Akrasia in Xenophon’s Socrates, in the Light of the 5th and 4th Century Debate Over Akratic Patterns of Action

Akratic behavior is widely discussed not only among Xenophon, but also among other first- generation Socratics as well as Euripides and Aristophanes. #is paper provides a close examination of the 5th and 4th century debate over akratic patterns of action, with the aim to highlight that the concepts of akrasia and enkrateia are dynamically related to each other, as every effort to restrain pleasure entails the possibility of falling back into unbridledness. My claim is that for Xenophon as well as for other authors of his time self- control never hints at a pacification of desires, but on the contrary at a continuous struggle against them. In Xenophon, enkrateia and akrasia stand in an inversely proportional relationship to each other: when a man’s pleasures are controlled by enkrateia he is open for knowledge and virtue; when on the contrary the pleasures take control over the body, akrasia rules and enkrateia is thwarted along knowledge and virtuous behavior. #is entails that only by looking at how akratic behavior works in Xenophon it is possible to see what enkrateia does in order to restrain such a behavior.