In the Philebus, the discussion centers on which way of life is better: the life of the mind or the life of pleasure. To begin answering this question, Socrates first divides all existing things into three categories: the infinite, the finite, and a composition of the infinite and the finite. There is difficulty in understanding the third category during the discussion, so Socrates begins to talk about how everything that comes into being has a cause. This cause of the composition of the finite and infinite becomes the fourth category. Socrates ultimately shows that pleasure belongs to the first class and mind belongs to the fourth class. He then concludes that a life combining mind and pleasure is better than a life consisting solely of mind or solely of pleasure. Even though a good life requires both pleasure and knowledge, we still need to determine how to rank them. Does a good life require more pleasure than knowledge, less pleasure than knowledge, or should they be distributed evenly? If we look into knowledge, we see that there is a science of measuring and counting. This science, the dialectic, which is akin to mathematics, is closer to truth, in terms of clearness and correctness, than all the other sciences. In the end, the ranking is as follows:
- Dialectical science
- The beautiful
- Wisdom
- Arts and non-dialectical sciences
- Pleasure