Irony, Socrates, Plato

Perhaps the most significant of the mis-attributions of a feature of Platonism to Socrates is Irony.  As is implied by the charge of Impiety, Socrates' primary application of the Principle of Sufficient Reason is against superstition, involving professions of Ignorance that can be, in principle, sincere, e. g. Agnosticism. In contrast, as is expressed in the Protagoras, Plato applies the Principle less against superstition than against Sophistry.  But, to make the case that Philosophy is distinct from Sophistry, Plato needs to invoke the Theory of Forms, i. e. that the expression of Philosophy signifies non-verbal entities and relations, whereas Sophistry is never more than merely verbal.  So, Irony becomes central to Plato's dialogues--i. e. its use of language to explain the fundamental emptiness of language.  Plato thereby tackles a problem ignored by previous Dualists, e. g. Parmenides, whose dismissal of Multiplicity as non-real is itself part of that Multiplicity.  So, to attribute Irony to Socrates is to miss both the principled sincerity of the professions of the actual Socrates, but how vital it is to Plato.