Maddie wrote a really nice introductory post over at Modern Misfit, so I will direct you there if you can't figure out what is going on here :o)
I find it difficult to discuss Plato (and the ancient philosophers in general) outside of a classroom setting. My knowledge of ancient history is comparatively thin (don't hate me!) so I never feel like I have enough context, even when context isn't necessary. I am afraid my response to this section is going to be a bit of a ramble. My apologies in advance if I don't do these readings justice; as justice is an attribute of the philosopher, and I'm not quite there yet.
The selections begin with a reading from the Republic, Book V. I was happy to find this section here, to remind me that the desire to learn, that particular curiosity or appetite, must be as focused as it is powerful. I often settle for a sort of vague competence in my studies, and the kind of desire for truth that Plato describes often seems terribly far beyond my grasp.
This section also reminded me how much I dislike the "conversational" Socratic method. I feel like a terrible person here, and I would hate to betray The Great Tradition this close to the beginning, but I just don't find this form useful at all. I like to be able to see where I am going, and reading Plato is like laying a twisting road through mountains in a jungle somewhere, and there is no map because no one has been there before. For some people this might be exhilarating, but I find it rather exhausting. Maybe it is because my pack is heavy and the machete is giving me blisters, and I don't like having to carry all the water, and the bugs...oh, well, let's not get carried away.
I am having flashbacks to first semester midterms (the first real exams I ever had) and being required to define Plato's philosopher... I wish I had my nifty index cards with me now.
I did not make a fancy Illustrator drawing of the Allegory of the Cave like Maddie did, but I remember doodling one in my notebook, as directed, that fall day in 2007. As then, I am struck by the difficulty in turning away from the shadows. The search for truth is painful, and weakness is not rewarded. Yet, the ability is there, we are "equipped from the factory" (Dr. Gamble there, not Socrates or Plato) with reason and judgment: "the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good. (TGT 14)" High stakes, no?
We read all of the Republic in Intro. to Philosophy my Sophomore year, but I haven't read much from Laws, so I don't know where these sections fit into the larger dialogue. They mostly deal with how the training and sport of children relate to the form and stability of those individuals later in life, and of the state. I am sure that good points are made, and the overall reminder is that everything, absolutely everything, in a person's early training contributes to the formation of their character, and the character of the place where they live.
I remember reading a section (perhaps from Republic? though it is in Laws as well) that covered the dangers of inappropriate music. I was utterly mystified by the argument, partly because I am not a very musical person, and partly because I failed to understand the universality of Plato's (Socrates'?) argument. I do understand, however, the related insistence that some things remain unchanged. That for the sake of the nation, and of the souls of individuals, the core of learning should be understood as a fixed thing, corresponding to a fixed vision of human nature. This may not be what Plato says, but it is what I have learned from him, whatever that distinction might mean about me.
Well, now that I feel entirely daft (gee, thanks Plato) I am going to get back to solid ground. Maybe I'll read some fiction or caramelize some onions, or something.
Next up: Xenophon (say that out loud, isn't his name grand!)
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