Extra Credit – Essay: NCLS

Extra Credit – NCLS Essay [25 pts]

Due: T19 (1 Mar 11)

ASSIGNMENT: This year’s theme for NCLS is “Strength Within, Leadership Throughout.” The allusion to virtue ethics should be apparent, as we’ve just finished that section of the course. As you know, there’s a rich tradition associated with the term virtue; it serves as a link to our cultural roots and calls to mind an ideal that warriors have preserved for centuries. Compare that to the values promoted by other areas of society, and you get a sense for how virtue is highly regarded and sought after, but also extremely fragile. In the words of Marcus Aurelius (and Richard Harris), “There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish…”

We host the NCLS each year in part to help preserve our sense of virtue. The speakers have all, in one sense or another, embodied different virtues to overcome adversity in life. While attending NCLS events, consider these two questions:

1. What virtues did the speaker mention or allude to during his/her presentation? How were the virtues acquired and/or applied? What specific character traits did you observe? Has the speaker adapted a virtue to contemporary life? Is the virtue enduring or has it changed over time?

2. How can contemporary leaders preserve a sense of virtue? When addressing this topic, think about how technology and instant communication have changed our notions of virtue. When mistakes and scandalous behavior are posted somewhere minutes after they occur, does that affect our expectations of today’s leaders?

Select one of these topics and write a two-page (500 word) essay answering the question.

Your assessment should be based on what you hear and learn at the NCLS lectures. If the speaker doesn’t sufficiently addresses the topic you choose, ask them to in the Q & A. (Simple questions would be, “what virtues do you feel helped you during…?” “Is it harder to maintain virtue in today’s instant media culture?” etc.). You may critique the speaker(s) presentation or response, agree, disagree, etc. Remember that your own argument (your answer to the questions) should be based on solid reasons/premises.

GRADING: This assignment will be graded on your ability to analyze the NCLS Speaker’s position (10 pts.), build a solid argument of your own (10 pts.), and communicate both clearly (5 pts.).

ALTERNATE: For those who won’t be here for NCLS, contact me for an alternate assignment.

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?

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.