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Sitaram
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Joined: 14 Sep 2005
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 Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 9:32 am Post subject: Kung's problem is Nina's problem written large |
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Socrates and his companions set out in Plato's Republic to examine the
nature of the human soul. Then, Socrates suggests that the polity and
structure of human government is "the soul written large", and that by
studying the state, one might use it as a microscope or telescope to examine
the individual human character.
http://www.webster.edu/~evansja/guides/plato/republic.html
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Socrates has pushed all the buttons and played his tricks, but Glaucon &
Adiemantus are not convinced. They suspect that Thrasymachus wearied
of the argument, not that Socrates actually convinced or refuted him.
They venture the opinion that Socrates must be nearly alone among men
in believing that justice (DIKAIOSYNE) and ARETE are instrinsically
desirable. In their view, the vast majority will act unjustly if they can do
so to their own benefit and with impunity. Where justice is honored, it is
always honored for its consequences. They expand on this view, which
they attribute to Thrasymachus, with discomfort. They want not to believe
that it is so, but their faith in their fellow human beings has been shaken.
They entreat Socrates to establish that being just & acting justly are their
own reward. Socrates agrees to try. The argument that begins at this
point is not completed until Book IX.
A crucial move in the development of the argument occurs at this point.
Socrates suggests that justice will be easier to recognize and to define in
a city-state (POLIS) than in an individual, particularly if we conduct what
we in the 20c C.E would come to call a thought experiment. The POLIS is
the individual WRIT LARGE. So the argument begins with speculation
about the foundation of an ideal POLIS. Initially this will be a small,
circumscribed community brought together by the economics of basic
material needs. Glaucon in particular finds this vision crude and
unsatisfactory: he labels Socrates' idea a "city of pigs." In response,
Socrates develops the implications and effects of the introduction of more
"creature-comforts" and luxuries, chief among them war. The more
luxurious POLIS inevitably is at risk from its neighbors and therefore must
raise an army. With luxury and enhanced trade both the threat of war
(and the necessity of defense) and the subdivision and specialization of
labor inevitably follow. The POLIS requires Guardians (PHYLAKES.) As the
argument of the Republic develops, the the role of the Guardians assumes
greater and greater significance.
What attributes will the ideal POLIS require of its Guardians? [The
Guardians swiftly acquire the characteristics of a separate class.] This
question leads inexorably to an investigation into the goals and techniques
of education (PAIDEIA.) What should children be taught, and when? This
in turn leads to a discussion of censorship. Are there stories (especially
about the gods) that children should not be told.?
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We see a similar sentiment in Hobbes' Leviathan, where he likens the
state so some huge creature, with a character and nature all its own.
I suppose we could extend this analogy to the organization of the Church,
as being like a state with a constitution and an hierarchy of authority, and
a political dimension.
It so happens that Nina approached me with her problem during a period
in which I am studying films of legendary directors like Kurosawa,
Bergman and Fellini.
It occurs to me as I write this to make an analogy between Christianity
and Cinematography. Suppose Cinematography were a religion, and the
goal of cinematography was to produce, or view, a film with some
transcendent scene, which reaches the Platonic Eidos of cinematic
perfection. And suppose that we desired to choose the very best and
wisest of directors as our Pope of Cinematography. Who would we
choose? And once we chose that one authority, what would our choice do
to cinematography itself. How would that one pope-director’s tastes and
theory transform our experience.
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