Colloquium: Oct 27th17
Speaker: Michael Griffin, University of British Columbia
Title: Plato’s Republic as Psychology and Dissuasion from Politics
Abstract:
Glaucon, Plato’s brother, was politically ambitious; and like Plato, Glaucon was discouraged from political activity by Socrates (Xenophon, Mem. 3.6.1; cf. [?] Plato, Letter VII, 324B-E). Socratic authors later developed Socrates’ conversation with Glaucon into an archetype of the dissuasion from politics in favour of philosophy.
In this paper, I'll explore the improbable proposal that Republic 2-10 offer “Plato’s Glaucon”—Plato’s own dramatic depiction of Socrates’ effort to discourage his brothers from politics. Plato’s Glaucon should understand that the constitution he should cultivate is in his soul (e.g., Republic 4, 443C-444A)—and, more controversially, nowhere else (e.g., Republic 9, 591B-592B). We’ll test different readings of the Republic’s central “city-soul analogy” (368C) and implicit theory of simile and metaphor to argue that the claims made for Kallipolis in the Republic should be cashed out only as a description of psychological health, and never as political norms.
Friday, October 27th at 2:30pm CLE A303