Showing posts with label The Republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Republic. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Allegory of the Cave Assignment
PHL 310 – Ethics
Assignment 3 – Draw Plato’s Cave [25 pts]
Due: Lesson 8 (25 Jan 11)
ASSIGNMENT: You will invariably run across people in your career, both up and down the chain, who just don’t get it. They need a picture.
From your reading assignment, take the description of the cave [514a – 521a] and, on one 8 ½” x 11” piece of printer/copier paper, draw it. Socrates describes several important features of the cave. Make sure you get them all.
Remember, your task is to simplify a complicated image for someone who isn’t getting it. Use labels if you need to (i.e., if your stick people might be mistaken for fish in trees), but don’t write paragraphs.
GRADING: This assignment will be graded on your ability to distill basic facts from the source, determining what is pertinent to get the message across, and to represent the major features in Socrates’ description (15 pts). Neatness and overall artistic ability will also be evaluated, insofar as they contribute to the clarity/communication of your rendition (10 pts).
NOTE: If your work is not only complete, but also aesthetically pleasing and suitable for display, I’ll offer 5 pts extra credit in return for the piece. You’ll know you’re eligible if you see “+5” next to your grade.
Assignment 3 – Draw Plato’s Cave [25 pts]
Due: Lesson 8 (25 Jan 11)
ASSIGNMENT: You will invariably run across people in your career, both up and down the chain, who just don’t get it. They need a picture.
From your reading assignment, take the description of the cave [514a – 521a] and, on one 8 ½” x 11” piece of printer/copier paper, draw it. Socrates describes several important features of the cave. Make sure you get them all.
Remember, your task is to simplify a complicated image for someone who isn’t getting it. Use labels if you need to (i.e., if your stick people might be mistaken for fish in trees), but don’t write paragraphs.
GRADING: This assignment will be graded on your ability to distill basic facts from the source, determining what is pertinent to get the message across, and to represent the major features in Socrates’ description (15 pts). Neatness and overall artistic ability will also be evaluated, insofar as they contribute to the clarity/communication of your rendition (10 pts).
NOTE: If your work is not only complete, but also aesthetically pleasing and suitable for display, I’ll offer 5 pts extra credit in return for the piece. You’ll know you’re eligible if you see “+5” next to your grade.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Recap – Lessons 7-9
Socrates’ turn to ethical questions on how one should live a good life was characterized by (1) the subjects of his inquiry, for example, in The Republic, the question what is justice?; and (2) the technique he employed – dialectic – which provided an example of how one should authentically seek knowledge. Compared to the technique employed by the sophists, which was to “win” an argument without particular regard for the truth, dialectic was both more collaborative and more open-ended. It could also be more frustrating, as the discussions rendered by Plato didn’t always yield a definitive conclusion, and we’re often left to develop our own answers.
That was the case after our first reading from The Republic. Your answers to the question, what is justice?, clustered around the notions of it being external and based on punishment and reward. As we read, Socrates dealt with similar formulations from Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, and Glaucon. Each fell short of providing a satisfactory conception. Glaucon proposed perhaps the greatest challenge to any conception of justice by retelling the story of Gyges Ring: what would you do if you could get away with anything?
To answer, Socrates and his companions undertake an elaborate thought experiment where they build a city from scratch, the goal being to first identify where justice resides in the city, then to find analogues in the individual. Our second reading from The Republic described the virtues – wisdom, courage, and moderation – as they appear in both the city and the soul. Justice, it’s finally agreed, is harmony among these virtues, with each performing its function to sustain that balance.
Since justice is internal and not purely motivated by reward and punishment, Socrates and Plato have to take up the final task of answering why one should be just. By way of explaining, Socrates relates the allegory of the cave, which you skillfully rendered for your third assignment. As a metaphor for Plato’s theory of knowledge (the divided line), the story relays the struggle entailed for humans to break free from the comforts of illusion. There’s also a caution: sharing newly acquired wisdom may be hazardous to your health. The allegory also contains a mystery, which some of you identified: who freed the prisoner, and what was his/her status?
That was the case after our first reading from The Republic. Your answers to the question, what is justice?, clustered around the notions of it being external and based on punishment and reward. As we read, Socrates dealt with similar formulations from Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, and Glaucon. Each fell short of providing a satisfactory conception. Glaucon proposed perhaps the greatest challenge to any conception of justice by retelling the story of Gyges Ring: what would you do if you could get away with anything?
To answer, Socrates and his companions undertake an elaborate thought experiment where they build a city from scratch, the goal being to first identify where justice resides in the city, then to find analogues in the individual. Our second reading from The Republic described the virtues – wisdom, courage, and moderation – as they appear in both the city and the soul. Justice, it’s finally agreed, is harmony among these virtues, with each performing its function to sustain that balance.
Since justice is internal and not purely motivated by reward and punishment, Socrates and Plato have to take up the final task of answering why one should be just. By way of explaining, Socrates relates the allegory of the cave, which you skillfully rendered for your third assignment. As a metaphor for Plato’s theory of knowledge (the divided line), the story relays the struggle entailed for humans to break free from the comforts of illusion. There’s also a caution: sharing newly acquired wisdom may be hazardous to your health. The allegory also contains a mystery, which some of you identified: who freed the prisoner, and what was his/her status?
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Quotes from The Republic
The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. - Alfred North Whitehead
Before we leave Socrates and Plato, if we ever really do, I thought I’d share some of my favorite quotes from The Republic...
[352d] …the argument is not about just any question, but about the way one should live.
[334b] “No, by Zeus,” (Polemarchus) said. “But I no longer know what I did mean.”
[363d] …the finest wage of virtue is an eternal drunk.
[350e] “…if you want to keep on questioning, go ahead and question, and, just as with old wives who tell tales, I shall say to you, ‘All right,’ and I shall nod and shake my head.”
[387d] …the decent man will believe that for the decent man—who happens to be his comrade—being dead is not a terrible thing.
[403a] “It’s ridiculous,” (Glaucon) said, “if the Guardian needs a Guardian.”
[457a] The women guardians must strip, since they’ll clothe themselves in virtue instead of robes, and they must take common part in war …
[459d.] There is a need for the best men to have intercourse as often as possible with the best women.
[338d] “You are disgusting, Socrates.”
[474a] “Socrates, what a phrase and argument you have let burst out. Now that it’s said, you can believe that very many men, and not ordinary ones, will on the spot throw off their clothes, and stripped for action, taking hold of whatever weapon falls under the hand of each, run full speed at you and do wonderful deeds.”
Before we leave Socrates and Plato, if we ever really do, I thought I’d share some of my favorite quotes from The Republic...
[352d] …the argument is not about just any question, but about the way one should live.
[334b] “No, by Zeus,” (Polemarchus) said. “But I no longer know what I did mean.”
[363d] …the finest wage of virtue is an eternal drunk.
[350e] “…if you want to keep on questioning, go ahead and question, and, just as with old wives who tell tales, I shall say to you, ‘All right,’ and I shall nod and shake my head.”
[387d] …the decent man will believe that for the decent man—who happens to be his comrade—being dead is not a terrible thing.
[403a] “It’s ridiculous,” (Glaucon) said, “if the Guardian needs a Guardian.”
[457a] The women guardians must strip, since they’ll clothe themselves in virtue instead of robes, and they must take common part in war …
[459d.] There is a need for the best men to have intercourse as often as possible with the best women.
[338d] “You are disgusting, Socrates.”
[474a] “Socrates, what a phrase and argument you have let burst out. Now that it’s said, you can believe that very many men, and not ordinary ones, will on the spot throw off their clothes, and stripped for action, taking hold of whatever weapon falls under the hand of each, run full speed at you and do wonderful deeds.”
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Republic - Reading Guide II
How to use the reading guide:
The second reading from The Republic is broken down into sections of argument (using the Stephanus pagination). Identify the main points of each section and follow the flow of the overall dialogue as the participants move from one argument to the next.
The second reading from The Republic is broken down into sections of argument (using the Stephanus pagination). Identify the main points of each section and follow the flow of the overall dialogue as the participants move from one argument to the next.
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Republic - Reading Guide I
How to use the reading guide:
The first reading from The Republic is broken down into sections of argument (using the Stephanus pagination). Identify the main points of each section and follow the flow of the overall dialogue as the participants move from one argument to the next.
The first reading from The Republic is broken down into sections of argument (using the Stephanus pagination). Identify the main points of each section and follow the flow of the overall dialogue as the participants move from one argument to the next.
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