Latest / The Philosophy Insights Collection / 37 - The Republic - Plato

Transcript

37 - The Republic - Plato · The Philosophy Insights Collection

0:00
Book ten, Part two. And may we not say the same of all
0:05
things? What that there are three arts which are concerned with all things,
0:12
one which uses another which makes, a third which imitates them. Yes,
0:20
And the excellence or beauty or truth of every structure, animate or inanimate,
0:27
and of every action of man is relative to the use of which nature or
0:32
the artist has intended them. True, then the user of them must have
0:40
the greatest experience of them, and he must indicate to the maker of the
0:44
good or bad qualities which developed themselves in use. For example, the flute
0:51
player will tell the flute maker which of his flute is satisfactory to the performer.
0:57
He will tell him how he ought to make them, and the other
1:00
will attend to his instructions. Of course, the one knows and therefore speaks
1:07
with authority about the goodness and badness of flutes, while the other, confiding
1:12
in him, will do what he is told by him. True the instrument
1:18
is the same with about the excellence or badness of it. The maker will
1:22
only attain to a correct belief, and this he will gain from him who
1:26
knows, by talking to him and being compelled to hear what he has to
1:32
say. Whereas the user will have knowledge true, but will the imitator have
1:38
either will he know from use whether or no his drawing is correct or beautiful?
1:46
Or will he have right opinion from being compelled to associate with another who
1:51
knows and gives him instructions about what he should draw. Neither then he will
1:57
no more have true opinion than he will have knowledge about the goodness or badness
2:01
of his imitations. I suppose not the imitative artist will be in a brilliant
2:08
state of intelligence about his own creations. Nay, very much the reverse.
2:15
And still he will go on imitating without knowing what makes a thing good or
2:20
bad, and may be expected, therefore to imitate only that which appears to
2:24
be good to the ignorant multitude. Just so, thus far, then we
2:31
are pretty well agreed that the imitator has no knowledge worth mentioning of what he
2:37
imitates. Imitation is only a kind of play or sport. And the tragic
2:44
poets, whether they write in iambic or in heroic verse, or imitators in
2:49
the highest degree, very true. And now tell me, I conjure you,
2:55
has not imitation been shown by us to be concerned with that which is
3:00
thrice removed from the truth, certainly, and what is the faculty in man
3:06
to which imitation is addressed? What do remain? I will explain. The
3:12
body, which is large when seen near, appears small when seen at a
3:15
distance. True, And the same object appears straight when looked at out of
3:22
the water, and crooked when in the water. And the concave becomes convex,
3:29
owing to a dellusion about colors to which the sight is liable. Thus
3:34
every sort of confusion is revealed within us. And this is that weakness of
3:39
the human mind on which the art of conjuring and of deceiving by light and
3:46
shadow and other ingenious devices imposes, having an effect upon us like magic.
3:53
True, and the art of measuring and numbering and weighing come to the rescue
3:59
of the human understands there is the beauty of them, and the apparent greater
4:03
or less, or more or heavier, no longer have the mastery over us,
4:10
but give way before circulation and measure and weight. Most true, And
4:16
this surely must be the work of the calculating and rational principle of the soul.
4:23
To be sure, and when this principle measures and certifies that some things
4:29
are equal, or that some are greater or less than others. There occurs
4:33
an apparent contradiction. True, But were we not saying that such a contradiction
4:41
is impossible, the same faculty cannot have contrary opinions at the same time about
4:46
the same thing. Very true, then that part of the soul which has
4:51
an opinion contrary to measure is not the same with that which has an opinion
4:58
in accordance with measure. True, And the better part of the soul is
5:03
likely to be that which trusts to measure and calculation, Certainly, and that
5:10
which is opposed to them is one of the inferior principles of the soul.
5:15
No doubt this was the conclusion at which I was seeking to arrive when I
5:20
said that painting or drawing and imitation in general, when doing their own proper
5:28
work, are far removed from truth, and the companions and friends and associates
5:33
of a principle within us which is equally removed from reason, and that they
5:39
have no true or healthy aim. Exactly, the imitative part is an inferior
5:46
who marries an inferior and has inferior offspring. Very true, And this is
5:54
confined to the sight only, or does it extent to the hearing? Also
6:00
relating in fact to what we term poetry, probably the same would be true
6:05
of poetry. Do not rely, I said, on a probability derived from
6:11
the analogy of painting. But let us examine further and see whether the faculty
6:17
with which poetical imitation is concerned is good or bad? By all means we
6:25
may state the question. Thus, imitation imitates the actions of men, whether
6:30
voluntary or involuntary, on which, as they imagine, a good or bad
6:38
result has ensued, and they rejoice or sorrow. Accordingly, is there anything
6:45
more? No, there is nothing else. But in all this variety of
6:49
circumstances is the man at unity with himself? Or rather, as in the
6:56
instance of sight, there was confusion and opposition in his opinions about the same
7:01
things. So here also is there not strife and inconsistency in his life?
7:08
Though I need hardly raise the question again, for I remember that all this
7:13
has been already admitted, and the soul has been acknowledged by us to be
7:17
full of these and ten thousand similar oppositions occurring at the same moment. And
7:24
we were right, He said, yes, I said, thus far we
7:29
were right, But there was an omission which must now be supplied. What
7:34
was the omission? Were we not saying that a good man who has the
7:39
misfortune to lose his son or anything else which is most dear to him,
7:44
will bear the laws with more equanimity than another. Yes, But will he
7:50
have no sorrow? Or shall we say that although he cannot help sorrowing,
7:56
he will moderate his sorrow. The latter he said is the truest statement.
8:01
Tell me. Will he be more likely to struggle and hold out against his
8:07
sorrow when he is seen by his equals or when he is alone? It
8:11
will make a great difference whether he is seen or not. When he is
8:16
by himself, he will not mind saying or doing any things which he would
8:20
be ashamed of any one hearing or seeing him do. True, there is
8:26
a principle of law and reason in him which bids him resist, as well
8:31
as a feeling of his misfortune which is forcing him to indulge his sorrow.
8:35
True. But when a man is drawn in two opposite directions and from the
8:41
same object, this, as we affirm, necessarily implies two distinct principles in
8:46
him. Certainly one of them is ready to follow the guidance of the law.
8:52
How do you mean the law would say that to be patient under suffering
8:58
is best, and that we should not give way to impatience, as there
9:01
is no knowing whether such things are good or evil, and nothing is gained
9:07
by impatience. Also because no human thing is of serious importance, and grief
9:13
stands in the way of that which, at the moment is most required.
9:18
What is most required, he asked, that we should take counsel about what
9:24
has happened, and when the dice have been thrown, order our affairs in
9:30
the way which reason deems best, not like children who have had a fall,
9:35
keeping hold of the part struck, and wasting time in setting up a
9:39
howl, but always accustoming the soul forthwith to apply a remedy, raising up
9:46
that which is sickly and fallen, banishing a cry of sorrow by the healing
9:50
art. Yes, he said, that is the true way of meeting the
9:56
attacks of fortune. Yes, I said, And the higher principle is ready
10:01
to follow this suggestion of reason clearly. And the other principle, which inclines
10:07
us to recollection of our troubles and to lamentation, and can never have enough
10:13
of them we may call irrational, useless, and cowardly. Indeed we may,
10:20
and does not the latter I mean, the rebellious principle furnish a great
10:26
variety of materials for imitation, whereas the wise and calm temperament, being always
10:33
nearly equable, is not easy to imitate or to appreciate when imitated, especially
10:39
at a public festival, when a promiscuous crowd is assembled in a theater,
10:45
for the feeling represented is one to which they are strangers. Certainly, then
10:50
the imitative poet who aims at being popular is not by nature made, nor
10:56
is his art intended to place or to effect the rational principle in the soul.
11:03
But he will prefer the passionate and fitful temper which is easily imitated.
11:09
Clearly, and now we may fairly take him and place him by the side
11:13
of the painter, For he is like him in two ways. First,
11:18
inasmuch as his creations have an inferior degree of truth. In this I say
11:24
he is like him. And he is also like him in being concerned with
11:30
an inferior part of the soul. And therefore we shall be right in refusing
11:35
to admit him into a well ordered state, because he awakens and nourishes and
11:39
strengthens the feelings and impears the reason. As in a city when the evil
11:45
are permitted to have authority and the good are put out of the way,
11:50
So in the soul of man, as we maintain, the imitative poet in
11:54
plants an evil constitution, for he indulges the rational nature, which has no
12:01
discernment of greater and less, but thinks the same thing at one time great
12:07
and at another small. He is a manufacturer of images, and is very
12:13
far removed from the truth exactly. But we have not yet brought forward the
12:20
heaviest count in our accusation. The power which poetry has of harming even the
12:28
good, and there are very few who are not harmed, is surely an
12:33
awful thing, Yes, certainly, if the effect is what you say here
12:37
and judge the best of us as I conceive when we listen to a passage
12:43
of Homer or one of the Tragedians, in which he represents some pitiful hero
12:48
who is drawling out his sorrows in elongeration, or weeping and smiting his breast,
12:56
the best of us, you know, the light in giving way to
13:00
sympathy, and are enraptures at the excellence of the poet who stirs our feelings
13:05
most Yes, of course I know. But when any sorrow of our own
13:11
happens to us, then you may observe that we pride ourselves on the opposite
13:18
quality. We would feign to be quiet and patient. This is the manly
13:24
part, and the other which delighted us in the recitation, is now deemed
13:30
to be the part of a woman. Very true, he said, Now,
13:35
can we be right in praising and admiring another who is doing that which
13:41
any one of us would abominate and be ashamed of in his own person.
13:46
No, he said, that is certainly not reasonable. Nay, I say,
13:52
quite reasonable from one point of view. What point of view? If
13:58
you consider? I said that when in misfortune we feel in natural hunger and
14:03
desire to relieve our sorrow by weeping and lamentation, And that this feeling,
14:09
which is kept under control in our own calamities, is satisfied and delighted by
14:13
the poets. The better nature in each of us, not having been sufficiently
14:20
trained by reason or habit allows the sympathetic element to break loose, because the
14:26
sorrow is another's, And the spectator fancies that there can be no disgrace to
14:31
himself in praising and pitying any one who comes telling him what a good man
14:37
he is, and making a fuss about his troubles. He thinks that the
14:43
pleasure is again, and why should he be supercilious and lose this? And
14:48
the poem Too few persons ever reflect, as I should imagine that from the
14:52
evil of other men, something of evil is communicated to themselves. And so
15:00
the feeling of sorrow, which has gathered strength at the sight of the misfortunes
15:03
of others, is which difficulty repressed in our own, how very true,
15:11
and does not the same hold also of the ridiculous. There are jests which
15:16
you would be ashamed to make yourself, and yet on the comic stage,
15:22
or indeed in private, when you hear them, you are greatly amused by
15:26
them, and are not at all disgusted at their unseemliness. The case of
15:33
pity is repeated. There is a principle in human nature which is disposed to
15:39
raise a laugh. And this which you once restrains by reason because you were
15:45
afraid of being thought a buffoon, is now let out again, and having
15:50
stimulated the risible faculty at the theater, you are betrayed unconsciously to yourself into
15:56
playing the comic poet at home. Quite true, he said, And the
16:03
thing may be said of lust and anger, and all the other affections of
16:07
desire, and pain and pleasure, which are held to be inseparable from every
16:11
action. In all of them, poetry feeds and waters the passions. Instead
16:17
of drying them up. She lets them rule, although they ought to be
16:22
controlled. If mankind are ever to increase in happiness and virtue, I cannot
16:27
deny it. Therefore, glaucon I said, whenever you meet with any of
16:33
the eulogists of Homer declaring that he has been the educator of Hellas, and
16:38
that he is profitable for education and for the ordering of human things, and
16:44
that you should take him up again and again and get to know him and
16:48
regulate your whole life according to him. We may love and honor those who
16:53
say these things. They are excellent people as far as their lights extend.
17:00
And we are ready to acknowledge that Homer is the greatest of poets and first
17:06
of tragedy writers. But we must remain firm in our conviction that hymns to
17:11
the God and praises of famous men are the only poetry which ought to be
17:18
admitted into our state. For if you go beyond this and allow the honeyed
17:23
muse to enter, either in epic or lyric verse, not law and the
17:30
reason of mankind, which by common consent have ever been deemed best, but
17:37
pleasure and pain, will be the rulers of our state. That is most
17:41
true, he said. And now, since we have reverted to the subject
17:47
of poetry, let this our defense serve to show the reasonableness of our former
17:52
judgment in sending away out of our state, and art having the tendencies which
17:59
we have described for a reason constrained us. But that she may not impute
18:03
to us any harshness or want of politeness. Let us tell her that there
18:11
is an ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry, of which there are many proofs,
18:18
such as the saying of quote the yelping hound howling at her lord end
18:22
quote, or of one quote mighty in the vain talk of fools end quote
18:30
end quote, the mob of sages circumventing Zeus end quote, and the quote
18:36
subtle thinkers who are beggars after all, end quote. And there are innumerable
18:44
other signs of ancient enmity between them. Notwithstanding this, let us assure our
18:49
sweet friend and the sister arts of imitation, that if she will only prove
18:55
her title to exist in a well ordered state, we shall be delighted to
18:59
receive her. We are very conscious of her charms, but we may not,
19:03
on that account betray the truth. I dare say, Glaucan, that
19:08
you are as much charmed by her as I am, especially when she appears
19:14
in Homer. Yes, indeed I am greatly charmed. Shall I propose then
19:19
that she be allowed to return from exile, But upon this condition only that
19:26
she makes a defense of herself in lyrical or some other meter. Certainly,
19:32
and we may further grant to those of her defenders who are lovers of poetry
19:37
and yet not poets, the permission to speak in prose on her behalf.
19:41
Let them show not only that she is pleasant, but also useful to states
19:47
and to human life, and we will listen in a kindly spirit, for
19:52
if this can be proved, we shall surely be the gainers. I mean,
19:56
if there is a use in poetry as well as a delight, certainly,
20:02
he said, we shall be the gainers if her defense fails. Then,
20:06
my dear friend, like other persons who are enamored of something, but
20:11
put a restraint upon themselves when they think their desires are opposed to their interest,
20:17
so too must we, after the manner of lovers, give her up,
20:22
though not without the struggle. We too are inspired by that love of
20:27
poetry which the education of noble states has implanted in us, and therefore we
20:33
would have her appear at her best and truest. But so long as she
20:38
is unable to make good her defense, this argument of ours shall be a
20:42
charm to us, which we will repeat to ourselves while we listen to her,
20:48
strains that we may not fall away into the childish love of her which
20:53
captivates the many. At all events, we are well aware that poetry,
20:59
being such as we have described, is not to be regarded seriously as attaining
21:04
to the truth. And he who listens to her, fearing for the safety
21:08
of the city which is within him, should be on his guard against her
21:14
seductions, and make our words his law. Yes, he said, I
21:18
quite agree with you. Yes, I said, my dear Glaucan, For
21:23
great is the issue at stake greater than appears, whether a man is to
21:29
be good or bad? And what will any one be profited if, under
21:33
the influence of honor, or money, or power, ay, or under
21:38
the excitement of poetry he neglects justice and virtue. Yes, he said,
21:45
I have been convinced by the arguments, as I believe that any one else
21:49
would have been. And yet no mention has been made of the greatest prizes
21:55
and rewards which await virtue. What are any greater? Still, if there
22:02
are, they must be of an inconceivable greatness. Why, I said,
22:07
what was ever great in a short time? The whole period of threescore years
22:12
and ten is surely but a little thing in comparison with eternity. Say rather
22:18
nothing, he replied, And should an immortal being seriously think of this little
22:25
space rather than of the whole? Of the whole? Certainly, But what
22:30
do you ask? And of Book ten, Part two,