Plato the Teacher: The Crisis of the Republic

513 Pages·2012·6.47 MB·English

by  William H. F. Altman

Plato the Teacher

Plato the Teacher
of
The Crisis the Republic
William H. F. Altman
LEXINGTON BOOKS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Altman, William H. F., 1955-
Plato the teacher: the crisis of The republic / William H.F. Altman.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-7391-7138-7 (cloth: alk. paper) --ISBN 978-0-7391-7139-4 (electronic)
1. Plato. Republic. 2. Justice. 3. Teaching--Methodology. I. Title.
JC71.P6A532012
321'.07--dc23
2011046892
eTY The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSIINISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
in memoriam
Adeline Furness Altman
(1913-2010) .

"But if something different manifests itself in the individual, we will
return again to the state and test it there [:n:UA.LV btuvLOVtes btl ti)v
:n:OA.LV (3uoavLOiJ),1£v] and it may be that, by examining them side by
side and rubbing them against one another [:n:uQ' aA.A.llA.u oxo:n:oiJVtES
xul tQ$ovteS] as it were from the fire sticks we may cause the spark
of justice to flash forth [wo:n:eQ EX :n:uQEiwv EXA.UJ.L'VuL :n:mytoul),1£v
ti)v OlXULOouvllv], and when it is thus revealed confirm it in our own
minds."
Republic IV. 434e4-435a4; translation Paul Shorey.
"And how," said Thrasymachus, "shall I persuade you? For if you
haven't been persuaded by what I was saying just now, what more can I
do for you? Or should I insert my teaching [tOY A.0yov], betaking it
into your soul?" "My God," was what I said, "Not you, indeed [J.Li) ou
YE]."
Republic I. 345b5-8; translation mine.
"and this rule over children [i) tmv :n:u(l)wv oQXTJ], our not allowing
them to be free until, as it were in a city, we will have established a
polity [:n:OA.LtEiU] within them and, by fostering what is best [to
{3EA. tLOtOV 8eQWtEuOUVtES] by the same sort of thing in ourselves,
have set up in its place a similar guardian and ruler [q>UA.UXU OJ.LOLOV
xul aQxovtu] in the child and then, indeed, we let it go free."
Republic IX. 590e2-591a3; Shorey translation modified.

Contents
Acknowledgements Xl
Preface to Plato the Teacher xiii
An Introduction to Plato's Republic: Inside and Outside the Text
1 The First Words of Plato's I10AL't£LQ 37-76
§ 1. XUtE�T)V 37
§2. X8t; 46
§3. Ei; llELQuLa 51
§4. !-LEta rAUUXWVO; 54
§5. toil AQlOtWVO; 65
2 Challenges 77-109
§6. Cephalus and the Meaning of Life 77
§7. Polemarchus Meets Appearance and Reality 82
§8. Thrasymachus and the City of Good Men Only 87
§9. G laucon' s Challenge to Socrates 101
§ 10. The Challenge of Adeimantus to Plato 105
3 The Shorter Way 111-169
§ II. Introduction to Methodology III
§ 12. Methodology II: Hypotheses 117
§ 13. Methodology III: Images 129
§ 14. Looking Out for Number One 142
§ 15. Making Friends with Thrasymachus 158
4 The Longer Way 171-243
§ 16. The Speech to the Guardians 171
§ 17. Justice and the Good on the Divided Line 181
§18. The Idea of the Good and Plato's Theory of Forms 185
§ 19. An Intellectual History of the Return 204
§20. Whistling a Tune on the Way Down 236
ix