernatural trail” (line 76, 77), which is making Pheidippides master Inferior Argument. Strepsiades is actually foolish and selfish enough to believe that “Inferior Argument can debate an ‘unjust’ case and win” (line 115) and “[Pheidippides] can talk [his] ways out of all the debts [Strepsiades has] incurred on [Pheidippides’] behalf” that “[Strepsiades] won’t have to repay a single obol” with Inferior Argument (line 115-118). Nevertheless, his son is “trying to get some sleep” (line 39), arguing if it is “necessary to spend the entire night twisting and writhing” about the debts, and mentioning horses continuously throughout the conversation in contrast despite his father’s severe grief (line 36, 37). From the his father’s description (line 67-70, 73) and the conversation, one can conclude that Pheidippides has been a spoiled and selfish kid influenced by new ideas before getting educated by Socrates; he even disdains Socrates and calls the sophists “pasty looking frauds” at first (line 103). Even if they never met Socrates in the story, the father would still attempt to come up with some shady schemes to prevent repaying the debts eventually while the son continued pursuing his hedonistic lifestyle. Facetiously, Socrates exists more like a comparatively less guilty solution provider who upholds similar values with his foolish clients than an authoritative instructor. All he does is providing the father and son Inferior Argument as a solution of their debts and strengthening their belief in avoiding debts with the ridiculous sophistry. Even if Socrates is beaten or burnt to death in the end of the