See also: Alcibiade (homonymy)

The Second Alcibiade or On the prayer is a dialog of Plato. It treats utility of the prayer.

Question of the authenticity

This dialog is known of Élien, Athénée and Diogène Laërce (III, 59); Trasylle and Aristophane de Byzance allots it to Plato. Its authenticity was however questioned at the 19th century by Victor Cousin and other historians. The dialog mentioning the death of Archélaos, it was written after the death of Socrate.

Tally of the dialog

Characters

Contents of the dialog

This dialog illustrates well the socratic Recherche of a Science of the : it is a question of showing that for requesting the gods and formulating wishes to them, it is necessary to acquire wisdom and the virtue.

Socrate meets Alcibiade requesting; he asks to him whether he contemplated the question well of knowing what it is advisable to ask the Gods. A discussion follows then where Socrate watch that the men act and speak without wondering about what they knows indeed: they resemble in that the foolish ones, and the Mal that they cause is the fruit of their Ignorance (see minor Hippias on this topic).

One belonged in this dialog to awkwardnesses and contradictions (for example, it is known as there that ignorance could be less harmful than science, which is exactly the opposite of the Platonic doctrines), of the repetitions and the darknesses; Socrat made there of the speeches an unusual length. The style is deprived of irony and spirit, and it misses there this gracious movement of the other dialogs of Plato.

Lessons

First lesson: “It is sure neither to accept with light what is offered to you, nor to ask it oneself. ”

Second lesson: “Generally possession of other sciences, without science of what is well, risk to be only seldom useful and to be on the contrary more often pernicious with its owners. ”

Third lesson: There are few judicious people but there are the many foolish ones.

Fourth lesson: “Any poetry is naturally enigmatic and it does not belong to the first has been just included/understood it. ”