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    Simon Blackburn- Plato's Republic

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    179 views10 pages

    Simon Blackburn - Plato's Republic

    Uploaded by

    Abry Anthraper

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    CHAPTER 1 Convention and Amoralism Rec was probably writen around 3758, when Pato was In is early fs (he was Born as a Athenian axsocrat around 48 and did in 3474). Ris conventionally divided into ten books, although there i no reson to think tat this ‘organization was Plato's own t delves from the arbitrary length ofan ancient papyrus eater than fom aay engumer tative rythm. ls coenman to gd the first book as some thing ofan introduction, an the book a something of ‘oda or endplcs, bt they ane both important dramatically and doctialy. The central discussion of morality andl pl tis, however, runs through Boks Io 1X Within here isa substan subsidiary par, Books V 40 VIL which other parts of philosophy sb well, tab the thea ob knowledge, and the nature of rally (epetenalony and ‘Feaphay Thee Tie Gal bot are where metaphysical temperate rises, They contain some of Pat's most famous and ada docs etence ofthe pilosopher- kings, andthe famous Mythofthe Cave insofar Rpublichasa metaphysical heartland isis here es. ‘Kites ad been eased by the Atnan demoecy Im the ety acknowledged, inverted new unacnowladged ‘ant och tha he dra starts when Socrates pious goes down othe pot of Press, just outside the cy of Athens, Dy, however, at new festival, oan import gades. There sala telig dramatic contrast withthe dale The Sympsiu, which concerns the ace fthe sou and begins wri orn up ode cy ther tan doen fom fis blnol, hat ofthe uneasy relation Between ply and citcom, between the customary usages ofthe ity and the established. ‘Noon is this the fst etmoti, ut tsounds throughout Raut, teoughout many of Pat's other Talogue, and witha coe There nahin ving wall RS coNTOm- “Galstandpint a Rnd of external anal some pant eihever rues happen oben plae, moder To Pay The sexi game o there something ore, capable of under The ovenheling ple of custom in people's minds | 7 eee O earthy at helen ages ar ares Pato wel aware ofthe atislins of going farther ats wot heen and Pre than this Indeed ane ofthe most eloquent set species in thing more? Init Protoss ID CEMARGAEAMDD cit gives an evolutionary stom, or ams in the sense Herdot is quoting i pyc ara jstby regarding iin hight ane poet Pinda, embraces the rules of rN P es of| showing how it enables men to cooperate and coordinate “alarod by lear of eputsion and ambition freien popularity, oF for Siting in with the gn SED and esenll expression of human nature ond human need Ths the measure of wat severe ill ane ‘Our resporsivenes to the Law of fashion is mater of ‘OF against a course of action, Thin rxponsive than, artigo Derwinisn adaptation, for huni life wih wil be moe os a The view that morality sin thisense the a Fashion is ly the dominant contemporary view of etc, both among pllowophers thinking of themselves as scientific In ‘outlook, and especially amongst paychologists and evoke tionary thos Icon be rv in clifrent you BSEB (ERBB secnc to haven sin the way wahoo the opinion of other contemporaries. A particular vaiation of the type would be the touchy ‘man of honn I, who consider Inlet. yarntionsmightstis parental pressure and more lurid Freudias variations might speculate about the psychological stresses involved in infancy as we eesist having our wils moulded by ouside forces. Bu whichever vay me elaborate it Plato regard with stwokcion and This suspicion and hostility is shared, on different grounds, CREED Te far iste tyranny ust: the ting, conservative, unthinking presse of "the the rule of eusom, Pindar il IBBHBAD hate ci ‘ened King Nomes, and whose tyraty wat enforced bythe working of tat spontaneous ever present pole by wham the authosty af King Noma enforced in detail ~a pole not the les omalpotent because they west no uniform, and any no scogrize ite Bat King Nomos hat his defenders. In catemporary times mnmunitaras’ stress the inpict odor inherited 4 folkways. They may ike hee thinker ond porlomenara EBD pent century conservative okt that frecom from King Noms inter desire, nor posible? Iti ot pone becuse we are the Kinds of aizal lead htc We nly gain our sent hy such aa scheme fc socety dreamed up onthe desing iat I titel es key towork than one that has thetestofime, nsenbly agra adapting tel the rcunntanees of nn Weal id Pt 350 Ta oF ISERERE Ne cannot sie with Burke, or he shims centrally inthe business of eason, His an be sen one of thinking morality tough fom ft priipes, and of desing up schemeson the driving board The opposition between the hope or 8 aon funda tie for eth, anc content with nothing beyond a foun dation incustom and convention, isone of pilosophy’ great ‘hd, Boe many ts pln and verignous to suppose SSRIS spe our favors commninntt ot the digalie of ro the possibly ato nothing more than our ways. In modem philospy th ‘ea that rues, ncadng mora als smply ref the way we happen to find it natura to go on, has been aided by century philosophy, WV. Quine and Ladig Withers ‘i wel with dhe ‘postmodernist’ pete of our mind 3 SS ee ston and, nthe backend, power. complacency etd nervous conservatisen, aging he cence ‘nd upheaval witested in the French Revolution. Plato had «las comfortable historical bed to ie back up was writing during along period of Athenion uphewal, revolution, expesiment, war and eventual decline. No ‘wonder he thought thet things needed designing ona more sccurte plan than anything provided by the doings of ‘ivory les certtin that the reign of King Nomis isnot In Protegoras Socrates attempts fo rebut the view with Book 1 of Relic position sas were spre aut tw ich, con erative, selfsatisied denen: ORT nein “ore uniniersting swordplay over whether god man can ver harm anybody 1 ako shows Soca’ iting ine lecualsm: his tendency to think tat if you cannot define ; 2 ulfcent posure on each ert gnome, We ean ological, to potion betwee Mh ule e360 ened when the conventonalis! positon is eefined in erous Way QB conventions donot have tbe aceped justas they ae There conberoom for crc and efletion elf based on other aspects of convention and ctor fala entaphor, we can san on some planks of our boa, nd ropa others SS, conventions and customs serve roses and those purposes asi their thority and even provide a foundation only of diferent kind. CTS SRTREAESRULS some move important dan others, The goals of coordinating with others, of finding peaceful lutions, of communicating, of fading ways of ignallng lability and rst all enable recognizably human eto go feeard, It isnt beling to the authority of promises, any iy of gram rine by oe nates Tey ae not arity, o ther is ‘imps and ony a he picture to sy that they ate. Ie ot arbitrary that we need a convention to determine which side ofthe rad to dive vpn the ight In Aristotle the stark opposition between reason and cess moderated in another way. There is teed Nate gives tthe puely animal material with which aise nthe way weave imogined conforms aising, as ve coordinate on things ke tual ron patterns thatenable 1 to cooperste It anscends ature bicase it generates @ sil system of norms which i itself distin from brte 2a i ial, laws eat by reason, shape cstom, But they cannot exist without it ii Se SSE faculty can exis apart fom the higher, bt the higher presup ‘SEEETRBREGMTHEDs we shal soe agin in chapter o Pao’ tendency of mind ist severthe presupposition think Ing, his zea anothers, ha season can float ce of ‘srthly and earthy constraint in ature and custom, By com trast, he modem tendency io think ofthis reson en terms of the poical and rhetorical, the give and take of ————— and hab will make weigh with thove who find themscves swayed by them (and then ge calla! good ronson! for ene decison or anothe King Noms res ga ‘OF course, Pp remains right to sist on space fr eri ‘hn and since he thinks hat wehave many fewer needs and very different natures than people normally suppose he wll continue to distast the customs and conventions of any actual tine se ple SSS SINE NOSE not be allowed 1 al, for disordered commutes wil hay

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