His Moral Theory, Or Why Ignorance is not Bliss or even moral Plato I His Moral Theory, Or Why Ignorance is not Bliss or even moral

Preliminaries Library courses (see Library web pg) Where to find course info Where to find the discussion board Note on the texts— Plato and Aristotle’s works are demarcated by paragraph numbers and letters ‘BCE’

‘School of Humanities’ Discussion Board http://www.hku.hk/discuspro/messages/board-topics.html ‘School of Humanities’

Plato (427-347 BCE)

Who was Plato? A wealthy Athenian, and citizen of leisure; Student of Socrates Republic and Laws expound his political and moral philosophy, and his theory of knowledge; Founded the Academy, an important philosophical institution.

Athens: Agora and Acropolis

Plato Critic of the Athenian democracy; disillusioned during the Peloponnesian War (430-404); believed democracy fosters rule of the ignorant, immoral masses. Critic of the Sophists, who taught the art of argumentation for high fees: = Thrasymachus in Republic, a moral cynic.

Who was Socrates? (latter half 5th century BCE) Athenian stonemason, rich enough to be a hoplite (foot soldier—e.g. in film ‘300’); details of his life practically unknown; teacher of Plato, Xenophon and others; not everyone revered him, however.

Socrates Mocked in Aristophanes’ play, The Clouds (423 BCE) Aristophanes says Socrates does not understand political realities, e.g. our need for family and city; human nature: overestimates rationality; what the gods are.

Socrates Found guilty in 399 BCE of impiety (debasing the gods) and corrupting youth; Ordered by Athenian court to commit suicide by drinking hemlock; Major speaker in several of Plato’s dialogues, including Republic, and Apology; Legacy: ‘Socratic ignorance’, ‘Socratic method’, ‘philosopher-kings’.

Republic (Politeia, Gr. = constitution) Greek concept of ‘constitution’ not limited to political institutions, e.g. executive, legislature, judiciary included education, culture—poetry, music; Comprises entire way of life, e.g. Constitution of the Lacedaemonians (Sparta); Could be entirely unwritten, e.g. Sparta unlike HK Basic Law, U.S. Constitution.

Map of Ancient Greece

Republic Plato’s greatest dialogue; One of the world’s great philosophical works; Structure: dialogue among several speakers, including Socrates; Key question: what is morality/justice? How is it cultivated or produced?

Context of Republic Loss of clear moral authority in late 5th century Athens Traditional hierarchy of nature questioned Democritus (ca. 460-370 BCE), father of atomic theory: all matter = indivisible particles particles are identical; no one is superior to any of the others by nature.

Context of Republic Rejection of traditional moral teaching: Represented by Cephalus, the retired businessman (328c-331d): Help friends Tell the truth Repay debts; Socrates’ objection: what if you borrowed a knife, but return it to the lender, who has gone mad, and poses a menace to others? Socrates is therefore going to go beyond tradition in his justification of morality.

Conventional view on morality ‘Good guys finish last’: Immoral conduct confers benefits to oneself (wealth, power, partners) Morality is good for others, but bad for oneself You should protect your own interests; Not those of others at the expense of your own (338c)!

Thrasymachus’ attack on morality of Cephalus A sophist, teacher of argumentation ‘Sophistry’ denotes arguments that sound persuasive but are based on questionable premises or logic; Thrasymachus’s position: Might is right; justice = interest of stronger Be a dictator: get all the power, money, and human subjects that you can!

Thrasymachus 338c-e “My claim is that morality is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger party…” “Each government passes laws to its own advantage…” “this is what I claim morality is: it is the same in every country, and is what is to the advantage of the current government.”

Counter-argument But one does not want to be the victim of others’ immoral behavior; Socrates’ position: Being moral is like being expert at an art (medicine) or craft (house-building, stonemasonry); An expert does what most benefits the production or person being cared for; S/he strives to be good at what s/he does; Not what is best for him/herself (making money, gaining power).

Ring of Gyges Gyges obtains a ring that makes him invisible (recall Tolkien); He uses it to evil ends: Gyges seduces the king’s wife, and kills the king, thereby becoming king himself. If you could be invisible like Gyges What would you do? Would you behave morally or immorally?

Woody Allen, Crimes and Misdemeanors Reserve: AV 791.43 C929 A Modern version: Woody Allen, Crimes and Misdemeanors Reserve: AV 791.43 C929 A

Synopsis of Crimes and Misdemeanors: A seemingly good, law-abiding family man and successful professional commits a murder with no risk of being caught.

What is Plato’s approach? Republic arises from deficiencies in Socrates’ initial argument w/ Thrasymachus; A ‘city in speech’ (hypothetical solution) Major problem = plurality, e.g. rich vs poor; City needs to be unified, not divided; 3 groups of citizens: philosopher-rulers, guardians, ordinary workers; each performs his/her assigned task; analogy with the 3 parts of the soul: reason, spirit and appetite.