Justice & Power, session ii, Plato

PlatoJustice & Power--session ii

Topics in This Session

i.introduction

ii.Classical Greece

iii.Plato

iv.Politea (Republic)

v.Criticism

Introduction

Introduction

In the late 1960s it became fashionable to criticize the teaching of Western Civilization as a source of white racism or cultural chauvinism. By emphasizing the deeds and thoughts of the ancestors of European Americans, the impression might grow that Asians, Africans and Amerindians were people without history, without culture… clearly inferior. “Why begin every [expletive deleted] course with the Greeks?” Yippie leader Jerry Rubin [Walnut Hills High School, Class of 1956] asked a crowd of young Cincinnatians at a rally at Eden Park just prior to the Chicago Conspiracy trial [in 1969]. A valid question, however rudely put. Why should our inquiry begin with a small, sparsely settled region of the ancient Mediterranean world?

James B. Powers, Justice & Power, p. 1

The Heartlandof

Classical Greece

Socrates would use the image of

“frogs around a pond” to describe the

Greek city-states around the Aegean

Sea

Fourth century B.C. Greece might justly be considered poor, perhaps barbaric, or even insignificant by a citizen of one of the river states---Egypt or Persia nearby, or the Indus or Yellow River empires of ancient Asia. The Golden Age of Classical Greece passed quickly, but in a sense the achievements of Hellas have never since been surpassed.

Ibid.

As Bertrand Russell, the great twentieth century philosopher, has said of Greek civilization:

B a s e d o n a n u n d e r l y i n g principle of harmony, it was torn by internal strife, and this may have enhanced its greatness. For though it never could evolve a viable panhellenic state, it c o n q u e re d a l l t h o s e w h o conquered the land of Hellas, and to this day remains the framework of the West.

Wisdom of the West, p. 35

Plato and his student Aristotle are universally held to epitomize Greek academic thought. “It may be true that all succeeding political philosophy is a footnote to and a commentary on Plato, Professor Michael Curtis has written [quoting Alfred North Whitehead] (The Great Political Theories, 1961, p. 23). With Plato’s Republic, quite simply, we are beginning at the beginning. This is humankind’s first attempt to systematically and intelligently record a search for the ideal way to live.

Ibid.

This perfect condition was ascribed by other earlier or contemporary cultures, such as the aforementioned river kingdoms or the post-exilic Jewish state, to divine activity or revelation. With characteristic Greek self-confidence Plato presents his program as the product of an evening’s conversation. The atmosphere of the dialogue is one of curiosity, intellectual rivalry, humor, and moral earnestness---with here and there evidence of the wine which inevitably fueled a Greek symposium.

Ibid.

This perfect condition was ascribed by other earlier or contemporary cultures, such as the aforementioned river kingdoms or the post-exilic Jewish state, to divine activity or revelation. With characteristic Greek self-confidence Plato presents his program as the product of an evening’s conversation. The atmosphere of the dialogue is one of curiosity, intellectual rivalry, humor, and moral earnestness---with here and there evidence of the wine which inevitably fueled a Greek symposium.

Ibid.

Attic red figure Krater, ca. 390 BC at the J. Paul Getty Museum

Plato, the man who invented higher education with his Academy, invites you to be one of the silent listeners. Socrates is the narrator; Plato’s two brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, speak, as does the host, a rich and aged merchant Cephalus, and his son Polemarchus. Socrates’ chief adversary is the sophist Thrasymachus, a cynical professional wise man or tutor.

Ibid.

Plato, the man who invented higher education with his Academy, invites you to be one of the silent listeners. Socrates is the narrator; Plato’s two brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, speak, as does the host, a rich and aged merchant Cephalus, and his son Polemarchus. Socrates’ chief adversary is the sophist Thrasymachus, a cynical professional wise man or tutor.

Ibid.

Once you have listened to the plan proposed “just last night,” you may become a disciple like Plato’s brothers. Or, like Thrasymachus and after him Aristotle, you may remain a skeptical critic. But like every political theorist since Plato’s day, you cannot be ignorant of the ideas discussed that night and expect an educated audience to give weight to your ideas.

Ibid.

Classical Greece

Classical Greece

Hellas-the common heritage

Hellas-the common heritage

I. Classical GreeceA. Hellas - the common heritage

1. Homer2. Pre-Socratics

a. Milesians - scepticsb. Pythagoreans - asceticsc. Heraclitusd Eleatics - Parmenides & Zenoe. the Sophists - Protagoras

B. Polis - irreconcilable differences1. Citizens and “others”2. Sparta, Athens et al.

a. experience and theoryb. metropolis and colonies

3. Persian Wars, 490-70 B.C.4. Periclean Athens5. Peloponnesian War, 431-04 B.C.

Justice & Power, p. 3

Apotheosis of Homer J.A.D. Ingres, 1827

He was not the Greek Bible; he was the representative and spokesman of the

Greeks. He was quintessentially Greek. The stamp of the Greek genius is

everywhere on his two epics, in the banishment of the ugly and the frightful

and the senseless; in the conviction that gods were like men and men able to be

godlike; in the courage and undaunted spirit with which the heroes faced any

opponent, human or divine, even Fate herself; in the prevailing atmosphere of

reason and good sense…. Homer was the great molding force of Greece

because he was so Greek himself.

Edith Hamilton, The Greek Way, p. 212

Pre-Socratic Philosophy

Milesians-sceptics

Pythagoreans-ascetics

Heraclitus

EleaticsParmenides

Zeno

the Sophists-Protagoras

Milesiansphilosophers from the Greek colony of Miletus Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes

Άναξιμένης 585 BC-528 BCE

Ἀναξίμανδροςc. 610 – c. 546 BC

Θαλῆς, c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC

Milesiansone of the Seven Sages, father of philosophy (and science), he began to doubt his senses and inquire

attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology

his first principle--the world started from water

he was followed by Anaximander who also doubted (σκεπσις-skepsis, skepticism)

an indefinite (apeiron) principle gives rise to all natural phenomena

finally, Anaximenes joined the argument

his first principle--air


Θαλῆς, c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC

Άναξιμένης 585 BC-528 BC

Milesiansone of the Seven Sages, father of philosophy (and science), he began to doubt his senses and inquire

attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology

his first principle--the world started from water

he was followed by Anaximander who also doubted (σκεπσις-skepsis, skepticism)

an indefinite (apeiron) principle gives rise to all natural phenomena

finally, Anaximenes joined the argument

his first principle--air


Θαλῆς, c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC

Άναξιμένης 585 BC-528 BC

Pythagoras and his followers salute the sunrise-Fyodor Bronnikov, 1869

little reliable information about him is known. He may have travelled to Egypt in his youth

530-he moved to Croton, a Greek colony in Southern Italy where he established a communal sect

his disciples followed ascetic practices such as vegetarianism. They were called the mathematikoi Μαθηματικοι (learners)

their first principle of the cosmos was number

Πυθαγόρας c. 570 – c. 495 BC

a proof of Pythagoras' theorem, showing how by rearranging triangles the areas a2 + b2 and c2 can be shown to be the same. The area of the outer square never changes, and the total area of the four right triangles is the same at both the beginning and the end, therefore the black area at the beginning, a2 + b2, must equal the black area at the end, c2.

tetraktysa mystical symbol, “source of the roots

of ever-flowing nature”

he was considered obscure, even by contemporaries

famous for asserting change as the basis of the cosmos-panta rhei kai ouden menei (everything burns, nothing remains)

but he is also known for hodos ano kato-(the upward-downward path)

another first principle of the cosmos was the Logos. Its meaning is arguableἩράκλειτος ὁ Ἐφέσιος

—Hērákleitos ho Ephésios

c. 535 – c. 475 BC

he describes two views of reality. In "the way of truth", he explains how reality (coined as "what-is") is one, change is impossible, and existence is timeless, uniform, necessary, and unchanging--his first principle

In "the way of opinion," he explains the world of appearances, in which one's sensory faculties lead to conceptions which are false and deceitful

These ideas strongly influenced the whole of Western phi losophy, perhaps most notably through its effect on Plato

Παρμενίδης ὁ Ἐλεάτης

fl. early 5th century BC

member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides, his erotes. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic

449-Plato describes a visit to Athens by Zeno and Parmenides, at a time when Parmenides is "about 65," Zeno is "nearly 40" and Socrates is "a very young man"

best known for his paradoxes, which Bertrand Russell has described as "immeasurably subtle and profound"

Achilles & the tortoise: In a race, the

quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead

Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεάτηςc. 490 – c. 430 BC

Zeno shows the Doors to Truth and Falsity (Veritas et Falsitas). Fresco in the Library of El Escorial, Madrid.

not to be confused with Zeno of Citiumfounder of the Stoic school

Polis-irreconcilable differences

B. Polis - irreconcilable differences1. Citizens and “others”2. Sparta, Athens et al.

a. experience and theoryb. metropolis and colonies

3. Persian Wars, 490-79 B.C.4. Periclean Athens5. Peloponnesian War, 431-04 B.C.


“Citizens” and others

each of the more than 1,000 poleis had its own definition of who was a citizen

none enfranchised slaves, females or minors

resident aliens (metoikoi) were usually excluded as well

in Athens, the largest polis, birthplace of democracy, estimates place the number of polites (citizens) at 40-50,000 out of a total population of several hundred thousand

political participation was only one of the irreconcilable differences

barbaroi--the ultimate other

our word “barbarian” comes from the Greek

it’s how they mocked the “incomprehensible speech” of the savage non-Hellenes. cf. our “blah, blah, blah”

even enlightened philosophers had no doubts of Greek racial and cultural superiority to other ethnicities

Sparta-the way of war

Athens-the light of reason

the two most famous of the many differentand fractious Greek poleis

their struggle for hegemony will ultimatelydestroy Classical Greece

a tragedy of “irreconcilable differences”

a journey of only a day or two might take a Greek through several different states whose laws and customs were different from those of his native polis

these different experiences explain why he might think about and theorize (θεωρειν-theōrein) about which might be the better state

could this be why political philosophy began in Greece rather than Egypt, Mesopotamia -- older, more “advanced” societies?

Greeks began to send out settlers in the 8th century. These colonies had to develop their own constitutions

they would take some elements from their “mother country” (metropolis). New experiences required them to theorize about how best to frame government to meet local condtions

war against a common enemy can bring tremendous unity within an alliance system and within each state

a prolonged war, however, often produces conflict over strategies, even internal dispute over whether to continue the fight or seek “peace at any price.”

war-unifier or divider?

Persian wars-490-479 BC

Persia,then the greatest empire in the world, decided to conquer the divided Greek states

490-amazingly, the Athenians defeated the first attack at Marathon

480-479--Xerxes returned with a huge force to punish them

the Athenian navy at Salamis, then the Spartan-led land forces at Plataea once again drove the Persians off

this David-Goliath moment created the pride and self-confidence which produced the Golden Age of Classical Greece

Age of Pericles

the Parthenon with its famous statue of Athena was financed by the wealth of the Athenian empire

Age of PericlesAthens and Sparta shared the victory over the Persian Empire

but Athens soon began to reap greater rewards

Pericles, the leader of Athenian democracy, led the building program which attracted the wonder of all Hellas

the arts flourished under state patronage

but the rivalry with Sparta was fed by the growth of Athens’ power. The Delian League against Persia became the Athenian Empire

431-Sparta and her allies declared war


Age of PericlesAthens and Sparta shared the victory over the Persian Empire

but Athens soon began to reap greater rewards

Pericles, the leader of Athenian democracy, led the building program which attracted the wonder of all Hellas

the arts flourished under state patronage

but the rivalry with Sparta was fed by the growth of Athens’ power. The Delian League against Persia became the Athenian Empire

431-Sparta and her allies declared war


Peloponnesian War-431-404 BC

the war began with each system of allies using their asymmetrical strengths, Sparta on land, Athens at sea

421-415--after an uneasy truce, Athens launched the disastrous Sicilian expedition

413-405--despite its crippling failure, Athens survived and fought on until Lysander destroyed her fleet at Aegospotami

this long “war like no other” in its ruthless brutality left the Greek states exhausted, disillusioned, divided internally, ripe for political extremism, and prey to external powers like Persia and Macedonia“...to the music of flutes Sparta

made Athenian captives tear down their walls”--Xenophon

Socrates, an Athenian citizen of humble means, fought in the early land battles as a foot soldier. Plato, who would become his disciple, an Athenian aristocrat, was born a few years after the war began. He fought as a cavalryman in its last battles. Both tasted the bitter defeat, the disillusionment of this war which ended the Golden Age. Both experienced the political upheavals which replaced democracy with a pro-Spartan oligarchy, the Thirty Tyrants led by Plato’s uncle.It was soon overthrown by a vengeful democracy which would put Socrates to death in 399 BC.

Plato

Plato Πλάτων, Plátōn428/27 BC – 348/347 BC

II. PlatoA. Discipleship

1. early life2.Socrates

a. Socratic methodb. “know thyself”- anamnesisc. Apology, Crito, Phaedo

B. TravelsC. Academy, 387 BC - 529 AD (!)

1. dialogues vs. treatises

His early years were filled with the education of his social station--private tutors, ‘music and gymnastic’. There is a tradition of his success as an athlete, experimentation with poetry. His name may refer “to the breadth of his shoulders, his brow, his style. He is said to have become a disciple of Socrates at the age of twenty, some eight or nine years before Socrates’ death.”

Paul Shorey, What Plato Said, p. 1

Athens was by modern standards a small and gossipy city. Plato would have had abundant opportunity to observe the piquant contrast between the strange uncouth figure, the barefoot begging chatterbox, the butt of Attic comedy, and the magic of the man’s words, his power to deal with his interlocutors as he pleased, and to compel everyone who approached him to render an account of his soul and view his opinions in the light of reason...the irony that enabled him to mingle with the world yet not be of it, the feigned defective memory that introduced the demand for dialectic in place of long speeches of rhetoric, the professed ignorance that served to provoke joint inquiry.

Shorey, pp. 10-11

Athens was by modern standards a small and gossipy city. Plato would have had abundant opportunity to observe the piquant contrast between the strange uncouth figure, the barefoot begging chatterbox, the butt of Attic comedy, and the magic of the man’s words, his power to deal with his interlocutors as he pleased, and to compel everyone who approached him to render an account of his soul and view his opinions in the light of reason...the irony that enabled him to mingle with the world yet not be of it, the feigned defective memory that introduced the demand for dialectic in place of long speeches of rhetoric, the professed ignorance that served to provoke joint inquiry.

Shorey, pp. 10-11

The School of Athens (detail), Raphael, 1511

“He did not profess to know or teach anything. ‘I am like the midwife whose function I exercise on the minds of others.’...His function, he said, was like that of the physician who purged men’s minds of their false conceits; it was like that of the midwife who assisted in the delivery of their true and more considered thought….He himself had no body of doctrine to impart….In respect of method...Plato confirms Aristotle’s statement that there are two things that may be rightly attributed to Socrates, inductive argument and the quest for definitions. His philosophical dogmas:

“no man willingly does wrong

“virtue is knowledge, all wrongdoing and error is ignorance

“it is better to suffer injustice than to do it”Shorey, pp. 12-13

“know thyself”- anamnesis

Socrates’ theory of education was based on his belief that every person has innate knowledge. The teacher’s role is not to “pour” facts into empty vessels. Rather it is to draw out that knowledge through skillful questions which aid the learner to remember (ανάµνησις -- anamnesis) that which she already knows[Plato is the first recorded master to allow a woman to enter his Academy]. Thus Socrates practiced that Delphic motto--”know thyself” (γνόθι σεαθτόν--gnothi seauton). He also said the unexamined life is not worth living (ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ -- ho de an•ex• EH•tas•tos BI•os ou bi•ōh•TOS an•THRŌ•pō--Apology, 38a)

Apology, Crito, Phaedo

These three “biographical” dialogues narrate the famous “sin against philosophy” committed by the vengeful Athenian democracy in 399 BC. The Apology takes the form of Socrates’ speeches to his accusers who charged him with blasphemy and corrupting the youth. In Crito Socrates gently refuses this disciple’s offer of an escape. He must remain true to his principles and obey the laws of his polis. The Phaedo is a moving “last class” with his disciples. The night of his execution is spent in a dialogue on the nature of death. “Be of good cheer, no harm can come to a good man in life or death.”

Apology, Crito, Phaedo

These three “biographical” dialogues narrate the famous “sin against philosophy” committed by the vengeful Athenian democracy in 399 BC. The Apology takes the form of Socrates’ speeches to his accusers who charged him with blasphemy and corrupting the youth. In Crito Socrates gently refuses this disciple’s offer of an escape. He must remain true to his principles and obey the laws of his polis. The Phaedo is a moving “last class” with his disciples. The night of his execution is spent in a dialogue on the nature of death. “Be of good cheer, no harm can come to a good man in life or death.”

The Death of Socrates, Jacques-Louis David, 1787

Shocked, disillusioned and grieving the death of his master, Plato left Athens for nearby Megara. From there he may have travelled to Egypt, the source of wisdom and mystery for the Greeks. He definitely travelled to the Greek colony of Syracuse.

“To this period belongs his first Sicilian visit at the court of the elder Dionysius, and the story that he was sold into slavery on the island of Aegina by the Spartan ambassador Pollis, at the instigation of Dionysius, and ransomed by one Anniceris of Cyrene. He may or may not have taught at Athens during these twelve years.”

Shorey, p.1

This school, which he located on his estate north of Athens, near the grove of the hero Academus, gives its name to every later such institution of higher learning. It would endure for some nine hundred and sixteen years (387 BC-529 AD) a record unequalled by any such later school!

Academy

“The forty years of residence, teaching, and writing at Athens that followed were interrupted by his two visits to the court of Dionysius the Younger in Syracuse. Otherwise little is known of these forty years of his life, except conjectures about the dates of his writings and a few anecdotes of his relations with contemporaries.”

Shorey, p.2

Republic

Republic

Republic

III. Politeia (Republic), 365 (?) [recent scholarship-350s] BC; bks., x, pp. 397A. Bk I -- Introduction: defective definitions of justice

1. conventional moralitya. Cephalusb. Polemarchus

2. cynical “realism”a. Thrasymachus’ argumentb. Socrates’ refutation


In Book i Socrates describes how the gathering turned after dinner to examine the thesis question of The Republic: What is justice? Cephalus remarks how his wealth frees him to “make offering due the gods [and pay] debts which he owes to men.” “Well said, Cephalus, I replied; but as concerning justice, what is it (η δικαιοσυνη, το τι; hē dikaiosyne, to ti, literally: the justice. it what?)---to speak the truth and to pay your debts---no more than this” asks Socrates.

Powers, J & P, p. 1

Polemarchus’ Definition...Πολλ’ δ’ ἄλγεα δυσµενὲεσσι,χαρµατα δ’ εὐµενέτῃσι

...POL’ D’AL•gĕ•a dus•men•E•e•si,CHAR•ma•ta d’eu•men•ET•ē•si

...many pains to enemies,joys to well-wishers

Homer, Odyssey, bk vi, 184-185

In other words, the traditional Greek definition of justice: doing good to those who do good to you, getting even with your enemies-- as old as the Homeric tradition.

Then, after Polemarchus offers his definition, “Socrates expresses his dissatisfaction with both these conventional approaches and through a series of questions, points out their shortcomings. Unable to contain himself, Thrasymachus scornfully breaks in to develop his famous definition of justice as that which is to the advantage of those in power: ‘Justice is the interest of the stronger.’ “

op. cit., pp. 1-2

“What’s the matter with you two, Socrates? Why do you go on in this

imbecile way, politely deferring to each other’s nonsense? If you really

want to know what justice means, stop asking questions and scoring

off the answers you get. You know very well it is easier to ask questions

than to answer them. Answer yourself, and tell us what you think

justice means.”

Plato, The Republic, F.M. Cornford, trans. Oxford University Press, 1945 quoted in J & P: Reader p. 1

“Listen then, Thrasymachus began. What I say is that ‘just’

or ‘right’ means nothing but what is to the interest of the

stronger party….Don’t you know, then, that a state may be

ruled by a despot, or a democracy, or an aristocracy?

“Of course.

“And that the ruling element is always the strongest?

“Yes.”

op. cit., p. 2

Socrates craftily maneuvers Thrasymachus into giving his definition--

“Well then, in every case the laws are made by the ruling party in its

own interest: a democracy makes democratic laws [in the interest of

the Many who control a democracy], a despot autocratic ones, and

so on….That is what I mean: in all states alike ‘right’ has the same

meaning, namely what is for the interest of the party established in

power, and that is the strongest.

“Now I see what you mean, said I; whether it is true or not, I must

try to make out.”

op. cit., p. 2

Socrates then attacks the definition with a series of dialectical propositions: Well, if X, then Y?-OK-And if P, then Q? Well, I guess so-Then it must follow that R is S, &c., &c.

“At this point, when everyone could see that Thrasymachus’ definition of justice had been turned inside out, instead of making any reply, he said:

“Socrates, have you a nurse?

“Why do you ask such a question as that?

“Because she lets you go around sniffling like a child whose nose wants wiping. She hasn’t even taught you to know a shepherd when you see one, or his sheep either.

“What makes you say that?

“Why you imagine that a herdsman studies the interests of his flocks of cattle, tending and fattening them up with some other end in view than his master’s profit or his own; and so don’t you see that, in politics, the genuine ruler regards his subjects like sheep, and thinks of nothing...but the good he can get out of them for himself… “[and much more in this cynical vein]

Socrates gets him to agree that no ruler will study what is in his own interest, rather what is good and proper for his subjects:

“Having deluged our ears with this torrent of words, as a man at

the baths might empty a bucket over one’s head, Thrasymachus

meant to take himself off; but the company obliged him to stay and

defend his position. I was specially urgent in my entreaties.”

op. cit., p. 6

Socrates, once again, gets the better of the sophist Thrasymachus, much to the delight of Plato’s brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus and the host Cephalus’ son, Polemarchus. Thrasymachus departs and Socrates proposes to continue the search for the definition of this most precious quality justice.Which brings us to Book ii

III. Politeia (Republic), 365 (?) [recent scholarship-350s] BC; bks., x, pp. 397A. Bk I -- Introduction: defective definitions of justice

1. conventional moralitya. Cephalusb. Polemarchus

2. cynical “realism”a. Thrasymachus’ argumentb. Socrates’ refutation

B. Bks II-IV -- two cities1. growth of the typical or “natural” polis

a. division of laborb. luxury --- cause of war

2. the ideal (just) statea. government --- “machinery” or people?b. guardians CAUTION! two usages

1. attributes2. education, censorship, & propaganda

a. stages: 20, 30, 35, 50 years3. “careers open to talent”4. myth of the metals

3. justice discovered --- the four virtues ina. stateb. soulc. individual Justice & Power, pp. 3-4

III B -- two cities (poleis)

Socrates suggests that it will be easier to see what justice is by looking at it writ large, justice in a just state, not justice in an individual or in his dealings with other individuals. Just as with an eye chart, we start with the big letters at the top, then work down. So let’s imagine a state coming into being and see if we can find justice in it.

growth of the “natural” polis

Socrates gives a remarkably modern description of how cities grow out of people’s need to come together in order to enjoy economic benefits

each makes or does that which he is best suited for

then they exchange goods and services

all do better than as if each tried to meet all his needs isolated “in the state of nature”

so the polis prospers. With this comes luxurySocrates deplores that there will need to be more people to cater to the “unhealthy desires” of this swollen state

“The country which was large enough to support the original inhabitants, will

now be too small. If we are to have enough pasture and plow land, we shall have

to cut off a slice of our neighbors’ territory; and if they too are not content with

necessities, but give themselves up to getting unlimited wealth, they will want a

slice of ours.

“That is inevitable, Socrates.

“So the next thing will be, Glaucon, that we shall be at war.

“No doubt.

“We need not say yet whether war does good or harm, but only that we have

discovered its origin in desires which are the most fruitful source of evils both to

individuals and to states.”

op. cit., p. 11

“That will mean a considerable addition to our community--a whole army, to go

out to battle with any invader, in defense of all this property and of the

citizens….

“Why so? Can’t they defend themselves?

“Not if the principle was right, which we all accepted in framing our society.

You remember we agreed that no one man can practice many trades or arts

satisfactorily.

“True.

“Well, is not the conduct of war an art, quite as important as

shoemaking? ...We gave each man one trade, for which he was naturally fitted; he

would do good work, if he confined himself to that all his life….”

Ibid.

III B 2-the ideal (just) state

Socrates pretends to have stumbled upon the principle of justice in the state with this need to have those who are ideally (by nature) intended to be warriors. He calls them Guardians. But before we follow his imaginary creation of the just state it is well to review our own notions about government. The modern tendency is to equate government with its “machinery,” its constitution; what kind of legislature, executive, judiciary, bureaucracy….Plato is now going to focus on the people who fill those “slots.”

Guardians (φυλακοι,phylakoi)The rulers, Plato’s words harken back to his image of the good king as shepherd of his people (Homer’s anax andron Agamemnon), must be ideally (by nature) suited to the job. They will be the best citizens, possessed of all the virtues--wisdom, courage, temperance, and JUSTICE. But, be aware, he begins by talking about the rulers’ function of guarding the people--warriors. Later he will discuss what we call the civil authorities. Like our American constitution, Plato will place these civil guardians in authority over the military ones. The civil he will call Guardians in the strict sense, the military, he will call Auxiliaries.

“I suspect then, we may find what we are looking for in this way. I take it that

our state, having been founded and built up on the right lines, is good in the

complete sense of the word.

“It must be.

“Obviously, then, it is wise, brave, temperate, and just.

“Obviously.

“Then if we find some of these qualities in it, the remainder will be the one we

have not found.”

Ibid.

B.2.b.1-attributes-the four (pagan) virtueswisdom

“...a passion for knowledge and understanding….the same thing as philosophy--the love of wisdom” (φιλειν + σοφια = φιλοσοφια)

courage“...the same temperament as a well-bred watch dog...quick sense to detect an enemy, swiftness in pursuing him, and strength, if they have to fight when they have caught him.

“...the right conviction about the things which ought, or ought not, to be feared…”cf. Pericles

temperancemoderation in all things--(µη δεν αγαν, may den agan)

justicethe definition we seek...more will be revealed….

Education-Sparta & Athens

Physical and mental education combining the best of both societies: the rigor of Sparta and the cultivation of reason which characterized Athenian schooling. Boys and girls will train together, ala Sparta. As in Sparta, strict censorship will exclude ideas which might conflict with the mindset which this education is to produce. A series of tests will weed out the weak and cowardly. Only the strongest, bravest and best will make the “first cut” at age twenty. They become Auxiliaries, the warrior Guardians.

Education-Sparta & Athens

Physical and mental education combining the best of both societies: the rigor of Sparta and the cultivation of reason which characterized Athenian schooling. Boys and girls will train together, ala Sparta. As in Sparta, strict censorship will exclude ideas which might conflict with the mindset which this education is to produce. A series of tests will weed out the weak and cowardly. Only the strongest, bravest and best will make the “first cut” at age twenty. They become Auxiliaries, the warrior Guardians.

further refinement From age thirty to thirty-five the Auxiliaries are instructed in philosophy to discover the wisest among them (“philosophy is wasted on the young”). Those who don’t make the second cut remain warriors. The best (hoi aristoi) of the best are further groomed to become, like the Spartan Gerousia, the ruling oligarchy. At age fifty these Guardians in the strict sense become the ultimate authority in this ideal state, Plato’s Republic. (Res publica is a Latin word. The Greek term is Politeia.) This selection through education will produce what the French revolutionaries called “careers open to talent.” Other nineteenth century states also adopted civil service exams to replace corrupt job-filling with the principle of merit.

the myth of the metals Glaucon objects. Wont those who don’t get the top positions be envious? Socrates responds: our goal is to do what’s best for all, not just make a few happy. But he offers a “harmless” fable, propaganda delivered in the education process. After several generations it will become accepted as fact:

we are all born from the Earth (autochthonous)

within each of us our souls are either golden, silver, or some baser element

if we accept this fate, all will be well

if we do not, terrible calamities will ensue

justice discovered!

In the state wisdom is to be found in the Guardians, courage in the Auxiliaries, temperance in the acceptance of every citizen of his place and responsibilities--“the better part ruling the worse.”(p. 19) So justice must be what’s left. This was our first principle--division of labor--according to each person’s innate vocation. “...this minding of one’s own business, when it takes a certain form, is actually the same thing as justice….” “Justice admittedly means that a man should possess and concern himself with what properly [according to nature] belongs to him.”

op. cit, p. 21

in the polis

wisdom - found in the Guardians

courage - the Auxiliaries

temperance - these two controlling the Many (hoi polloi)

justice - each “having” and “doing” according to his nature

in the soul (ψυχη, psychē)

wisdom - σοφια, sophia

courage - θαρσεω, tharseō

temperance - σοφροσυνη, sophrosynē

justice - δικαιοσυνη, dikaiosynē

in the individual

wisdom - found in the mind, brain

courage - the heart

temperance - when the brain rules the passions and the appetites

in the individual


courage - the heart


ReasonGold

PassionSilver

Appetitebaser metal

in the individual


courage - the heart


justice - each organ “having” and “doing” according to its nature

III. Politeia (Republic)C. Bks V-VII -- “...philosophers become kings…”

1. life among the Guardians and Auxiliariesa. communism - goods and wivesb. near equality of womenc. eugenics - abortion & festivals

2. the cave - Plato’s theory of ideas

D. Bks VII-IX -- degenerate types of city & man1. causes of decline

a. timocracyb. oligarchyc. democracyd. tyranny

2. the argument concluded --- three proofsE. Bk X -- supplement


τα τον φιλον κοινη (the things of friends [ought to be] common)Guardians and Auxiliaries will live simply--no gold and silver things, no luxury

they will take their meals in common messes, like the Spartan syssitia

the women will also be held in common, as with their children

coming together for procreation is done at periodical festivals, pairing is apparently by lot

actually the rulers rig the lottery,mating the best with the best to promote eugenics

each child is taught to regard every Guardian as father or mother; they are raised in common nurseries (day care centers?) so that the Guardian women can attend to “higher” matters

as in Sparta, children with birth defects are exposed to die

these bizarre practices apply only to the rulers. The Many live as in other poleis

III.C.1.b -- near equality of women

Plato’s view was quite “countercultural” for a Greek of that time

“Socrates after some demure and deprecation of ridicule expounds:

“women have the same capacities as men though usually in lesser degree

thus women of the Guardian class should share in the education of the males

they should even share their occupations! soldiering or ruling based on merit

quotes from Shorey, p. 177

and what is the higher education that will develop their native powers and fit them to be guardians of the state? By true wisdom [that which philosophers love] Plato meant thought, abstract ideas, general conceptions---a systematic and coherent philosophy of life such as can be achieved onlt through the severest discipline of the higher mental faculties. All this is expressed in the terminology of the Platonic doctrine of ideas. Universals, ideas, notions, are treated as things….They belong to the world of true being and unchanging reality. The particulars of sense which the world thinks so real are imperfect copies of the idea and hold a place midway between true being and absolute non-being or nothing.

Shorey, p.178

“What do we mean by philosophers...

The relationship of appearance to reality in Plato’s worldview can perhaps be best grasped in the context of mathematics. A ring...or the perimeter of a hoplite shield might seem to the casual observer to be a circle, but these round objects are not circles in the same sense that the locus of all points in a given plane equidistant from a given point is a circle. They only look like circles; if you were to put them under a magnifying glass you would see that they were not circles at all, merely objects vaguely circular in appearance that bring to mind the Form of the circle. Only the circle depicted in the mathematical definition is a circle. Some people might say

that these concrete objects are real circles whereas the geometrical concept is imaginary, but Plato is not one of these people. For Plato, only the concept is real. The tangible objects are debased copies, feeble imitations of the ideal Form.

Pomeroy et al. Ancient Greece, pp. 389-390

“And I said: Cities will have no respite from evil, my dear Glaucon, nor will the human race, I think, unless philosophers rule as kings in the cities, or those whom we now call kings and rulers genuinely and adequately study philosophy, until, that is, political power and philosophy coalesce, and the various natures of those who now pursue the one to the exclusion of the other are forcibly debarred from doing so. Otherwise the city we have been describing will never grow into a possibility or see the light of day.

Republic, trans. G.M.A. Grube, bk v, sect 473d

Plato’s brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, become so excited by the discussion that they implore Socrates to help them begin to build this ideal just polis. He brings them down to earth with what is the most famous excerpt from the dialogue:

Philosopher kings are the rulers, or Guardians, of Plato's Utopian Kallipolis (beautiful city). If his ideal city-state is to ever come into being, "philosophers [must] become kings…or those now called kings [ m u s t ] … g e n u i n e l y a n d a d e q u a t e l y philosophize" (The Republic, v. 473d).

Wikipedia

III. Politeia (Republic)C. Bks V-VII -- “...philosophers become kings…”

1. life among the Guardians and Auxiliariesa. communism - goods and wivesb. near equality of womenc. eugenics - abortion & festivals

2. the cave - Plato’s theory of ideas

D. Bks VIII-IX -- degenerate types of city & man1. causes of decline

a. timocracyb. oligarchyc. democracyd. tyranny

2. the argument concluded --- three proofsE. Bk X -- supplement


States-the cyclical theory

best

worst

States-the cyclical theory

best

worst

Hesiod’sFive Ages

GOLDEN

SILVER

BRONZE

HEROIC

IRON

aristocracy

timocracy

oligarchy

democracy

tyranny

Book viii-defective poleis

The first step down the path of corruption is timarchy on the Spartan model. Reason no longer rules but the spirited part is in control and the army dominates. War and victory are therefore the things that are prized. The guardians still protect the state against outside enemies, but they now rule harshly and demand some private property [for themselves]. The arts are neglected and education degenerated. Men love money, but secretly. The next stage is oligarchy (plutocracy) where this love of money openly dominates, a wealth qualification for offices is instituted, and there are great disparities.

G.M.A. Grube, p. 193

Book viii-defective poleis (cont.) So in the corresponding individual character love of money is supreme, and both reason and spirit are enslaved to it. This still requires control of appetites, but of the wrong kind. In democracy, the next stage, there is no control at all and all desires are equal. There is a rich vein of broad irony in the description of democracy and the democratic man, and Plato is obviously enjoying himself. As excessive love of money destroys oligarchy, so excessive love of liberty destroys democracy and leads to dictatorship where there is no freedom at all. Dictatorship comes about through the people choosing a champion who grasps all power for himself with the help of the unsuspecting populace who vote him a bodyguard. In this last stage of degeneration the very worst passions are in command of the state.

G.M.A. Grube, pp. 193-194

Democratic Man Comes to Power“Often a poor man, spare and suntanned, stands in battle next to a rich man who is pale for lack of sun with much superfluous flesh, and sees him panting and at a loss. Do you not think that he would consider that it is through the cowardice of the poor that people like that are rich, and one poor man would say to the other as they met privately:”These men are at our mercy; they are no good.” --”I know very well that they do this.” “...so a city [which is sick with the love of money] needs but a small excuse and, as one side [of the class war] brings in allied from an oligarchic city or the other from a democracy, the city is ill and fights itself, and sometimes a revolution occurs even without outside help.” --”Most certainly.”

Plato, Republic, G.M.A. Grube, trans., p. 206

After describing the ills of tyranny in bk. ix, Plato explains that these abuses lead “the best” (hoi aristoi) citizens to overthrow the tyrant. They now reestablish aristocracy and the cycle ( Gk. kyklos, circle) begins again.

Book ix-why philosophers should rule

There are three lives, the philosophic, the ambitious, and the appetitive, and each man believes his own life to be the most pleasant. The philosopher, however, is the best judge because he has some experience of the others’ pleasures, whereas they have no experience of his. Moreover the means of judgement --- intelligence and reasoned discourse --- are peculiarly his.

G.M.A. Grube, p. 219

Book x is often described as an addendum. It gives a more detailed argument for the ban on “imitative poetry”, it offers what Grube calls an unconvincing argument for immortality, and concludes with the myth of Er:

Grube, p. 239

“an elaborate and vivid picture of the soul’s thousand-year journey from incarnation to incarnation to incarnation, is atale of rewards and punishments after death, which completes the case for justice and makes a fitting ending to the whole Republic.”

Criticism

" T h e s a f e s t g e n e r a l characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to P l a t o . " ( A l f re d N o r t h Whitehead, Process and Reality, 1929).

IV. Criticism1. Aristotle to Popper2. Utopia - static vs. dynamic concepts3. realism4. model or blueprint?5. historical parallels6. Plato in Sicily7. Voltaire at Potsdam


Beginning with Plato’s most famous student, Aristotle, hardly any

writer on the topic of politics has failed to make reference to The

Republic. Perhaps the most frequent criticism is the difficulty bordering

on impossibility of coming close to this goal of staffing the government

with philosopher kings. Twentieth century Austro-British philosopher

Karl Popper goes even further. He sees in Plato’s utopia the roots of

modern fascism. He dislikes the Spartan elements and the “banishment

of the poets” as antithetical to his preferred “open society.”

Utopia

Although the term dates from the sixteenth century the Republic is a utopian vision. If the utopian philosopher sees his “New Jerusalem” as a static perfect concept, he runs up against historical reality. As Heraclitus said, “Everything ‘burns’ [changes] nothing remains [stays constant].” But Plato seems to deal with this reality in his cyclical theory. As Jefferson puts it later about what he called the tree of liberty, it needs periodic ‘watering’ with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Realism

Another recurring criticism of the Republic is that it can’t work. Perhaps it would be more philosophical to say, as Gandhi did about Christianity, it’s a really attractive suggestion but it’s never been tried. To say something isn’t realistic begs the question.

Model or Blueprint?

At several points Plato has Socrates dash the hopes of Glaucon and Adeimantus. He is offering a model for understanding justice, not a constitution to be applied to a new colony.

Historical Parallels

Will Durant draws an interesting parallel between the three orders of the Republic and the three estates of medieval Christendom: clergy, nobility, and third estate. Not exactly a perfect constitution but it did endure for a millennium. Doesn’t that speak to the realistic question!

Historical Parallels

Will Durant draws an interesting parallel between the three orders of the Republic and the three estates of medieval Christendom: clergy, nobility, and third estate. Not exactly a perfect constitution but it did endure for a millennium. Doesn’t that speak to the realistic question!

Philosophers as Political Consultants

The cynical school of critics point to Plato’s disastrous attempts to help the tyrants of Syracuse “attain the element of philosophy.” Likewise Voltaire was invited by the enlightened despot Frederick the Great to his court at Potsdam. At first, all went well. Then the two became estranged and Voltaire had to beat a hasty retreat. Countless other examples from history could be found where philosophical idealism and the rough and tumble demands of ruling are hard to combine.

Last Word

Perhaps the quest for justice has something in common with the quest for the Holy Grail. Twain mocked such knight errantry as “grailing.” But the last hundred years have offered some pretty dreadful examples of what a more “realistic” amoral approach to government produces.Let’s keep refining our search for justice and give Plato praise for beginning the quest.

clipping from the Indian Hill High School paper, Chieftain, in the late ‘70s (?)