Table Of ContentTHE PHILOSOPHER IN PLATO’S STATESMAN
togetherwith
“Dialectical Education and Unwritten
Teachings in Plato’s Statesman”
THE PHILOSOPHER
IN PLATO’S STATESMAN
togetherwith
“Dialectical Education and Unwritten
Teachings in Plato’s Statesman”
Mitchell Miller
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1980,2004byMitchellMiller
Allrightsreserved
Originallypublishedin1980
intheNetherlandsbyMartinusNijhoffPublishers
“DialecticEducationandUnwrittenTeachingsinPlato’sStatesman”
1999byTheCatholicUniversityofAmericaPress.Reprintedwithpermission.
Thispaperbackedition,withanewpreface,andtheaboveessay
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study has benefited from timely help, direct and indirect, from a number
offriends.IowedeepthankstoJonathanKetchum,TracyTaft,MichaelAn-
derson, William Yoder, and Marion Miller for work we shared through Oakstone
Farm; to Jesse Kalin, Michael McCarthy, and Michael Murray of Vassar College
formanyprovocativediscussions;andtoMrs.NormaMausolfforherexceptional
careandgoodspiritsinpreparingthetypescript.Iamalsogratefulforthegenerous
support which Vassar College, in the form of a year’s sabbatical and a grant from
theLucyMaynardSalmonFund,hasgivenme.
Aboveall,thisworkisforChris.
M.H.M.
April2,1979
Fortheirkindpermissiontoinclude“DialecticalEducationandUnwrittenTeach-
ings in Plato’s Statesman” in this volume, my thanks to Catholic University of
America Press, publishers of Plato and Platonism (1999), and also to Daniel Con-
wayandJacobHowland,editorsoftheforthcomingTheSovereigntyofConstruction:
EssaysintheThoughtofDavidLachterman(Rodopi).
Fortheirsupportintheformof excellentcriticalconversationaboutPlatoand
the concerns of this expanding study, I am grateful to a number of friends and
colleagues at Vassar—especially Rachel Kitzinger in Classics, John McCleary in
Mathematics, and, in Philosophy, Jesse Kalin, Michael McCarthy, and Michael
Murray,alsoGiovannaBorradori,JenniferChurch,UmaNarayan,andDougWin-
blad; to a host of fellow students of Plato with whom, over a long period, differ-
enceshavealwaysprovenfruitful,especiallyMichaelAnderson,BradBassler,Ruby
Blondell, Charles Griswold, Ed Halper, Drew Hyland, Ken Sayre, Tom Tuozzo,
Jeff Turner, and Jeff Wattles; and to three friends and teachers, now departed,
whose encouragement has been seminal for my work, Ron Brady, Jon Ketchum,
andDavidLachterman.
My thanks and hopes, finally, to those who have in different ways shown me
therealityoftheideaofwritingasaresponsetothefuture:BenjaminKnox,Daniel
Handel,StephenMitchell,andagenerationofVassarstudents.
M.M.
May22,2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE xi
Notes xviii
THE PHILOSOPHER IN PLATO’S STATESMAN
Introduction:ProblemsofInterpretation xxiii
1. Difficultiesinthe“standardview” xxiv
2. Analternativeheuristicthesisforinterpretation xxvi
a. Theessenceofthedialogue xxvi
b. Formaltreatiseversusgenuinedialogue xxxii
3. Theprogramforinterpretation xxxiii
I. TheDramaticContext 1
1. Dramaticsituation:thetrialofSocrates 1
2. Dramatispersonae:antipathy,eagerness,silence 3
a. Theodorus:geometryandphilosophy 3
b. YoungSocrates:the“test”todiscoverkinship 5
c. TheelderSocrates:silenceandunheardness 8
3. ThestrangerfromElea 10
a. Judgeandmediator 11
b. Alienationandmediation,someclues 12
(i) Themean 12
(ii) TheHomericallusions:homecominganddisguise 12
(iii) Thestranger’sParmenideanheritage:educationandirony 13
4. Theagreementtobegin 14
II. TheInitialDiairesis(258b–267c) 16
1. Formalstructureofthemethod;theapparentaccord(258b–261e) 16
2. YoungSocrates’error;thevalueofbifurcatorydiairesis(261e–264b) 19
a. Therefutation:halvingandforms(261e–263b) 19
Note:panhellenistpartisanship 22
b. Thecorrection;thestatusofdiairesis(263c–264b) 24
3. Theclosingbifurcations;jokesandproblems(264b–267c) 28
III. TheDigressionsonSubstanceandMethod(267c–287b) 34
A. Thefirstdigression:themythofthedivineshepherd(267c–277a) 35
1. Thestranger’sobjection(267c–268d) 35
2. Themanifoldfunctionofthemyth(268d–274e) 36
a. Thelogosofcosmichistory 37
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
b. Thecritiqueoftraditions 40
(1) Traditionalimages 40
(i) TheHomeric“shepherdofthepeople”andtheHesiodic
“ageofCronus” 40
(ii) Tyranny,democracy,andsophistichumanism 43
(iii) Re-emergenceofthe“shepherd” 45
(2) Thestranger’scritique 48
(i) Theinitial“remembrance”:theancientdespot 48
(ii) “Forgetfulness”:homomensuraandthenewdespotism 49
(iii) Philosophicalrecollection:deusmensuraandtheartof
statesmanship 51
3. Therevisionsoftheinitialdefinition(274e–277a);YoungSocrates
andtheAcademy 53
B. Theseconddigression:paradigmandthemean(277a–287b) 55
1. Theparadigmofparadigm(277a–279a) 57
2. Theparadigmoftheweaver(279a–283a) 60
3. Thestranger’spreventativedoctrineofessentialmeasure(283b–287b) 64
a. Thediaireticrevelationofessentialmeasure(283b–285c) 65
b. Thepurposesofthedialogue;itsvalueasaparadigmforYoung
Socrates(285c–286b) 69
c. Theapplicationofessentialmeasure(286b–287b) 71
IV. TheFinalDiairesis(287b–311c) 73
a. Thechangeintheformofdiairesis(287bff.) 74
(i) The“difficulty”andthenewform 75
(ii) Theself-overcomingofbifurcation 79
(iii) Thestranger’s—andPlato’s—reticence 81
b. Thefirstphase:theindirectlyresponsiblearts,makersofinstruments
(287b–289c) 82
c. Thesecondphase,partone:thedirectlyresponsiblearts,subaltern
servants(289c–290e) 84
d. Thedigression:philosophyandordinaryopinion;statesmanshipand
actualpoliticalorder(291a–303d) 86
(1) Thesoletruecriterion:thestatesman’sepiste¯me¯ (291a–293e) 87
(2) Thewaysofmediation(293e–301a) 91
(i) Statesmanshipandthelaw:the“best”wayandthe
“ridiculousness”ofthedoctrineofthemany(293e–297c) 92
(ii) The“imitative”polities:the“secondbest”wayandtherelative
justificationofthedoctrineofthemany(297c–301a) 95
(3) Thereturntothediairesesofpolity:knowledgeofignorance
andthepoliticalmeans(301a–303d) 101
e. Resumptionofthediairesis(secondphase,parttwo):thetrueaides
(303d–305e) 103
f. Thethirdphase:thestatesmanasweaver;thevirtuesandthemean
(305e–311c) 106
(i) Theapplicationoftheparadigm 106
(ii) Thestatesman’sandthestranger’srealizations
ofthemean 108
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
Epilogue:TheStatesmanItselfasaMean 114
Notes 119
DIALECTICAL EDUCATION AND UNWRITTEN
TEACHINGS IN PLATO’S STATESMAN 141
I. Anorientinginterpretivethesis:theStatesmanasamicrocosmic
exhibitionofthelong-termprocessofphilosophicaleducation 142
II. Five“unwrittenteachings” 143
III. RelatedpassagesintheParmenidesandthePhilebus 144
A. TheaccountofparticipationintheParmenides,hypothesisIII 144
B. The“giftfromthegods,”Philebus16c–18d 145
C. PerasandapeironinPhilebus23c–27c 145
D. ImplicationsofthePhilebuspassagesfortheaccountofparticipation
intheParmenides 147
(i) Formsofpartsandthemathematicalsenseofperas 147
(ii) TheGreatandtheSmallandtheapeiron 147
E. Thefive“unwrittenteachings”intheParmenidesandthePhilebus 147
(i) TheGreatandtheSmallasacaseofthebroaderapeiron 148
(ii) Thefive“unwrittenteachings”ininterplay 148
IV. Theexhibitionofthe“unwrittenteachings”inthediairesisofthe
fifteenkindsofartintheStatesman 150
A. TheOneanditsinstantiationinthe“singleform”:“care” 150
B. Theapeironanditsinstantiationinthecontinuumtracedbytheseries
offifteenkinds 150
(i) Thelistasaseries 151
(ii) Theoppositesandmid-point 151
(iii) Thecontinuumofproportionsofmaterialandspiritual 151
C. Thenormativestatusoftheratiosonthecontinuum—thecitywiththe
fifteenkindsofartassacred 152
V. Implications 153
SupplementaryDiagrams 155
Notes 157
SUPPLEMENTARYMATERIALS 163
Bibliography 165
Appendix:StructuralOutlineoftheStatesman 179
IndexofHistoricalPersons 181
IndexofReferencestoPlatonicPassages 183
