Dialogos of Eide/Home

  • Daimon vs Daemon

    Is daimon and daemon the same thing? Yes — but with an important historical distinction. The Greek word was δαίμων (daimōn). In ancient Greek thought, especially in the world of Socrates and Plato, a daimōn was not originally an “evil demon” in the later Christian sense. A daimōn could mean: When Socrates spoke of his…

  • Socrate’s Daimon and the Paradox of Authority

    SOCRATES: You have pressed me fairly, stranger, and I find I cannot entirely escape your grip. For you have named the very thing that has disturbed my own sleep — if one supposes that I sleep, which some in the agora doubted. But let me ask you this: when you say the daimonion restrained, do you…

  • When Socrates spoke of his Daimonion

    Yes — if one presses Socrates carefully, tension appears. When Socrates spoke of his daimonion — the inner “sign” or divine warning voice described in Apology and elsewhere — he did indeed introduce something that cannot be publicly verified through ordinary dialectic. That creates a philosophical problem. For consider:Socrates demanded examination from others, yet invoked…