CHAPTER 1 Convention and Amoralism Repu wasprobaby writen around 37 sehen Plato was Ini early ties (he was bom as an Athenian around 42500 nd dedin 34740) es enventonally vied Ino ten books, although there sn reason o think that this 0 was Pat's own: derives from the arbitrary length ofan ance papyrus aes than from any gue tative the. tis coon to regard the fist bok as some thing ofan introduetien, nthe ast Book as something of 3 ‘ada or endpiee but they are hoth important, dramatically and doctrnlly. The centa discussion of morality andl po- tis, however, run through Boks Il IX Within it there ia substan subsidiary par, Books V t9 VIL, which concem ther parts of phlosphy a8 well notably the theory of knowledge, and the nature of reality (epistemology and metaphysics). ‘Thee three cen metaphysical tomperatare rises, They contain some of Pat's ‘most famous and radical doctrines, ncuding the notorious defence of the plosphe kings and the famous Myth th ica metphysial heartland, hii tractors ofcourse Soest, The historia “The leading Socrates had been exceed by the Athenian demo 39 8, some twenty-five years boone Rap forthe rime that he did not acknowledge duly the gods that the city acknowledged, invented new unacknowledged vines, and commuted the young tis therefore a sig nt touch that the dams rs when Secrats lousy 9 ity of Athens down tothe port of Pines, just outside pay, however, ata new festival o an imported goddes Thereis so teling dramatic contast with the dslogue 7 Syma, which concems the ascent ofthe so and begins from i Te vith 2 Journey upto the city rather than do crc, between the customary usage ofthe ‘Not cn thie the fr elt, butt sound throughout Repu. teoughout many of Plato's oer dialogues, and with choice. Is there nothing oiving wel except conform ly tocustomary usage? Oris therealso a posit ofc cal standpoint, kind of externa tional to some particular ‘eto ues ls suchas, ideally a prof that they deserve Allegiance or that they slone prove a rational way of i for burnin being? I ta mater of simply conforming to whichever rules happen fo bein plas n order to py thesexi game crs thore something more capable of undes ing place of custom in peoples minds: sain the sense Herod is quoting rm se braces the rues of the comnmunity, thee ventional sytem of norms enforced by the mutual watchful forced byt at ar of reputation and ambi for ets ici tis pprobiton dike, rie ran Sat naman spe phen hie Pato is well awat ofthe atiractions of going no further an this Indeed, one ofthe most eloquent set speeches in any dialogue, the socalled great speech’ fom Propo, argues that we need nothing more? In it Protgoras (one of the disdained sophiss) in effect gives an evolutionary psycho gy of morally justby regarding in hist, and Showing how it enables men ta cooperste an coordinate thelr actions, an thezey fll het mutual neds. Thea fashion’ is therfore not just something slighty shameful that we happen to goin for, ast were, out ofa deste for popula, or for tig in with the gang I 63 natural and esentil expression of human ature and human need Prine or condemn whatever we are doing, We absorb it for against course of action, This responsiveness is Derwinis adaptation, for human life with wil be mone succesful than life without In this rea, we ae all ‘ume ll fashionistas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 sionary thos Icon bere clifret lous. Locke, for instance Seemed to haven ain the way we aheo the opinion of other contemporaries. A particular vaiation of the type would he the touchy ‘man of honn I, who consider later. A vaition might ste parenial presse, and more lurid Freudias variations might speculate about the psychological stresses involved in infancy as we eesit having our wills moulded by outside ores. Bu whichever vay we elaborate it Plato regards it with suspicion and This suspicion and hostility is shared, on different grounds, by elas liberal, The fear iste tyranny ust: the tng, conservative, unthinking peso "the the rule of eusom, Pindar’ anu o what he ci- ‘ened King Nomes, and whose tyratay 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 and parlomentarian Eamund Burke heat century conservative okt that freon from King Noms inter desire, nor posible? Iti ot pombe beonse we are the Kinds of aimal lead selched. We oly gain ou sent hy such aa scheme ofc socety dreamed up onthe desing, iat I titel es key towork than one that has thetestfime, nsensbly and gray adapting tel nthe dreumtanees of living. We hal find tat Plato 0 fan of Mbertsm, But he cannot sie with Burke, for he shims centrally inthe business of reason, 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’s great Alves. oe many, is painful and veriginous to suppose custom and convention, Harpe our favourite eomaiiments and ult the gain 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 Willer. It ‘is well with de ‘postmodernist’ pete of our minds 3 targely made up of and mace up by the foes of eonvention, stom and, inthe background, 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 history. He is crtin thatthe reign of King Nomis isnot In Protgoras Socrates attempts fo rebut the view with Book 1 of Relic pstion sas were spre aut tw ich con servatve,selfsatsied tradesmen Polemarcws and is some sninterstng swordplay over whether god man can ver harm anybody ako shows Soca’ isting ine Iecualsm: his tendency to think tat if you cannot define ; 2 ulfcient posure on each ert confor other, We ean deologzally, the opposition between the ral of 360 ened when the conventonalis positon ts eefined in ‘erous ways. Firs, conventions donot have tobe accepted just ar they ae There canbe rooms for crc and elton elf based on other aspects of convention and ctor fama entaphor, we can sand on some planks of our boa, nd tepaie others, Second, conventions and custom serve roses and those purposes asi their thority and even provide a foundation, oly of diferent kind. Conventions ‘sist need and desis, some move important than 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 fot abitrary that we ned convention o determine which side ofthe rad to drive upon Its nly aaitary how tat the ght In Aristotle the stark opposition between reason and cess moderated in another way. There is teedarises inthe way we hae sagined conforms aising, as ve coordinate on things ke tual ron patterns thatenable 1 to cooperste It anscends ature bicase it generates @ vil system of norms which i itself distin from brate animal habit. Filly, laws, enacted by reason, shape custom, But they cannot exist without it ‘in every ease the lo faculty can exis apart fom the higher bt the higher pres poses those below i As we shall se again in chapter o Pat's tendency of mind ist sever the 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 word in patiamens nd courts, words which only custom swayed by them (and then ge lla! good reason for ene on o ano). King Nomos rules aga (Ff couse, ito remains right to insist on space fr eit ‘hn and since he thinks hat wehave many fewer needs and very different natures than people normally suppose he wll continue to distst the customs and conventions of any actual tine and place Plato supposes that King Nomnos must not be allowed al, for disordered commutes wil have ‘isondere flkways, and wall encourage ai enforce disor isonet: i Book VIIL he gives a ite taxonomy ofthe varloos ways tis happens (ee chapter 14). He scarcely onfonts Folemazchus and Cephalus head-an in Book L Wittgenstein oe Foust with a authority, tthe impatient cynic moras, Nand sar me of the frst anthro, he intransigent, eyCHAPTER 2 Might and Right The historian Thucydides secounts ane of the grimmest episodes of his rim history of the Peloponnesian Wat in which Athens, rom a poition of overrated the sare sa at of Mi ofthe group of iis known asthe Cylades. The event the Athenians sont thirty-eight ero he tiny independent before Rep mips and men, against the Metin pry 20, On ean imagine that insolent Athenian envoys tothe iat Fis, these envoys brutally dismiss appeals o egity oF justi and eight, and insist that he ease mnt argu in ems of sli ad we have other subjects who need contolling So you are either for so against lbs an argument car sbses of oar weknes an Filly the Metans tum tothe hope tat snc juice on theese, they may yet gin the protection ofthe gods, only tomeet hie chilling replyPat's drama, Traeymachustsin eflecthe spokesman rin of afplik, knowing they vena do. cat- dog world rvdadapsing themselves tit They aud theirsuecessorsleave 2 Tong red stain on human history (the Melis dil not sur render, nd the Athenians slaughtered the men and enslaved the women and chldeen). They ae the bikie, eros, the worship of the ise ake, ae the this ofthe busin school Tey are alto the diet ances leet ancestors of tors of American neo-onseevatis the ilo owing its immediate inspztion to politi herist and Pato stent Leo Straus, wham Wemeet again biel in chapter 5, Inthe nineteenth contuzy Thesymachus go boost from the acval of Darwinism, which was fen interpreted as showing that doe work was not only morally st chow inevitable, that twas sees ry 0 moderate it or make any attempt to este is harsh effects, Realplitk was nature’ own nw, Winners win and oer go to the wall. The loge of unbridled capitalism was nature’ wn og, eth which would be nt only file bt impious to tamper. The retltsof course incladed poor of non-existent social provision internally, colonialist and imperialism sad, and competion betveen the industrialized masons "ucning to iltaisti expnsion an aggresive arms aces. The Melin debate shows that Theasymachus was no stra igure any more than he was inthe neeenth entry or inde now, and it wil ake more than pul of argu ment toansive him its alo worth remembering that before te pilwoper Thomas Hobbes became famous for his bleak description ofthe state of ature asthe war fal against he rode the fi ngs tslation of Thcpeies fren Grek in 68), “Twasymachis is wally prente as challenging Sora tesa his al of morality head Ione important respect he ian ally of Socrates. He evels the complacency ofthe aw of fahlon oo ik, he re atively Bland evolatonary defence of morality epresnted by Polemarchus and Cephalas For if mozallty is in effct nothing mere than social glue, the Athenian envoys aze right and there is nothing for the Melis to say. Amongst “Athenians, the ‘creditor eptation’ofthe envoys is perfectly inict. The own lw of fashion does not condemns them in ling soso than godsan men ake expet. Tr, stnight beaded, the Athenians are dislving ay social ge that might Rave bound dele laurels up with those of the “Malan, But ine they re trong a the Mllans weak this ‘ter colonies wil be cowed and ther empize wil be all he eongerif they are seen no nee tothe endship ofthe ‘Metiansisaceslly a handiop or many contemporary philosophers, che eightont century German Kant offers sour bast hope of ageing sess the Athenian eawoys. This hope i pinned on the famous ‘categorical imperative’, the Iynchpin of Kantian‘els. Kant argues tat breaking promises ae telling hes Cannot be univer, boone in 2 work! i which i was niversl, and brown to Be 30 thal ne broke @ promise oF {old lie when twas expedient to dos, there coal he no Promising and no communication or passing of inormatio li o ot. The poley zevene a scenes inconsistent ot self-undeemining, destoying the foundations that alone icy to fallow. The succes ofr of Kants approach has been hotly contest ever sine he for= make ta poesiblep mulated it But whatever au views om tha the argument nots to cut mich ce with he Athena, in ‘him that tar stance can be sniverelizn~ hey claim its ot only posible but atl ald univers and univerat Another gneralzation ofthe Kantian es hopes to show that the dssipine of es iene : pine of reason imposes decency: if te Athen lant are to reason withthe Melis then the upshot of thee reasoning cannot be the victimization or destruction ofthe Melins themselves. As conversational partes the Meta cannot be expected to agree to ths felt the Athenian ‘rvoys have sever! options for replying to is irs hey may atk why they are to care about reasoning with the Melanin the fist plac. But beter they aay reply with ome justice that dey have just eesened withthe Melons they have just shown dhe that by using superior force to ompel hee submission, the Atheniansare not oly bckaving ss gods and men always do, ut also a the Metians them selves would ifthe postion were reverse. This nay sound ike an olf-solourreagon, perhaps. Bu it would ot sound uit so ftclour if he Means ad behaved te same way (on pst oeatons towards other weaker neighbours An the ‘tenes wold say that i only acident whether they on is cranked up dali as everyone ele. The ote this rom counting asa reser, the more the Athenians ean sk why reason, in tis crnkest-up sense, mst conce them, Ai this enough to show that Kan appeoac alto give swan effctive way of atic What other resources have we? Astoteins in moral Plosopy try tshow that acting virtuously and doing wll tr flourishing esncde, And when the socal set-up sight when epuaton and advantage and peace of min all acu ny tothe virtuous and neve othe et, Hey may be righ. But they ae not on the face oi rght about the Athens, ‘who confident expect to ours al the more by Kling ce ‘loving he Mins rather tha By leaving ther In peace The dlalogwe shows that they have inadethsr cost bene celeuation and havens doubt which way tips. They may be Fight, We could ty opposing thi by suggesting tha hey may ot lop sy, may not have clear enscences and that this wil bea bake cn thee flarishing, Inthe terms that David me, the eighteenth ceny cts philsopher se, the mind ofa blackguad o villi may no be able to bear ts ‘wn survey’2 We might hope this but tmay bea plows hopeFor in pnp they can hep cosy, having done thio if they cannot they can sy that bad conscience safe afl only sign of squounishness, from which they could rea ably wish themetre fe Pr thatinso frase, but purports to stand inthe way ofthe tage ofthe stronger pany. le ed belie have sald stronger party its nothing. It gets metas by oth gods and men. He doesnot even have tosay that morality salwaye nothing, Stalespear’s Fast says exactly that: "What is honour? A word What i hat word, honour? Air But that, is overstating . Thrasymachus (ike Falstalf, and busines schools and neoconservatives) can perfectly wll aa that whan It sic suppocted by reputation, by the prospect of King Nomos or justice or uit can mot vp to do the cooperative thing, He can even encour ge morally up to pont arguing that when it comes to letemalafses rather then inten strong social ander rogues doc ctizenty, the tat i "ed in mobilaing prnpoganda 1 ho, religous hlology and brainwashing inorderto hep he lowe rdersjumping, ‘rox the conventional hoops. What he does ned katy that when the chips ae down, the ai can and should ignore the estos of mo ality. These en tual ocall thm to account fo ding so s0thecanrsighted, the men of fy themselves with busines and men of power, wil not ‘heilason that thee Socrates makes some conspicuously feeble movesin reply to Thrasymaches, apparently allompting to show that go from te tickets withthe extraordinary aim hat no branch of expertoe or form of authority procures beni frie previous example ofa hedaman who exer [uthorty over his ct notin thelinterest ut in his own (43), Peshape the dlc a this point is deiberately inet highlighting the dial i meeting Thasymac hha’ challenge, aad dhe aggre ofthe tsk in font of Socrates, Socrates nly pus hime! together by introducing ‘what now boomes the leading theme of he resto the book: the altep to show that morality and virtue coincide with happiness, The point of entry (again, after some intating 1 sasciaton bebween immoraity find discord. nme internally an in extemal dealings But by panty, so does ity ingroup makes Kor dis This gives the green ight for Socrates to cater towards‘he nshing le oF a ny ate the en ofthe ist book He nga pivotal analogy between the mind of person and other parts with jab to dor eye, ents and oer organs. Tove have func ‘Tvasymachus tht ‘in the absence of tele goods eye an ears will nt pecfonm thee fanetion properly (bd eyes sean impaired vison are bd ea pei Fe ng). The mind too has fucions: "he exercie of authority, plang and son as well as safeguarding ‘one's way of I (354, So bythe parallel with eye anes, bad mind will and these Functions badly, and a ood mind will do them wel Anu then, risky, sine morality good mental tate and immorality a bd ene the moral person will lve a good ite ‘nd te immoral person a bad Me. But anyone living 4 ood Ife sappy ana fale. Hence, te eral person il be happy and ule nd the mynoral person no, ae ora resents Thrasjmachuss lence by thi display of simply fe up, an he certain tel for mach of the rest of Repub, On the a0 of ihe hs plenty to empain bout, Let him coocede thatthe ands fet Planning and safeguarding. His whole point i that this dane bestby explsing one's nen trengthand taking advan tage ofthe weakness of thers This, of eo rst be done festogcally,sloce if one's fend the law of, tdence, self one of the sind’ Functions for fashion, pr safeguarding # owner, will propery dictate caution But in Mchinvelan mind Let dog et dog, ad the weak goto the chaviour must sul nan inner disharmony, a payholog ‘al factre that destroys happiness oe welling, 38 the ‘Athenian envoys arebound to suffer ses or ult eos foe what they have done, But tise eniey unhistrical: a mighthave found th episode tefl although though the sviour of Cristian colonists, for example, suggests othervie. But the aristocrat wari ete ofthe Athenians had not yet ben contaminated improved, by an jeekness and the res, In hs hisory Thucydides does not repott the envoys as sleping unsound, although in hi ‘ralph Even if they i sleep bly, Thrnsymachs can Tae, hat he bad sy, a8 Nietzsche sald two thous ye ‘conscience isa disease Health would mean tipping serenely bck to the shia withthe els ight at job well done