Sophie's World

Sophie finds the next letter inside her garden den. He obliges one of Sophie’s requests and signs his name: Alberto Knox. However, the philosopher is becoming increasingly worried about being exposed and decides he will no longer deliver letters personally but will send his messenger, which turns out to be a golden Labrador named Hermes. Hermes is named as such because he acts as a secret messenger between Sophie and the philosopher. Alberto then mentions the red scarf, asking Sophie to take care of it and stating that “sometimes personal property gets mixed up. Especially at school and places like that, and this is a philosophy school” (59). It is also here that Sophie is revealed to be 14. On the back of the letter are four ideas posed: “Is there such a thing as natural modesty? Wisest is she who knows she does not know… True insight comes from within. He who knows what is right will do right” (60). Sophie has a difficult time understanding why the first question is philosophical, believing modesty to be the result of societal norms rather than anything natural. She agrees with the philosopher that “knowing what you don’t know is also a kind of knowledge” (61) and agrees that insights often come from within. On the other hand, Sophie finds herself at odds with the final notion posed and believes that people often do act despite knowing what is right.

The big envelope that always follows contains information about the first of three of the “great classical philosophers” (63) of Athens: Socrates. The philosopher credits him as being the beginning of a new temporal era and describes the Sophists (meaning “wise and informed person” [64]), who entered Athens and capitalized on the citizens’ need for education to be able to participate in democracy. This group believed philosophical questions could never be answered by people and instead focused on examining “man and his place in society” (64). One particular Sophist, Protagoras, believed right and wrong should be measured based on need rather than absolutes; he was also an agnostic.

Socrates challenged the idea that universal norms do not exist. An enigmatic, thoughtful, and social man, he was killed for his philosophical ideas. He did not leave any writings, so his pupil and master philosopher Plato is the only source of Socrates’s ideas. He developed what is now called the Socratic method, whereby a person poses questions and points out flaws in an argument to force a person into changing their mind. He believed in discussing rather than lecturing, “[S]ince real understanding must come from within” (66). Using innate reasoning can lead anyone to find philosophical truth. Socrates’ unique moral perspectives led to his death when he was accused of corruption and heresy. The philosopher asserts the difference between Socrates and Sophists, calling Socrates a true philosopher because he did not claim to know everything, nor did he take money for his teachings. In fact, he realized he knew very little. Furthermore, Socrates was “troubled” (69) by the thought that he did not understand the world around him and sought answers. Socrates claims that “[o]ne thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing” (69). The philosopher compares Socrates to a Joker card and explains that he was neither certain of what he knew nor indifferent to that fact, unlike most people around him. Socrates also saw learning of utmost importance because knowledge is what allows people to know the right thing to do. When people act against this knowledge, it leads to unhappiness. By the time the letter is finished, the philosopher has explained each of the four ideas initially posed, each of which was originally posed by Socrates. Sophie gets in another argument with her mother, this time about the persecution of Socrates, and the distance between them continues to grow.

Sophie opens the mailbox to find a video tape. Since her mother is out, she immediately puts it in the VCR. The tape shows the city of Athens, and then Alberto, who is seen in the video, begins narrating directly to Sophie while describing the history of the city. The Acropolis (“city on the hill” [74]) has existed in some form since the Stone Age, and the Golden Age of Athens began after the Persian war in 479 B.C. The philosopher describes the Temple of Athena (the Parthenon), the Dionysos Theater, and many other monuments. He explains that many important concepts, from psychology and ethics to economy and democracy, originated during this time along with great philosophers, such as Socrates and Aristotle.

Suddenly, “as if by magic” (76), the philosopher transforms his surroundings into Athens 402 B.C. Everything appears as it was, brand new and alive with people bustling around the city. The philosopher is dressed in traditional Greek garb and tells Sophie he is going to introduce her to Socrates and Plato. The camera takes them there, and Plato introduces himself directly to Sophie before posing four questions: How can someone bake 50 identical cookies? Why are all horses seemingly the same? Does the immortal soul exist? And finally, are men and women “equally sensible” (78)? Sophie is completely overwhelmed and in disbelief. She also feels that if what she just witnessed is true, then the philosopher is “going too far” (78). Unable to comprehend what has just unfolded, she falls asleep from exhaustion.

Sophie wakes up and goes to check the garden for another letter as “the morning dew twinkled in the grass” (79), and Sophie is again in awe of her surroundings. She does not find a letter, so she begins contemplating the questions posed by Plato in the video the night before. She decides that a mold is required to bake 50 identical cookies and feels proud of herself for thinking she answered this question so easily. Feeling unsure how to answer the question about why a horse is a horse and not some other animal, she moves on to pondering the existence of the soul; this too, she feels unqualified to answer. Finally, Sophie considers the question comparing men and women, determining the answer is yes because if Socrates believed slaves had the same common sense as noblemen, then he likely believed women did too. As she contemplates, Hermes bursts in with a letter. Sophie decides to chase after him but soon loses him in the woods. She sits down among the trees and opens the letter, which describes Plato, his history, and his ideas.

Plato, who lived from 428-347 B.C., was originally a pupil of Socrates. Considered his most loyal follower, Plato was disturbed by the city’s decision to execute Socrates. This led to his observation about the discrepancy between the ideal society and reality. He published a work based on Aristotle’s court plea, entitled Apology, as well as Epistles and several philosophical Dialogues. He named his school the Academy after the Greek hero Academus, and the subjects of math, gymnastics, and philosophy were discussed there. Plato’s primary project was a concern with “both what is eternal and immutable in nature […] and as regards morals and society” (83) and the common reality shared between both of these concepts. Alberto argues that this is the duty of all philosophers. Plato believed that everything in the material world flows and changes, but things are made up of unchanging molds or patterns. He considered these patterns to be of a spiritual or abstract nature. This reality “behind the ‘material world’” (86) was what Plato called “the world of ideas” (86); in this abstract place are the eternal and unchangeable patterns seen in nature, such as gingerbread men or horses. This theory is known as Plato’s theory of ideas. Furthermore, it is only these immutable things that can be truly known; everything that flows or changes is merely conjecture and based in the “world of the senses” (88). This is one of the reasons Plato was so passionate about math—it is based on reason and does not change. To add to this theory, Plato proposed people consist of a dual nature: the temporary sensory and the immutable soul. The existence of the soul is what allows people to “survey the world of ideas” (88). According to Plato, the soul existed in the world of ideas long before it found a human body and spends its human life “longing to return to its true origin” (88). He called this feeling eros, or love. Plato felt that people, shadows of ideas themselves, spent their life ignoring this fact. The philosopher illustrates this idea with Plato’s cave myth, in which a man who has been convinced since birth that shadows are all that exists, becomes free and sees the real world. When he returns to free the others, they do not believe his claims and kill him. This is also a metaphor for what happened to Socrates.

Finally, the philosopher explains Plato’s theory of an ideal state, both of a person and a governing body. He divided each into three parts: Head, or reason/rules; Chest or will/auxiliaries; and Abdomen or appetite/laborers. A virtuous person learns to curb their appetites, develops courage, and then uses reason to develop wisdom, thus creating a balance. A balanced state will employ philosophers as its leaders. The philosopher acknowledges that this system could be considered totalitarian today; Plato did advocate progressive ideals like the ability of women to reason and the need for public education. The philosopher finishes his discussion of Plato, and Sophie emerges from her den with a new sense of understanding and view of the world—much like the man in the cave. 

Riveted by what she just read, Sophie decides to try and find where Hermes ran off to. She comes across a red cabin that is clearly lived in. Inside, she finds that it belongs to Alberto and his dog; she also finds a school ID that reads Hilde Møller Knag. Sophie has a strange experience when she goes to look in the bathroom mirror and swears she sees the girl in the mirror wink with each eye. Startled, she suddenly hears Hermes barking, and as she is running out of the house, she finds another envelope with her name on it. Sophie grabs the envelope and runs through the marsh back home. Although she feels guilty for trespassing, she opens the note to find five questions: “What came first—the chicken or the ‘idea’ chicken? Are we born with innate ‘ideas’? What is the difference between a plant, an animal, and a human? Why does it rain? What does it take to live a good life?” (97-98). Sophie is distraught when she arrives home, and her mother is worried and demands to know where she has been. Sophie tells her, leaving out the secret correspondences. Her mother explains that an “eccentric” (99) army soldier used to live at that cabin, but it is currently unoccupied. Sophie protests but is too tired to continue and retires to her bed. She writes a letter of apology to the philosopher, explaining why she snuck into his cabin.

Before falling asleep, she ponders the questions posed in the most recent letter and decides that Plato must be wrong about ideas always being known, that babies could not possibly know things without being taught, but she finds it more difficult to distinguish between a human baby and an animal’s capacity for philosophical thought. Sophie is unsure whether rain has any real purpose, or if its function is merely coincidental. Believing a good life to be the result of “food, warmth, love, and care” (102) as well as a propensity for philosophical thought, she wakes up the next day to a lively discussion with her mother. Now that her mother feels she is being honest, the distance between them mends, and her mother even begins encouraging the philosophical ideas Sophie poses to her.