Philosophy As a Way of Life by Ambury James M.; Irani Tushar; Wallace Kathleen

Philosophy As a Way of Life by Ambury James M.; Irani Tushar; Wallace Kathleen

Author:Ambury, James M.; Irani, Tushar; Wallace, Kathleen [Ambury, James M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Published: 2020-10-01T09:11:49+00:00


3. Oneness and Freedom, Truth and Creativity

The above contrast between emotion‐oriented and whole‐oriented speech already intimates how each is bound up with different ways of life. Poetry stands on the side of the individual in presenting human life as it is experienced, while philosophy stands on the side of the community and urges a perspective that resists taking human experience for granted. In order to better bring out the connection between discourse and life, however, let me explore two other critiques of poetry in book X, both of which revolve around the claim that poetic discourse values change and variety for their own sake:

(1) Poetry looks for character types that are easily affected by external change. According to Socrates, poetry is the kind of medium most suitable for representing such matters. It is instinctively attracted by the “dramatic” or the “theatrical,” the singular events, actions, and transformations, instead of the mundane, the repetitive, or the expected. Poets look for settings and themes that are atypical, that stand out, that are heroic or shocking.

Socrates presents this power of poetry as its limitation. Its power to represent change and the dramatic has a reverse side: it is unsuitable for presenting virtuous character. “The irritable part (aganaktētikon) [in us] has imitations that are numerous and many‐colored (poikilēn), but the wise (phronimon) and quiet character, remaining pretty much always itself like itself, is neither easy to imitate nor easy to comprehend when imitated” (604e1–4, emphasis added). Poetry can imitate those who suffer from internal conflict, since such conflict can show up in a variety of forms, satisfying the poet’s need for variation and change: reason against spiritedness, reason against desire, spiritedness against desire, desires fighting among themselves. The virtuous person, however, is “quiet” and not easily disturbed by what happens to him. He remains who he is over time; he is at rest. His wisdom allows him to be secure about the principles he adopts in life, and therefore his mind remains in a balanced and peaceful state (again cf. homonoētikōs 603c11).11

(2) A second aspect to this urge toward change and variety, one that tends to be less noticed, concerns the poets’ pride in their innovative power, their ability to come up with new ways to say new things. Plato is aware of this urge on the poet’s part.12 He indirectly points this out when setting up the triad user‐maker‐painter to criticize the poet. There is the horseman, who uses reins on his horses; the cobbler who makes the reins for him; and the painter who paints horsemen using reins (601c7–13). Knowledge of something requires the genuine grasp of the use of that thing; therefore the horseman knows reins and can distinguish the good ones from the bad (d4–7). The cobbler consults and follows the horseman’s feedback and advice (in Socrates’ words, the horseman “becomes the cobbler’s messenger [angelos]” [d9]) to improve on his designs, making reins that are better and more useful. He makes good ones only under the guidance of the horseman; therefore he has only right belief (orthēn pistin, 601e7) about the reins.



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