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PLATO'S     REPUBLIC 


PLATO'S 
REPUBLIC 


I? 


LEWIS    CAMPBELL 

M.A.,  LL.D. 

EMERITUS  PROFESSOR  OF  GREEK,  ST  ANDREWS 

AND   HONORARY   FELLOW  OF   BALLIOL 

COLLEGE,    OXFORD 


"  His  truth  may  not  be  our  truth,  and  never- 
theless may  have  an  extraordinary  value  and 
interest  for  us."— Jowett.  ..    7_ 


LONDON  I        / 

JOHN  MURRAY,  Albemarle  St. 


1902 


&XT^ 


tyy 


PRESERVATION 


or 

11 

P6CSt> 


PREFACE 

When  asked  by  Mr  Magnus,  the  editor  of  this 
series,  to  write  a  little  book  on  Plato's  Republic,  I 
was  not  disinclined  from  the  task,  but  feared  that  the 
ground  was  already  too  much  occupied.  Not  only 
Professor  Jowett's  monumental  work,  which  may 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  some  readers,  but  Davies 
and  Vaughan's  translation,  Mr  Bosanquet's  notes, 
the  manual  of  the  Dean  of  Christchurch,  and  the 
late  R.  L.  Nettleship's  able  essay  in  Hellenica, 
seemed  to  supply  all  that  was  needed,  whether  for 
the  student  or  the  general  reader.  But  I  could  not 
set  my  opinion  against  my  publisher's,  and  I  was 
encouraged  to  hope  that  I  might  still  be  able  to 
say  something  worth  printing  on  a  subject  which 
has  been  more  or  less  familiar  to  me  for  fifty  years. 
Since  the  greater  part  of  the  present  volume 
was  written,  Mr  Nettleship's  lectures  on  the 
Republic  have  been  posthumously  issued.  I  was 
glad  to  find  in  them  many  of  my  own  thoughts 
anticipated,  and  to  recognise  much  else  as  valu- 
able and  striking.  But  as  these  lectures  were 
delivered  to  classical  students  in  the  University 
of  Oxford,  their  aim  is  in  some  ways  different  from 
that  to  which  this  smaller  work  has  been  directed. 


vi  PREFACE 

My  special  thanks  are  due  to  Professor  Gomperz 
of  Vienna  for  his  courtesy  in  sending  me  some 
advanced  sheets  of  the  second  volume  of  his 
great  book  on  the  Greek  Thinkers,  now  in  course 
of  publication.  In  referring  to  this  volume,  of 
which  the  translation  is  not  yet  published,  I 
give  the  paging  of  the  German  edition.  The 
references  to  Dr  Gomperz's  first  volume  follow 
the  paging  of  the  English  version  by  Mr  Laurie 
Magnus  (John  Murray).  In  quoting  Plato  I 
give  the  pages  of  the  edition  of  Stephanus,  as 
they  appear  on  the  margins  of  Jowett's  transla- 
tion (3rd  edition),  which  I  have  for  the  most  part 
followed  in  quoting  Plato.  The  letters  A,  B,  C,  D, 
E,  represent  the  sections  of  each  page  as  they  are 
marked  in  most  editions  of  the  Greek  text.  The 
quotations  from  Jowett's  Introductions  are  from 
the  3rd  edition,  1892.  I  have  further  to  acknow- 
ledge the  kindness  of  the  authorities  in  the  British 
Museum  in  allowing  the  use  of  several  of  the 
illustrations,  to  refer  to  Blumner's  Technologie  for  the 
picture  of  the  spindle,  and  to  offer  my  best  thanks 
to  Mr  Hallam  Murray,  and  to  my  friends  Mr 
and  Mrs  Bernard  Jenkin,  for  their  assistance  in 
preparing  the  illustrations  to  Chapter  X. 

LEWIS    CAMPBELL. 

S.  Andrea,  Alassio,  Italy, 
March  1902. 


: 


> 


CONTENTS 


A 


CHAPTER 

INTRODUCTORY — COMPOSITION    OF     THE    "  RE 
PUBLIC  "—STYLE  OF  PLATO       . 


[M    . 


II.   THE  MORAL  AI 

III.  THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 
Xf  IV.    SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 
/v  V.   EDUCATION 

VI.   POETRY  AND  ART 

WvII.   PJSATO'S       COMMUNISM — THE        POSITION        OF 
WOMEN    . 


0 


III. /SUPREMACY    OF    REASON— THE    PHILOSOPHER 
KING— PLEASURE  AND  GOOD  . 


ix.  political  and   moral  declension— demo 
cracy  and  tyranny— the  ideal  of  evil 

x.  the     supra-mundane     aspect  —  platonic 
mythology      ..... 

y   xi.  plato  and  modern  life 

Index        ...... 


L5> 
32 

49 
64 

86 

99 
116 
128 

141 

159 
179 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATE 

I.   FACSIMILE      OF     THE     OLDEST     MS. 

OF  PLATO'S  "REPUBLIC"      .         .  Frontispiece 

II.   PART    OF    A   GROUP  REPRESENTING 

A  SET  OF  TORCH-RUNNERS  .   To  face  page       I 

III.  BUST  OF  PLATO  ....  „  17 

IV.  A  GREEK  PHILOSOPHICAL  SCHOOL  .  „  64 
V.   A  SIREN „               141 

VI.   THE  CAVE  IN  "REPUBLIC,"  VII.,  514  „  143 

VII.   THE  THREE   FATES    ....  „  I52 

VIII.  FIG.  I.  —  AN  ANCIENT  SPINDLE, 
SHOWING  THE  FORM  OF  THE 
WHORL. 

FIG.  2.— UPPER  SURFACE  OF  THE 
WHORL  ATTACHED  TO  THE 
SPINDLE    OF    NECESSITY        .  Between  pp.  1 54-5 


PLATO'S    REPUBLIC 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY. — COMPOSITION   OF  THE 
"REPUBLIC."— STYLE   OF   PLATO 

Introductory. — Twice  during  a  literary  career  of 
half  a  century,  Plato  addressed  his  thoughts  to  a 
wider  public  than  the  literary  circle  or  the  philo- 
sophical school.  In  the  meridian  of  his  life  he 
produced  the  Republic,  and,  in  old  age,  after  a 
period  of  changeful  activity,  he  indited  what  has 
come  down  to  us  in  the  twelve  books  of  the  Laws. 
In  the  interim,  through  much  effort  and  disillusion- 
ment, his  thoughts  had  widened  to  embrace  the 
whole  Hellenic  world ;  whereas  in  the  Republic 
the  horizon  is  still  Athenian  ;  although  the  en- 
vironing cloud-land  is  illumined  with  cross-lights 
from  a  glorified  Sparta,  and  from  the  wisdom  of 
the  greater  Hellas  in  the  distant  west. 

The   scene   is   in    the    house  of  Cephalus,   the 

A 


2  INTRODUCTORY 

Syracusan  sojourner  at  the  Piraeus,  whose  sons 
are  citizens  of  Athens.  The  chief  interlocutors, 
besides  Socrates,  are  Glaucon  and  Adeimantus, 
brothers  of  Plato. 

The  persons  who  sustain  a  Platonic  Dialogue 
are  seldom  without  significance.  In  the  Pkcedo, 
for  example,  the  principal  respondents  are  Cebes 
the  critical,  and  Simmias,  the  untiring  promoter  of 
discourse  (Phcedrus,  242  B),  who  had  both  known 
Philolaus  the  Pythagorean  when  he  visited 
Thebes.  Phaedo,  the  narrator,  is  a  beloved 
disciple  of  the  Master.  The  inference  is  plain  ; 
the  Phcedo  was  intended  for  an  inner  circle ;  it 
raises  questions  which  could  only  be  discussed 
amongst  philosophers,  and  which  are  closely  re- 
lated to  Pythagorean  doctrine.  But  Polemarchus, 
the  son  of  Cephalus,  who  appears  at  the  opening  of 
the  Republic,  though  he  had  a  tincture  of  philo- 
sophy {Phcedrus,  257B)  was  mainly  a  politician ; 
he  was  one  of  the  victims  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants. 
And  the  brothers  of  Plato,  while  like  many  other 
yjpuths  they  are  attached  to  Socrates,  are  living 
ki  the  fashionable  world,  and  their  ears  are  open 
to  the  discordant  voices  that  were  confusing  the 
intellects  of  the  time.  Glaucon,  the  younger  and 
more  eager,  although  his  mind  is  nimbly  alert,  is 
repeatedly  rallied  by  Socrates  as  a  man  of  pleasure, 
who  keeps  quails  and  hounds ;    and    Adeimantus 


USE  OF  INTERPRETATION 

is  clearly  a  man  of  the  world  who  has  an  eye  to 
the  practical  bearing  of  philosophical  speculation. 
His  staid  and  sober  intellect  stands  in  contrast  to 
the  impetuosity  of  Glaucon.     When   enquiry  be- 
comes difficult,  Socrates  says,  "  My  dear  Glaucon, 
you  would  not  be  able  to  follow  me;    I  will  tell 
you  my  meaning  in  a  figure."     And  the  remarks 
of  Adeimantus,  though  often  to  the  point,  are  char- 
acterized rather  by  good  sense  than  by  speculative 
ability.     The    brothers    part    between    them    the 
elements  of  the  philosophic  nature,  quickness  and 
stability.     Both  young  men  are  familiar  with  the 
outline   of  Socratic   enquiry;    but   require   to   be 
reminded  from  time  to  time  of  things  which  they 
have  often  heard.     "  That  theme  is   of  a   higher 
mood  than  belongs  to  our  present  enterprise,"  says 
Socrates,  when  approaching  a  speculative  ascent. 
All  this  is  in  keeping  with  the  purpose  of  a  writing 
which   appeals  not  to  a  few  disciples,  but  to  the 
cultivated  Athenian  public. 

Plato,  like  Shakespeare,  is  for  all  time  ;  yet  to 
understand  him  rightly  he  must  be  studied  irl/ 
relation  to  his  age.  That  is  a  task  which  now  for 
many  years  has  been  industriously  pursued.  The 
danger  is  that  in  this,  as  in  other  well-known  cases, 
the  surrounding  conditions  may  tend  to  supersede 
the  central  reality  :— that  in  analysing  the  vehicle, 
the  essence  may  escape,  leaving,  as  has  well  been 


J 


INTRODUCTORY 

said,  the  u  tea  leaves  without  the  aroma."  My 
object  in  the  following  pages  will  therefore  be 
twofold  :  partly  to  explain  some  aspects  of  the 
dialogue,  in  which  elucidation  seems  to  be  required, 
at  least  for  beginners ;  but  partly  also  to  indicate 
some  ways  in  which  the  spirit  of  the  author  of  the 
Republic,  when  duly  "  unsphered,"  may  without 
violence  be  fruitfully  applied  to  modern  life,  not- 
withstanding the  extreme  difference  both  of  real 
and  imaginary  circumstances.  For  I  believe  that 
without  rudely  breaking  with  our  own  past,  or  with 
the  laws  which  govern  modern  life,  we  may  yet  win 
valuable  suggestions  from  this  ancient  writing. 
As  Professor  Jowett  long  since  observed,  "  Plato's 
truth  may  not  be  our  truth,  and  nevertheless  may 
have  an  extraordinary  value  and  interest  for  us." 

It  has  been  repeatedly  said  that  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  cannot  be  directly  applied  to  the  moral 
needs  of  industrial  societies.  Some,  like  Count 
Tolstoi,  would  elude  the  difficulty  by  defying 
modern  social  arrangements.  Others  turn  aside 
from  a  religion  which  appears  to  them  to  hold  forth 
a  chimerical  ideal.  But  it  is  generally  agreed,  even 
by  those  who  refrain  from  attempting  the  im- 
possible, that  the  meaning  and  influence  of  these 
Divine  counsels  of  perfection  are  inexhaustible.  So 
in  a  lower  yet  important  sense,  it  may  prove  to  be 
with  regard  to  Plato.     When  the  dust  is  blown  off 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  "REPUBLIC"        5 

the  old  volume  the  first  impression  may  be  one  of 
strangeness  and  remoteness  from  ourselves.  Yet 
as  we  become  really  familiar  with  this  great  writer 
of  another  age,  he  may  be  more  useful  to  us  than 
when  he  was  the  mere  shadow  of  a  name,  a  symbol 
for  some  general  notion  of  idealism  or  some  modern 
theory  of  innate  ideas.  When  understood  with  all 
his  variety  of  experience  and  feeling,  Plato  is  a  less 
simple  phenomenon,  but  more  rich  in  lasting 
significance. 

Composition  of  the  "  Republic." — I.  The  unity  of 
the  Republic  as  a  literary  masterpiece  is  incontest- 
able. The  several  parts  of  the  work  are  balanced 
and  proportioned  as  in  a  five-act  play.  After  a 
noble  introduction  the  interest  rises,  culminates, 
deepens,  and  is  rounded  off,  as  in  a  tragedy. 

1.  The  subject  is  started  in  what  Socrates  him- 
self   calls    the    proem    or   prelude   (Book    I.,   pp. 

327-354)- 

2.  Unexpected  complications  arise  with  the 
objections  of  Glaucon  and  Adeimantus.  The 
foundations  of  the  commonwealth  are  laid : 
educational  principles  are  established,  the  Virtues,. 
are  defined,  and  Justice,  the  original  object  of 
search,  appears  to  be  discovered  both  in  the  state 
and  in  the  individual  (Books  1 1. -IV.,  pp.  357-479). 

3.  But  a  great  surprise  is  in  reserve.  Socrates 
develops  his  three  great  paradoxes :  the  equality 


6  INTRODUCTORY  / 

of  the  sexes,  the  principle  of  Communism,  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  philosopher.  We  must  educate 
our  masters."  And  hence  the  Dialogue  proceeds 
to  the  discussion  of  philosophical  first  principles 
and  the  evolution  of  the  higher  education  (Books 
V.-VIL,  pp.  449-551).  Here  the  interest  has 
reached  its  height. 

4.  We  descend  from  the  contemplation  of  the 
"  idea  of  good "  to  view  the  actual  world  as  in  a 
course  of  gradual  declension  from  Platonic  Aris- 

4ocracy  (the  supremacy  of  the  Best),  through 
rimocracy  (the  supremacy  of  the  Illustrious), 
Oligarchy  (the  reign  of  the  Few),  and  Demo- 
cracy (the  supremacy  of  the  People),  to  Tyranny 
(one-man  rule),  the  last  and  worst  of  evils.  And 
by  means  of  analogies  which  are  partly  fanciful 
the  aberrations  of  individual  character  are  also 
described. 

The  tyranny  of  passion  is  contrasted  with  the 
sovereignty     of    reason     (Books     VI 1 1. -IX.,    pp. 

543-592). 

5.  With  a  return  to  the  ideal  state,  various 
threads  of  the  preceding  argument  are  drawn 
together.  The  unreality  of  emotional  art  is  finally 
discarded,  the  rewards  of  virtue  are  enforced,  and 
the  whole  concludes  with  the  assertion  of  im- 
mortality, and  a  vision  of  judgment. 

The   awakening   of  Er   upon  the   funeral  pyre 


INTERNAL  EVIDENCE  7 

rounds  off  the  fable,  and  restores  the  reader  to  the 
light  of  common  day  (Book  X.). 

II.  But  some  recent  critics  who  have  examined 
the  Republic  as  a  philosophical  treatise  have 
observed  certain  incoherences  from  which  they 
infer  that  the  different  parts  of  the  Dialogue  were 
composed  at  several  times,  and  belong  to  different 
stages  in  Plato's  career. 

1.  The  connexion  of  Books  II.-IV.  with  Book  I., 
and  still  more  that  of  Books  V.-VII.  with  what 
precedes  and  follows  them,  is  slight  and  accidental ; 
and  considering  the  importance  and  extent  of  this 
third  portion  it  is  remarkable  that  Books  VI 1 1. -IX. 
should  seem  to  be  written  in  direct  continuation  of 
Book  IV. 

2.  There  are  apparent  inconsistences  or  fluctua- 
tions in  the  philosophical  point  of  view,  especially 
in  the  manner  of  conceiving  the  ideas.  The 
metaphysics  and  psychology  of  Books  I. -IV.  are 
but  slightly  in  advance  of  the  earlier  Dialogues, 
betraying  no  anticipation  of  the  heights  to  which 
ideal  speculation  rises  in  Book  VI. :  and  again,  in 
the  concluding  portion,  the  mind  seems  to  have 
fallen  back  on  cruder  theories,  and  poetic  fancies. 
Hence  it  has  been  inferred  that  Books  V.-VII. 
were  an  after-thought,  perhaps  added  in  a  second 
edition,  or  at  least  greatly  expanded  when  the  first 
issue  of  the  work  had  been  subject  to  criticism. 


8  INTRODUCTORY 


lich 


We  know  little  of  the  conditions  under  which 
such  a  book  as  the  Republic  would  be  produced 
in  the  fourth  century  B.C.  Perhaps,  as  Zeno's  thesis 
is  described  in  the  Parmenides  Dialogue,  it  would 
be  read  more  than  once  to  a  select  audience,  and 
afterwards  revised  and  altered  by  the  author  him- 
self before  it  took  its  final  shape  and  was  copied 
and  distributed.  It  may  have  been  thus  shown 
privately  to  persons  of  reputation,  and  modified 
in  consequence  of  their  remarks,  much  as  the 
Parmenides  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been 
due  to  the  strictures  of  the  youthful  Aristotle. 
The  process  which  has  been  imagined  by  certain 
German  critics  is  therefore  not  inconceivable. 
But  neither  of  the  reasons  which  have  been 
repeated  above  has  really  any  cogency. 

First,  as  to  the  connexion  :  Such  seemingly 
accidental  transitions  as  are  here  objected  to,  are 
in  accordance  with  Plato's  manner  elsewhere. 
They  are  the  result  not  of  caprice,  but  of  profound 
contrivance,  and  give  to  the  Dialogue  an  air  of 
verisimilitude.  The  conduct  of  the  argument  in 
the  Symposium,  Phcedo,  and  Phcedrus,  presents 
features  of  very  close  similarity.  And  secondly, 
the  dialectical  discrepancies  are  not  greater  than 
may  be  found  in  other  Dialogues  of  narrower 
compass.  What  can  be  more  diverse,  for  example, 
than  the  three   several   proofs  of  immortality  in 


THE  WHOLE  AND  THE  PARTS  9 

the  Phcedo?  What  apparent  incongruity  in  the 
Phcedrus  between  the  supra-mundane  vision  and 
the  method  of  classification,  or  in  the  Politicus 
between  the  cosmic  myth  and  the  scientific  defini- 
tion of  the  Statesman  !  The  comparison  of  the 
Phcedo,  where  the  objections  of  Simmias  and 
Cebes  to  the  first  argument  lead  on  to  the  next, 
is  peculiarly  instructive. 

When  Plato  is  pursuing  one  line  of  thought  or 
argument,  all  others  seem  to  be  excluded  for  the 
time.  He  is  in  the  habit  of  reserving  his  main 
secret  until  the  opportune  moment  for  disclosing 
it  has  arrived,  and  from  summits  of  speculation 
which  have  been  painfully  won,  he  will  sometimes 
descend,  as  in  Book  X.  of  the  Republic,  to 
popular  statements  of  a  less  esoteric  kind. 

The  disintegrating  hypothesis  really  proves  too 
much,  for  not  only  the  whole  work,  but  the  several 
portions  may  in  like  manner  be  dismembered. 
And  no  one  can  be  so  simple  as  to  imagine  that, 
in  beginning  the  second  book,  Plato  had  not  the 
construction  of  the  state  prepared  in  his  mind, 
or  that  in  drawing  the  picture  of  paradisaical 
simplicity  he  had  not  already  thought  of  the 
warrior  class.  At  that  point,  as  Gomperz  has 
observed,  the  three  main  topics  which  form  the 
Republic — Morality,  Political  Speculation,  and 
Idealism — are   woven  together  with  consummate 


10  INTRODUCTORY 

art.     The    author    is   playing   with   his   audience, 
and  carries  them  whither  he  will. 

The  hypercritical  line  of  argument  here  referred 
to  may,  however,  be  not  unprofitable  if  it  leads  us 
to  examine  closely  the  steps  by  which  the  argu- 
ment advances  from  point  to  point,  sometimes  by 
leaps  and  bounds,  and  sometimes  gradually.  We 
should  then  learn  more  of  the  combination  of 
speculative  audacity  with  artistic  reserve  which  is 
characteristic  of  this  great  writer ;  and  be  less  often 
tempted  to  look  for  exact  logical  coherence  between 
statements  which  are  clothed  in  figures  of  speech. 

Inferences  to  the  same  disintegrating  effect  have 
been  drawn  from  the  style  of  Book  I.,  which  has 
been  thought  to  recall  the  manner  of  the  earliest 
Dialogues.  The  liveliness  of  the  dramatic  por- 
traiture, as  in  the  Protagoras,  and  the  relentless 
handling  of  Thrasymachus,  as  of  Polus  in  the 
Gorgtas,  are  supposed  to  be  notes  of  youthfulness. 
But  no  early  Dialogue,  unless  the  Crito  is  early, 
contains  such  a  mellow  picture  of  unphilosophic 
virtue  as  the  interior  of  the  house  of  Cephalus, 
and  the  question,  "  Can  the  just  man  injure  even 
an  enemy  ? "  shows  a  corresponding  advance  in 
moral  reflection.  While  beneath  the  mask  of 
irony,  which  Socrates  assumes  in  dealing  with 
Thrasymachus,  there  are  veiled  anticipations  even 
of  the  crowning  paradox  that  the  philosopher  is 


STYLE  OF  PLATO  11 

the  only  real  ruler,  and  that  he  only  rules  because 
he  is  compelled  to  do  so  by  the  fear  of  being 
governed  by  the  sham  politicians  of  the  age.  It 
is  also  observed  that  the  remark  of  Socrates  about 
the  unsatisfactory  conclusion  resembles  the  end  of 
the  Protagoras.  But  the  discrepancy  between  the 
two  positions,  that  justice  makes  for  happiness  and 
that  the  true  ruler  governs  not  for  his  own  benefit 
but  for  that  of  the  governed,  is  precisely  calculated 
to  lead  the  way  for  the  enquiry  as  it  is  conducted 
in  the  following  portions  of  the  work. 

The  conception  of  Schleiermacher,  that  Plato's 
Dialogues  taken  as  a  whole  were  intended  to 
evolve  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  by  gradual  steps 
a  system  that  was  already  full  grown  and  complete 
in  the  writer's  mind,  may  with  more  reason  be 
applied  to  the  Republic,  where  the  Platonic 
Socrates  leads  his  hearers  onwards  from  a  simple 
beginning  to  the  matured  results  of  strenuous 
thought. 

K     On  the  Style   of  Plato — Fragmentary  Notes  by 

pike  late  Professor  fowett. — i.    The   form    is  that 

sof  the   very   best   conversation.     It    has    all    the 

'  easy  grace,  the  freedom  of  saying  anything,   the 

perfect     urbanity     and     courtesy     of    the     most 

polished    manners.      You    feel   that  you    are    in 

first-rate    company,    of    which    Socrates    is    the 


12  INTRODUCTORY 

Master.  It  is  also  eloquent  conversation,  in  which 
great  subjects  are  put  forward  in  the  noblest 
language.  And  the  conversation  sometimes 
passes  into  speeches  of  considerable  length,  as 
in  the  Symposium  and  Phcedrus. 

2.  It  is  a  drama,  in  which  there  are  persons,  but 
no  action,  and  only  conversation ;  and  there  are 
situations  such  as  the  preparation  for  the  great 
text,  "  when  kings  are  philosophers  or  philosophers 
kings,"  and  the  re-action  afterwards.  The  dialogue 
has  in  fact  a  certain  relation  to  the  drama  ;  it  could 
not  have  existed  but  for  the  development  of  the 
drama  in  the  previous  century.  And  after  the 
decay  of  the  drama,  the  dialogue  also  decayed. 
There  is  no  proof  that  dialogues  were  written 
before  Plato,  though  they  are  attributed  to  Zeno, 
perhaps  by  Plato  himself,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Parmenides.  They  are  also  attributed  to  Xenophon 
and  Aristotle : — of  the  genuineness  of  the  last 
doubts  may  be  entertained.  The  dialogue  was 
created  by  Plato  and  continued  by  his  imitators-  ' 
an  imitation  which  was  adopted  by  the  Roman*, 
and  by  modern  writers ;  but  no  department  en  f 
literature  has  been  less  successful.  This  mighn  , 
be  illustrated  from  Cicero  and  Berkeley. 

3.  The  perfected  form  of  the  dialogue,  though 
not  always  adopted  by  Plato,  is  the  recitation  of 
a   conversation.      This   gives   the   opportunity   of 


DIALECTIC  13 

description,  as  in  a  modern  novel.  The  dialogue 
thus  resembles  a  romance  as  well  as  a  drama,  and 
a  double  interest  is  thus  created.  A  short 
prologue  is  sometimes  added,  containing  the 
occasion  of  the  dialogue,  as  in  the  Republic,  Phcedo, 
and  Symposium — in  which  we  are  told  about  the 
dramatis  personce.  The  narrator  may  be  an  in- 
significant person,  or  may  be  Socrates  himself,  as 
in  the  Republic.  When  the  object  has  once  been 
gained,  the  prologue  is  soon  laid  aside. 

4.  But  the  conversation,  the  drama,  the  novel  or 
narrative,  pass  into  a  fourth  character — that  of  an 
argument ;  the  thinking  out  of  a  subject  from  vari- 
ous points  of  view,  by  the  intercourse  of  different 
persons.  Dialectic  is  described  as  the  mind  talk- 
ing. That  is  also  the  description  of  the  dialogue. 
It  is  the  mind  arguing  aloud,  illustrating  the  say- 
ing that  there  is  something  to  be  urged  on  both 
sides  of  a  question,  seeking  to  define  popular  or 
ambiguous  terms,  and  often  arriving  at  no  con- 
clusion. These  were  dialogues  of  search,  as  they 
were  called  by  Thrasyllus  and  the  ancients.  The 
principal  speaker  in  them  is  generally  Socrates,  but 
sometimes  the  first  place  is  reserved  to  Protagoras, 
Parmenides,  and  others. 

5.  A  further  aspect  of  the  Platonic  Dialogue 
may  be  noticed  —  it  is  a  criticism  —  a  criticism 
on   popular  notions,  on   the   popular   use   of  Ian- 


14  INTRODUCTORY 

guage,   on    the    Sophists,    and    on    the    previous 
philosophy. 

6.  It  is  the  life  of  Socrates  and  a  description  of 
his  style  of  conversation.  Yet  in  none  of  Plato's 
Dialogues  (except  the  Apology)  is  he  described  as 
an  out-door  preacher,  walking  and  talking  in 
the  streets  of  Athens. 

7.  It  is  a  poem — "  Poema  magis  putandum 
quam  comicorum  poetarum."  Hence  you  must 
expect  a  poetical  rather  than  a  logical  or  sys- 
tematic representation  of  a  subject.  The  truth  is 
not  divided  into  chapters,  or  placed  under  heads. 
It  appears  in  many  aspects,  harmonious  and 
discordant.  Hence  also  the  mythical  element : 
partly  the  old  tradition,  of  which  the  allegorical 
interpretation  has  so  great  a  hold  on  the  minds 
of  men,  partly  the  veil  in  which  the  future  is  half- 
concealed  and  half-revealed,  when,  to  use  an 
expression  of  Platp,  we  have  arrived  at  the  end 
of  the  intellectual  world. 

8.  The  Dialogues  of  Plato  are  very  different  in 
character.  There  is  a  growth  and  also  a  decline 
of  them.  There  are  the  earlier  Dialogues,  such  as 
the  Lysis  and  Charmides,  which  have  more  of 
a  picture,  and  in  which  children  are  introduced  in 
a  very  pleasing  manner ;  the  larger  Dialogues  of 
the  most  perfect  form,  half  imaginative  and  poeti- 
cal, such   as  the   Gorgias,  Phcedrus,  and  Phczdo  ; 


MERITS  AND  DEFECTS  15 

or  those  in  which  the  comic  element  prevails,  as 
in  the  Euthydemus,  Symposium,  Cratylus.  These 
might  also  be  called  satyric  dramas,  for  Socrates 
certainly  has  on  the  Silenus  mask.  Further,  the 
Republic,  in  which  may  be  found  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  Plato ;  the  Parmenides,  the  finest 
piece  of  dialectic  of  them  all,  in  which  the 
joinings  of  the  question  and  answer  are  most 
precise ;  the  later  Dialogues,  such  as  the 
Philebus,  the  Sophist,  and  Politicus,  in  which 
the  metaphysical  element  prevails  ;  the  Laws,  in 
which  the  dialogue  is  reduced  to  a  mere  form — in 
the  last  five  books  it  almost  entirely  disappears 
— and  impedes  rather  than  assists  the  discussion. 
9.  Plato's  is  the  most  perfect  of  styles.  The 
description  of  style  is  always  difficult,  like  the 
description  of  music.  We  mean  to  say,  that  it 
is  more  graceful,  more  simple,  more  idiomatic, 
more  expressive,  more  varied,  more  rhythmical, 
than  any  other.  Yet  it  is  not  free  from  defects : 
(1)  it  is  not  grammatically  accurate;  (2)  it  is  not 
free  from  tautology.  The  observation  of  both 
these  defects  has  a  considerable  bearing  upon 
the  text,  for  when  we  recognise  them  we  no 
longer  want  to  alter  passages  on  the  ground  of 
tautology  or  of  defective  grammar.  The  character 
of  Plato's,  as  of  any  other  style,  can  only  be 
gathered  from  himself. 


M 


16  INTRODUCTORY 


References,  Chapter  I. 

p.  i.  (i)  Plato  was  born  in  428  B.C.,  the  year  of  Pericles' 
death,  and  he  died  in  346  B.C.,  when  the  power  of 
Athens  was  already  threatened  by  Philip  of 
Macedon.  Socrates  was  put  to  death  in  399  e.c, 
and  Plato's  literary  career  began  shortly  afterwards. 
The  Republic  was  probably  produced  about  378  B.C., 
just  when  the  power  of  Thebes  was  rising  as  a 
third  claimant  (tyedpos)  with  Athens  and  Sparta, 
for  supremacy  in  Hellas.  The  books  of  the  Laws 
were  published  after  the  author's  death. 

p.  8.  Symposium,  pp.  185,  188,  212  ;  Phcedo,  pp.  84-88; 
Phcedrus,  pp.  243  and  259. 

p.  9.  Gomperz,  vol.  ii.  (German  edition),  pp.  359,  371  ; 
Nettleship  on  Republic,  pp.  214,  341. 

p.  11.  Schleiermacher's  Introductions  to  Plato,  translated  by 
Dobson. 

p.  12.  (1)  Protagoras,  pp.  316  ff. 

P-  l3-  (3)  Thecetetus,  pp.  142  ff. 
(5)  Sophist,  pp.  242-250. 

p.  14.  (7)  Symposium ;    Phcedrus;  Republic,   Book  X.,   pp. 
614  ff. 


Plate  III. — Bust  of  Plato. 

{Berlin  Museum.) 


[To  face  page  17. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   MORAL  AIM 

I.  The  course  of  speculation  which  owed  its  first 
impulse   to   Socrates  was  primarily   ethical.     His 
lifelong  effort    to   awaken    thought    amongst    his. 
countrymen  was  inspired  with  a  high  mol"al  pur- 
pose and  had  a  deeply  religious  motive.^  He  saw 
that  Athenian  life,  both  public  and  private,  was  on    y 
the  downward  grade.      The  tyrant  city  had   lostV/ 
hold  of  that  principle  of  equity  which,  as  exempli- 
fied in  the  policy  of  Aristides,  had  awakened  the 
enthusiasm  of  ^schylus.     Party  spirit  and  private 
ambition     were     undermining     patriotism.      The' 
revenge  on  Mytilene  and  the  massacre  at  Melos 
showed  the  passion  of  which  the  Democracy  had 
become  the  victim.     The   disastrous  Sicilian  ex- 
pedition, the  outcome  of  an  unbridled  thirst  for 
empire,    had    left    the    remnant    weakened    and 
embittered ;  and  for  a  time  at  least  the  state  haoV 
been   divided   against   herself.     And   though    the 
civil   war   had   ended    in  a  general  amnesty,  the 

B 


18  THE  MORAL  AIM 

restored  Democracy  had  shown  in  many  ways  the 

demoralizing  effects   of  a   long   and   unsuccessful 

\f  struggle.     The   blind   rage  of  the  populace  after 

yArginusae,  which  Socrates  himself  had  witnessed, 
was  a  convincing  proof.  The  lowering  of  the 
/tone  of  society  and  the  progress  of  corruption  in 
domestic  life  are  evident  to  readers  of  Aristo- 
phanes, and  of  the  earlier  orators.  Old  customs 
were  becoming  stale,  and  the  religious  sanction 
which  had  hitherto  sustained  them  was  weakened 
by  the  shallow  enlightenment  which  raised  ques- 
tions that  it  could  not  solve. 

In  the  midst  of  this  confusion  Socrates  had 
sjbt  himself  with  a  deliberate  purpose  to  dis- 
cover the  principle,  which  he  was  confident  would 
provide  the  cure  for  all  these  evils.  The  senti- 
ment of  Justice,  which  had  been  fostered  by  the 
influence  of  the  oracles  at  Delphi  and  Eleusis,  had 
yielded  to  calculations  of  expediency :  traditional 

f associations  had  not  been  proof  against  the  in- 
ds  of  scepticism.  Socrates  sought  to  place 
rality  on  a  foundation  which  could  not  so\ 
dily  be  shaken,  to  discover  principles  of  con- 
it  that  should  be  independent  of  custom  and  , 
nion.  He  looked  for  a  law  of  human  life  thaz 
uld  hold  as  universally  as  the  most  firmly  estab- 
lished natural  law.  Fire  burns  alike  amongst 
Hellenes  and  Barbarians ;   even  so,  could  we  but 


tu.^» 


FROM  SOCRATES  TO  PLATO  19 

know  it,  right  must  be  right  for  all  men  every- 
where. His  method  was  that  of  casual  talk.  Con- 
fessing ignorance  himself,  he  searched  the  thoughts 
of  other  men,  through  a  species  of  cross-examina- 
tion which  would  have  been  impossible  anywh^pg^ 
but  in  conversation-loving  Athens.  His  questions 
always  turned  on  points  immediately  connected 
with  human  life  and  conduct,  individual  and1"^ 
social.  Plato  indeed  speaks  of  him  in  the 
Phcedo  as  having  been,  at  one  time,  fascinated 
by  physical  theories,  and  as  hoping  great  things 
from  Anaxagoras ;  but  in  this  the  disciple  is 
probably  attributing  to  the  Master  his  own  later 
experience.  It  was  indeed  impossible  that  ethical 
speculation  could  long  be  held  apart  from  those 
far-reaching  thoughts  which  Heraclitus  and  Par- 
menides  had  broached  in  the  sixth  and  fifth 
centuries  B.C.,  and  which  in  a  secondary  phase 
pervaded  the  intellectual  atmosphere  in  the  gen- 
eration preceding  Plato. 

The  lifelong  effort  of  Socrates  was  consecrated 
for  his  disciples"  through  the  manner  of  his  death^ 
and  by  Plato  in  particular  it  was  idealized  ah/ 
perpetuated.  To  place  morality  on  a  scientific 
basis  and  so  promote  the  improvement  of 
humanity  was  his  persistent  aim,  pursued  with 
unflinching  tenacity  through  fifty  years ;  but  the 
very    enthusiasm     of   the    pursuit    gave    to    the 


20  THE  MORAL  AIM 

scientific  or  intellectual  ideal  an  emotional  force 
which  could  not  be  separated  from  it.  To  bear 
this  in  mind  is  of  the  first  importance  in  any 
study  of  Plato. 

2.  The  reader   of  the  Republic   is    led    through 
several  stages  from   Socratic  questionings  to  full- 
blown Platonism.     The  Socrates  who  meets  us  on 
the  threshold  in  Book  I.  is  already  the  Platonic 
Socrates,  but  he  resembles  more  the  ironic  provok- 
ing  personality   of  the    Protagoras  ancT  Gorgias 
than  the  philosopher-poet  of  the  Phcedrus,  or  the 
otftmly  contemplative  thinker  of  the  Phcedo.      He 
S//leads  his  respondent  from  a  commonplace  begin- 
/   ning  through  a  maze  of  importunate  questioning 
V  to  a  conclusion   in   which   nothing   is   concluded. 
\\s    in    the    Laches,    Charmides     and    Lysis,    all 
present  are  convinced  of  ignorance,  and  as  in  the 
Protagoras,  the   position  of  Socrates,  as  well    as 
that  of  his  opponent,  is  felt  to  be  logically  unsatis- 
factory.    It  is  assumed  that  Virtue,  like  the  Arts, 
\must  have  a  law  and  principle  of  its  own,  and 
must   consist    in  an   adaptation   of  means    to   a 
\  definite  end ;    and   arguments   from   analogy   are 
adduced  to  prove  that  the  just  man  is  not  a  self- 
seeker,  and  to  raise  a  presumption  that   in  some 
\  way  it  shall  be  well  with  the  just  and  ill  with  the 
^njust;   but  the   thesis    is  not   demonstrated,  for 
justice  has  not  been  defined. 


MORAL  AND  INTELLECTUAL  VIRTUE     21 

As  the  Dialogue  proceeds,  the  topics  raised 
and  the  method  of  dealing  with  them  have  no 
longer  the  Socratic  stamp,  but  belong  to  the 
mental  atmosphere  of  the  time  of  Plato.  The 
first  stage  of  education  is  not  allowed  to  be  com- 
plete until  the  pupil  can  recognise  the  forms  of 
Courage,  Temperance,  and  Justice  in  all  their 
various  manifestations,  and  in  returning  from 
public  to  private  excellence,  the  four  cardinal 
virtues  are  assumed  to  be  an  exhaustive  classifica- 
tion. It  has  been  lately  pointed  out  that  Plato 
is  here  in  advance  of  his  own  earlier  thought :  for 
in  the  Protagoras,  the  virtue  of  Holiness  or  Piety 
is  mentioned  separately  from  Justice,  but  in  the 
Euthyphro  it  is  shown  that  Justice  comprehends 
Holiness,  in  other  words,  that  true  religion  is 
inseparable  from  Morality.  When  in  enumerating 
human  excellences  in  the  praise  of  the  philosophic 
nature  in  Book  VI.,  a  different  set  of  categories 
seems  to  come  into  play,  including,  for  example, 
Gentleness  and  Liberality,  it  may  be  assumed  that 
these  are  also  comprehended  under  the  notion  of 
Justice  or  Righteousness,  which  in  the  end  appears 
to  be  the  basis  of  all  the  Virtues. 

In  describing  the  philosopher  the  notion  of 
virtue  is  otherwise  modified.  For  example,  the 
definition  of  Courage  in  Book  IV.  is  limited  by 
the  epithet  "  civic  "  or  u  political."     That  is  because 


22  THE  MORAL  AIM 

the  ground  has  not  yet  been  prepared  for  the 
higher  notion  of  a  courage  due  to  the  develop- 
ment of  reason,  which  looks  on  death  as  unim- 
portant, because  a  single  life  seems  of  small 
account  to  one  who  is  contemplating  all  time 
and  all  existence,  and  who  can  set  his  face  like 
a  flint  against  every  temptation  to  palter  in  any 
way  with  truth  or  right. 

In  fact,  the  only  just  man  in  the  highest  sense 
is  the  philosophic  ruler,  who  in  Book  IX.  is 
identified  with  the  King,  for  he  alone  has  a 
clear  vision  of  the  supreme  principle  from  which 
all  true  virtue  flows,  and  in  him  alone  the  ideal 
of  righteousness  is  fully  embodied.  The  supreme 
end  towards  which  all  nature  is  dimly  struggling 
is  clearly  known  to  him  ;  he  cannot  do  or  say 
anything  against  the  truth ;  and  the  rules  laid 
down  in  Book  II.  for  all  statements  about  divine 
things  are  to  him  self-evident,  and  not  traditional ; 
viz.,  that  God  is  not  the  author  of  evil,  that  He 
is  unchangeable  and  absolutely  true  in  thought 
and  act  and  word. 

In  considering  the  nature  and  training  of  the 
philosopher,  Plato  is  by  no  means  guided  by  mere 
intellectualism.  The  other  qualities  required  are 
no  doubt  regarded  as  deducible  from  the  love 
of  truth  to  which  they  are  akin,  but  they  cannot 
be   realized  or  developed  through  mere  learning. 


ETHICS  BEFORE  POLITICS  23 

The  philosopher  is  an  all-round  man,  and  in  this 
as  much  as  anything  is  distinguished  from  the 
strange  uncouth  pretenders  with  whom  he  is 
contrasted.  Living  in  a  perfect  state,  he  fulfils 
all  righteousness. 

3.  It  has  become  almost  a  commonplace  amongst 
exponents  of  Greek  Philosophy  to  say  that  the 
Ancients  studied  ethics  through  politics,  that  the 
conception  of  the  state  was  prior  to  that  of  the 
individual,  and  that  moral  as  distinguished  from 
social  science  is  a  plant  of  modern  growth.  But  a 
closer  study  of  the  Platonic  Dialogues  does  not 
wholly  justify  this  view.  What  are  now  generally 
recognised  as  Plato's  earlier  writings,  all  turn  upon 
questions  of  individual  conduct.  In  the  attempts 
to  define  the  separate  virtues  of  Courage,  Temper- 
ance, and  Holiness,  or  to  analyze  the  nature  of 
Friendship,  the  instances  are  drawn  from  in- 
dividual experience,  and  when  the  question  comes 
to  be  concerning  virtue  in  general,  this  is  still 
considered  as  a  personal  attribute.  In  his  conver-*/ 
sation  with  Protagoras,  what  has  been  called  the  (f 
utilitarian  argument  of  Socrates  does  not  con-  rV 
template  "the  greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest 
number,"  but  the  greatest  happiness  of  each  person 
in  the  long  run.  When  Meno  is  asked  how  virtue 
is  acquired,  that  is  still  understood  to  be  the  virtue 
of  the  individual.     The  defence  of  Justice  against 


24  THE  MORAL  AIM 

Ambition  in  the  Gorgias  is  maintained  by  one  who 
abstains  from  public  life  altogether,  and  it  is 
confirmed  by  a  vision  of  judgment,  in  which  every 
soul  is  brought  severally  before  her  Judge. 

It  is  true  that  in  Book  I.  of  the  Republic, 
Thrasymachus  in  answering  the  question  raised 
by  Socrates  rudely  interposes  with  a  ready-made 
theory  of  government  which  is  not  immediately 
relevant.  But  when  the  enquiry  is  resumed  by 
the  two  brothers  in  Book  II.,  the  point  in  debate 
is  the  rule  of  life  for  the  individual, — "Where- 
withal shall  a  young  man  cleanse  his  way?" 
Only  when  it  is  found  difficult  to  determine  this 
apart  from  social  evolution,  Socrates  propounds  his 
theory  of  the  state.  When  the  ideal  common- 
wealth has  been  developed  and  Justice  in  the  state 
has  been  discovered,  the  definition  of  individual 
Justice  is  again  so  personal  as  to  be  hardly 
distinguishable  from  that  of  Temperance,  because, 
as  Gomperz  has  observed,  this  virtue  also  is  still 
regarded  as  a  harmony  of  the  single  life,  without 
any  distinct  acknowledgment  that  it  can  only  be 
truly  conceived  in  relation  to  society,  or  as  Aris- 
\fotle  expresses  it,  " to  another "  (71-/009  erepov). 
1  HThe  whole  work  is  pervaded  by  a  strong  under- 
flying  aspiration  towards  ethical  perfection.  The 
young  life  is  to  be  surrounded  by  influences  from 
\/vhich   all   that   is   unwholesome   or    debasing    is 


CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE  25 

banished,  as  in  a  garden  ground  amid  salubrious 
airs.  Gymnastic  training  is  directed  to  the  attain- 
ment of  absolute  self-control,  and  in  the  higheitb^ 
education  what  is  most  emphasized  is  the  drawing 
forth  of  the  faculty  of  reason,  so  that  each  man 
shall  become  a  law  to  himself.  When  the  im- 
perfect states  have  been  described,  and  the  declen- 
sion through  Oligarchy  and  Democracy  to  Tyranny 
has  been  explained,  imagination  is  finally  concen- 
trated on  the  image  of  a  soul  in  which  passion  has 
entire  dominion  over  reason  ;  and  in  contrast  to 
this,  Socrates  points  to  the  pattern  in  the  Heavens 
after  which  each  man  may  fashion  himself  aright, 
whether  the  ideal  commonwealth  is  ever  realized  or 
not.  Lastly,  the  proof  of  immortality  and  the 
vision  of  judgment  in  Book  X.  are  brought  in  to 
emphasize  the  solemn  responsibility  which  the 
previous  argument  has  laid  on  every  person  who 
considers  it  seriously  : — "  For  great  is  the  issue  at 
stake,  greater  than  appears,  whether  a  man  is  to  be 
good  or  bad.  And  what  will  any  one  be  profitec 
if  under  the  influence  of  honour,  or  money, 
power,  aye,  or  under  the  excitement  of  poetry,  he 
neglect  justice  and  virtue  ?"  (Book  X.,  p.  608). 

4.  The  conception  of  the  State,  in  which  the 
Republic  differs  from  all  previous  dialogues,  marks 
a  distinct  advance  in  Plato's  ethical  theory.  While 
not    departing    from    the   Socratic   principle   that 


ited^ 


26  THE  MORAL  AIM 

virtue  must  be  based  on  knowledge,  or  rather 
from  Plato's  own  conviction  of  the  supremacy  of 
reason,  room  is  here  made  for  the  reality  of  an 
unconscious,  unphilosophic  virtue,  consisting  in 
obedience  to  the  law  that  has  been  prescribed  by 
one  who  has  the  reason  in  himself.  Thus  a  solu- 
tion is  found  for  the  difficulty  which  haunts  the 
Platonic  Socrates  in  the  Protagoras  and  Meno. 
Experience  proved  that  virtue  could  exist  apart 
from  knowledge,  yet  the  conviction  of  Socrates 
that  virtue  and  knowledge  are  inseparable, 
remained  unshaken.  In  the  Meno  such  uncon- 
scious virtue  is  attributed  to  a  divine  instinct  or 
inspiration,  which,  however,  is  of  precarious  tenure 
unless  bound  fast  by  the  force  of  philosophic 
reasoning.  But  in  the  Republic,  through  the  con- 
ception of  a  philosophic  ruler  willingly  obeyed  by 
men  and  women  trained  according  to  reason,  a 
natural  place  is  given  to  what  had  seemed  an 
unaccountable  phenomenon.  And  from  the  point 
of  view  thus  attained,  at  once  more  ideal  and 
more  concrete,  what  had  once  been  a  wild  plant, 
growing  by  the  grace  of  Heaven  at  its  own  sweet 
will,  is  developed  into  a  cultivated  product  that 
finds  a  place  in  the  complete  regenerated  whole. 
/  5.  Plato's  moral  ideal  is  largely  intellectual.  As 
^Socrates  identified  virtue  with  knowledge,  so  in 
Plato's    philosopher   or    perfect    man    rationality 


PYTHAGOREANISM  27 

is  the  predominant  factor.  Nothing  is  further 
from  Plato's  notion  than  an  ethical  theory  which 
develops  conscience  or  the  moral  sense  out  of 
primal  sympathy.  Modern  sentimentalism  would 
have  been  abhorrent  to  his  mind.  But  Reason  does 
not  stand  alone  with  him.  The  famous  image 
of  the  chariot  in  the  Phcedrus,  representing  the 
higher  life  of  man,  includes  the  active  powers. 
The  charioteer  would  be  helpless  without  the  noble 
steed.  So  in  the  Republic,  the  height  of  excel- 
lence is  not  attained  through  contemplation  only. 
The  nature  which  alone  is  capable  of  the  highest 
culture,  has  the  elements  of  courage  and  liberality 
as  well  as  intellectual  aspiration,  and  great  stress 
is  laid  on  the  importance  of  combining  the  gentler 
qualities  belonging  to  a  love  of  learning  with  the 
robustness  and  steadiness  which  are  the  necessary 
conditions  of  strenuous  and  persistent  action.  In 
other  words,  although  the  needful  terminology, 
as  will  be  seen  presently,  had  not  been  invented, 
native  intelligence  is  not  enough  without  a  firm 
will.  Once  more  the  end  and  aim  of  all  philosophy, 
the  ideal  good,  has  a  practical  as  well  as  a  specula- 
tive significance.  This  will  appear  more  fully  in 
the  next  chapter. 

6.  Plato's  ethical  theory  is  largely  coloured  with 
Pythagoreanism.  The  brotherhood  who  owned 
Pythagoras  for  master,  had  flourished  in  a  previous 


4 


28  THE  MORAL  AIM 

generation,  but  the  tradition  of  that  way  of  life, 
uniting  scientific  culture  with  ascetic  virtue,  lived 
on  in  Western  Hellas,  and  was  exemplified  in 
striking  personalities  with  whom  it  is  probable 
that  Plato  himself  had  come  in  contact.  There, 
more/than  in  contemporary  Athens,  he  would  find 
somyfe  image  of  his  master  Socrates. 
/Vcl  he  example  of  Sparta  viewed  from  a  distance 
s  another  influence  which  colours  Plato's  ethical 
theory.  In  sharp  contrast  to  the  volatile  suscepti- 
bility of  the  Athenian,  who  is  caricatured  in  the 
^democratic  man,"  the  sturdy  rigidity  of  Spartan 
habits  presented  an  appearance  of  noble  self- 
control.  The  £lite  of  Lacedaemon,  with  their 
contempt  for  handicrafts,  their  pride  of  birth,  their 
indomitable  valour,  their  traditional  respect  for 
elders,  and  their  obedience  to  rule,  presented  an 
image  which  had  an  irresistible  charm  for  the 
high-born  Athenian,  who  under  the  restored 
democracy  was  dependent  on  the  capricious  policy 
of  a  magistracy  chosen  by  lot.  That  uncensured 
freedom  of  social  life  from  day  to  day  which 
Pericles  had  eulogised,  appeared  to  Plato  as  to 
other  Philo-Laconians  a  dangerous  hindrance  in 
the  way  of  all  reformation.  Gomperz  well  observes 
that  Plato  is  most  severe  against  those  faults  to 
which  his  own  poetic  nature  was  most  prone — 
emotional   sensibility,   mental   impulsiveness,  and 


ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  ETHICS  29 

a  restless  longing  for  change.  However  this 
may  have  been,  the  ascetic  hardness  which  is 
traceable  in  many  passages  of  the  Republic  is 
partly  due  to  a  reaction  from  the  Athenian  towards 
the  Spartan  model. 

7.  Mr  Grote  would  claim  Plato  as  a  supporter 
of   utilitarianism    in    morals,   and    he   quotes   the 
sentence,  "  Nothing  nobler  has  been  said  or  can  be 
said  than  that  the  most  useful  is  always  the  mos^ 
sacred."       In    other   words    utility   is   to   be    the^/ 
measure  of  holiness.     But,  first,  this  is  a  maxim  Or 
statecraft  and  not  of  morality.     Secondly,  it  refers 
not  to  the  end  but  to  the  means ;  and  thirdly,  the 
word  translated  "  useful "  signifies  rather  what   is 
beneficial.     There  is  a  wide  gulf  in  Plato's  vocabu- 
lary between  the  useful  or  even  the  expedient  and 
the  beneficial.     The  end  in  view  is  not  the  greatest^ 
pleasure  of  the  greatest  number,  which  to  Plato  v 
would  sound  like  a  scoff  in  this  connection,  but  the  \/ 
highest  good  of  the  whole,  coinciding  really  with 
what  is  best  for  every  part. 

8.  Plato's  idea  of  life  as  a  balance  or  harmony,  in 
which  feeling  is  controlled  by  volition  under  the 
command  of  reason,  may  be  of  great  value  to  us 
in  the  modern  world,  where  exaggerations  of  all 
kinds,  sentimental,  religious,  individual,  revolution- 
ary, reactionary,  are  continually  threatening, 
spoil  the  sense  of  proportion.     Nor  is  the  balance 


30  THE  MORAL  AIM 

which  he  contemplates  a  mere  inert  or  aimless 
poise  in  which  action  is  suspended  or  weakened. 
Let  a  man  bring  his  desires  into  conformity  with 
reason,  by  educating  aright  his  higher  and  lower 
nature  and  what  comes  between,  in  other  words 
the  powers  of  thought,  of  feeling,  and  of  will ;  and 
then  let  him  act  with  all  his  might.  Although 
some  passages,  as  has  been  lately  said,  seem  to 
point  at  the  suppression  or  minimizing  of  feeling 
or  emotion,  that  is  not  the  impression  which  is 
finally  left  upon  the  mind.  Not  quietism,  but 
reasoned  and  consistent  energy  is  the  lesson 
taught.  /The  man  within  the  Man  is  to  employ 
the  lion  in  subduing  the  baser  elements  below,  but 
he  is  also  to  train  and  cultivate  what  in  the  lower 
nature  is  gentle  and  can  be  made  subservient  to 
high  purposes  in  life?) 

References,  Chapter  II. 

p.  17.  Mytilene,  see  Thucydides,  Book  III.,  cc.  36-50;  and 
for  Melos,  Thucydides,  Book  V.,  cc.  84-116. 

p.  18.  For  Arginusae,  406  B.C.,  see  Xenophon's  Hellenica,  I., 
6  ff ;  Plato,  Apology,  p.  32  B  ;  Gorgzas,  p.  474  A. 

p.  19.  Phcedo,  p.  96  A  ff.  ;  Gomperz,  vol  ii.  (German  edition), 

P-  351. 

p.  21.  (1)  Gomperz,  vol  ii.  (German  edition),  p.  295. 

(2)  Political  courage,  Republic,  IV.,  p.  430  c. 
p.  24.  (1)  Gomperz,  vol  ii.  (German  edition),  pp.  ^78,  379. 

(2)  Aristotle,  Eth.  Nic.  v.  3.  .      . 


REFERENCES  31 

p.  26.  Protagoras,  p.  320  ;  Meno,  pp.  99,  100. 
p.  28.  (1)  The  Democratic  Man   is   described    in   Republic, 
VIII.,  p.  561. 
(2)  Gomperz,  vol  ii.  (German  edition),  p.  401. 
p.  30.  The  man  within  the  Man,  see  Republic,  IX.,  p.  588. 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

"  The  speculation  was  excellent  in  Parmenides  and  Plato, 
though  in  them  only  a  speculation,  that  all  things  by  a  scale 
did  ascend  to  Unity." — Bacon. 

I.  SOCRATIC  enquiry  was  by  no  means  a  philo- 
sophy without  assumptions.    The  Platonic  Socrates 
Xlways  assumes  two  postulates,  which  to  Socrates 
imself  probably  appeared  as  one, — the  existence  of 
^ruth,  the  reality  of  good.     That  was  the  starting- 
point  of  what  proved  a  long  and  tedious  road.    If  it 
be  asked  whether  good  was  sought  for  the  sake  of 
\   truth,  or  truth  for   the   sake   of  good,  it  may  be 
\  replied,  that  in  so  far  as  either  statement  has  a 
Imeaning,  the  latter  is  nearer  to  the  fact.     Insati- 
able   as   was    the    intellectual    curiosity   both    of 
$ocrates  and  Plato,  their  moral  purpose  was  more 
f&r^reaching.     Plato  never  loses  sight  for  a  moment 
of   his   ever-present   object,   the   improvement   of 
.Jnankind.     But  it  was  by  clearing  men's  thoughts 
about  themselves  and  the  conditions  of  their  life, 

32 


EARLIER  PHILOSOPHIES  33 

that  Socrates  had  laboured  to  point  out  the  higher 
way.  He  was  convinced  that  if  mankind  knew 
more  they  would  do  better,  if  they  thought  rightly 
they  would  act  rightly ;  and  hence  the  stress  of 
ethical  reflection  was  concentrated  on  intellectual 
phenomena.  In  following  the  path  thus  opened, 
it  was  inevitable  that  a  mind  such  as  Plato's 
should  endeavour  to  grapple  with  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  thought,  which  from  the  prevailing 
tendency  to  realize  mental  abstractions  he  could 
not  fail  to  identify  with  the  first  principles  of 
existence.  Nature  and  the  human  mind  were  to 
him  inseparable. 

Socrates  appears  to  have  resolutely  turned  away 
from  the  earlier  philosophers,  whose  dogmas 
seemed  to  him  unverifiable,  while  he  made  a 
fresh  beginning  on  the  ground  of  every-day 
experience.  But  it  was  impossible  to  stop  at  the 
point  he  reached.  The  thoughts  of  the  great 
minds  of  the  sixth  century  had  impregnated  the 
intellectual  atmosphere,  and  such  men  as  Gorgias 
and  Protagoras  had  brought  them  nearer  to  the 
restless  intellects  of  Athenian  youth  towards  the 
close  of  the  fifth  century. 

If  we  may  trust  Aristotle,  Plato  had  himself 
in  early  life  been  imbued  with  Heraclitean 
doctrine.  However  this  may  have  been,  both 
these    and    the    Eleatic     subtilties,    or    thoughts 

C 


34       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

derived  from  them,  were  in  the  air,  and  no  course 
of  abstract  reasoning  was  possible  unless  the 
dominant  forces  of  contemporary  thought  were 
critically  examined  and  the  prime  fallacies  which 
vitiated  opinion  could  be  finally  disposed  of. 
Zeno,  applying,  as  he  professed,  the  teaching  of 
Parmenides,  had  brought  his  negative  dialectic  to 
bear  destructively  on  ordinary  thinking,  and  thus 
the  "  unresting  flow  "  of  Heraclitus  was  transferred 
from  nature  to  opinion ;  and  whether  the  Ionian 
or  the  Eleatic  teaching  prevailed,  the  threatened 
result  was  barren  scepticism.  Either  all  pheno- 
mena were  relative  and  nothing  was  absolute  or 
permanent,  or  the  absolute,  if  it  existed,  was  un- 
attainable, unknowable,  and  inexpressible.  Plato 
ultimately  resolved  this  doubt  by  proving  on  the 
one  hand  the  relative  nature  of  the  philosopher's 
yea  and  nay,  and  yet  on  the  other  hand  maintaining 
the  truth  of  both  when  corresponding  to  reality. 
When  he  wrote  the  Republic  he  had  not  quite 
reached  this  point,  but  he  was  approaching  it. 
His  efforts  in  this  direction  are  continually  to  be 
read  between  the  lines.  He  more  than  once 
alludes  to  them  as  the  "longer  way,"  in  which 
his  brothers  would  be  unable  to  follow  him,  and 
the  dialogue  cannot  be  interpreted  without  some 
understanding  of  his  metaphysical  position.  It 
would  be  a  mistake  indeed  to  interpret  everything 


IDEALISM  35 

with  reference  to  those  general  principles  towards 
which  the  Platonic  Socrates  is  gradually  leading 
his  respondents,  for  Plato's  thought,  no  less  than 
his  master's,  was  plunged  in  experience,  to  which 
he  again  and  again  returns,  as  Antaeus  to  his 
Mother  Earth.  The  vein  of  observation  in  him 
is  rich  and  deep;  he  sets  out  from  familiar  facts 
of  life,  and  keeps  them  well  in  view,  but  the 
phenomena  are  continually  focused  and  grasped 
anew  by  the  passion  for  generalization  which  finds 
its  formulated  expression  in  the  doctrine  of  ideas. 
Thus  Plato,  as  it  has  been  said,  walks  and  flies 
alternately  or  rather  at  the  same  time.  Socrates 
had  sought  for  definitions  which  should  be  proof 
against  negative  instances.  In  carrying  this 
process  further  Plato  rose  to  higher  generalities, 
and  could  not  pause  until  he  reached  the  universal. 
In  this  abstraction  from  human  experience  he 
found  the  unity  of  which  the  older  philosophers 
in  different  ways  had  dreamed.  The  fascination 
of  those  earlier  speculations  came  over  him  afresh, 
and  he  wove  their  leading  principles  together  with 
the  living  thought  of  Socrates  into  the  web  of  his 
philosophy.  What  was  at  first  a  theory  of  human 
life  was  thus  extended,  till  it  seemed  to  embrace 
the  universe. 

2.  The  human  intellect,  says  Bacon,  forges  ahead, 
and  finds  no  rest  until  it  overshoots  itself  and  falls 


36       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

back  on  final  causes,  which  after  all  belong  to 
human  nature  and  not  to  the  Universe  or  to  the 
nature  of  things.  Plato's  thought,  no  doubt,  lies 
open  to  this  criticism,  but  not  more  so  than  the 
"  dry  light "  of  Heraclitus  so  dear  to  Bacon  him- 
self, or  the  "  atom  "  of  Leucippus  and  Democritus, 
which  our  natural  philosophers  from  Bacon  down- 
wards have  found  so  rich  in  subsequent  develop- 
ments. All  alike  are  "  anticipations "  in  the 
Baconian  sense, — 

"  Blank  '  forecastings  •  of  a  creature 
Moving  about  in  worlds  not  realized." 

The  beginnings  of  physical  observation  and 
experiment  were  rather  due  to  Hippocrates,  by 
whom  Plato  was  attracted,  but  whom  Bacon  would 
have  classed  with  Gilbert  and  the  other  empirics. 

Generalization,  abstraction,  idealization,  these 
three,  commencing  in  the  ethical  sphere  and  sup- 
ported by  mathematical  analogies,  were  the  main 
elements  or  factors  in  Plato's  doctrine  of  ideas. 
Limited  at  first  to  the  facts  of  human  experience 
on  which  Socrates  discoursed,  the  theory  was 
gradually  extended  to  "a  contemplation  of  all 
time  and  all  existence,"  and  side  by  side  with  the 
speculative  theory  there  was  evolved  a  dialectical 
method,  first  rising  from  particulars  to  universals, 
and  then  dividing  "  according  to  nature  ;  "  and  thus 


DOCTRINE  OF  IDEAS  37 

having  both  an  upward  and  also  a  downward 
way. 

The  doctrine  was  gradually  developed  and  took 
various  shapes  according  to  the  mood  of  the 
philosopher,  the  aspect  which  the  world  presented 
to  him  at  the  time,  and  the  nature  of  the  particular 
questions  which  he  was  considering ;  but  the 
student  can  trace  a  continuous  progress,  not 
from  darkness  to  light,  but  from  haziness  towards 
clearness  and  consistency.  As  contemplation 
widens,  the  method  becomes  more  distinct. 

The  Cratylus  had  ended  with  a  sort  of  dream. 
After  a  vain  endeavour  to  decide  between  the 
rival  doctrines  of  transience  and  permanence 
through  an  analysis  of  language,  in  which  the 
wildest  etymologies  are  proposed,  Socrates  at 
last  suggests  that  truth  is  to  be  sought  not  in 
words  at  all,  but  in  "something  far  more  deeply 
interfused  " — an  L  absolute  reality,  of  which  words 
are  but  the  shadowy  and  imperfect  symbols. 
There,  if  anywhere,  we  may  look  for  permanence 
underlying  change.  The  theory  is  at  first  sur- 
rounded with  a  halo  of  poetical  imagination. 
In  the  Meno  the  controversial  question,  how  to 
enquire  about  what  one  does  not  know,  is  met 
by  a  reference  to  Pindar  and  the  Orphic  poets, 
who  sing  of  immortality  and  of  the  world-wide 
wanderings    of    the    soul.      The    potentiality    of 


38       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

knowledge,  in  the  undeveloped  mind,  is  accounted 
for  by  the  latent  existence  of  thoughts  more  or 
less  forgotten,  belonging  to  the  experience  of  a 
previous  state.  And  this  position  is  exemplified 
through  the  examination  of  a  Greek  slave,  who 
by  means  of  a  few  questions  cunningly  put  is 
brought  to  a  clear  acknowledgment  of  the  truth 
of  a  geometrical  proposition.  Thus  emerges  the 
famous  doctrine  of  Reminiscence  which  some  have 
identified  with  the  substance  of  Plato's  teaching. 
But  it  is  really  only  the  husk  in  which  the  kernel 
is  contained.  It  recurs  afterwards  in  various 
connections,  but  always  accompanied  with  con- 
ceptions of  a  less  mythical  and  more  rational 
cast.  The  Platonic  Socrates  is  reminded  of  it  in 
the  Phcedo,  but  in  the  interval  the  "ideas"  have 
been  much  talked  over,  and  they  are  now  more 
distinctly  conceived  as  eternal  "forms"  or  self- 
existent  unities,  corresponding  to  the  terms  in 
common  use  by  which  we  describe  our  experience, 
especially  in  morals  and  mathematics.  These 
forms  alone  constitute  existence  :  they  are  perfect, 
whereas  experience  and  language  are  imperfect ; 
eternal,  whereas  these  are  changeable.  They  have 
at  once,  a  subjective  and  objective  reality  (to  ev  wlv 
— to  ev  tii  (pvcrei).  In  the  Phcedrus  the  vision  of 
these  absolute  forms  in  the  supra-mundane  sphere 
is  described    amid   gorgeous    imagery,  but   stress 


IDEA  OF  GOOD  39 

is  also  laid  on  the  logical  aspect  of  the  theory 
according  to  which  no  soul  can  enter  into  human 
form  without  the  power  of  understanding  general 
propositions ;  and  an  ideal  method  of  generalizing, 
specializing,  and  classifying  is  developed  in  the 
sequel. 

In  the  Republic  a  further  stage  is  reached.  The 
encroaching  intellect  is  no  longer  contented,  as 
in  the  Phcedo,  with  the  most  stable  hypotheses, 
but  the  philosopher  soars  into  a  region  above  all 
hypotheses,  in  which  every  trace  of  sensible 
experience  has  disappeared.  He  rises  from 
height  to  height  of  abstraction,  till  he  takes 
hold  of  the  idea  of  good,  and  from  this  he 
descends  by  clearly-reasoned  stages,  until  he  has 
grasped  ideally  the  world  of  action  and  sees 
all  natural  kinds  in  their  truth  of  being.  In 
the  idea  of  Good  a  supreme  moral  principle  is 
blended  with  the  highest  generalization,  in  which 
all  formal,  final  and  efficient  causes  are  combined. 
Good,  as  it  was  said  in  the  Phcedo,  where  there 
is  an  anticipation  of  the  same  conception,  is  the 
Atlas  on  whose  shoulders  rests  the  universal 
frame. 

The  idea  of  Good  in  Books  VI.  and  VII.  may 
also  be  compared  with  the  "Ocean  of  beauty" 
which  is  gradually  revealed  to  the  soul  of  the 
philosophic  lover  in  the   Symposium.     But   there 


40       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

the  mind  which  has  been  so  enlightened  is  allowed 
to  rest  in  the  contemplation  of  the  universal,  which 
"  after  toil  and  storm  "  it  has  attained.  The  more 
concrete  conception  developed  in  the  latter  portion 
of  the  Phcedrus,  requiring  division  "according  to 
nature,"  as  the  counterpart  of  sound  generalization, 
or  the  image  in  Book  VI.  of  the  higher  reason 
descending  through  a  chain  of  ideal  forms  to  the 
lowest  species,  is  not  yet,  in  the  Symposium, 
distinctly  present  to  the  thinker's  mind.  The 
analogy  of  Mathematics  gave  what  seemed  a 
confirmation  to  Plato's  theory.  No  two  objects 
of  sense  are  exactly  equal.  Yet  we  can  think 
of  exact  quantity  ;  and  on  this  basis  men  have 
built  a  superstructure  of  truths  which  are  un- 
questioned and  self-evident.  Why  may  not  a 
corresponding  certainty  be  attained  in  moral 
and  metaphysical  enquiry?  Such  a  result  was 
the  goal  of  Plato's  endeavour,  and  at  the  time 
of  writing  the  Republic  he  was  confident  of  having 
it  within  reach. 

3.  The  objects  of  sense  are  transient,  shifting, 
contradictory,  but  the  mind  can  rise  beyond  them, 
to  the  contemplation  of  truths  which  are  per- 
manent, stable,  and  consistent.  That  such  truths 
are  abstractions  from  sense,  that  they  are  after 
all  relative  to  experience,  notions  attained  through 
generalization    and    needing   to   be   verified,    is   a 


1 


LATER  DEVELOPMENTS  41 

thought  which  at  some  moments  floated  before 
Plato's  mind ;  but  in  the  transcendent  glow  of 
enthusiasm  which  attended  his  discovery,  such 
reflections  were  swallowed  up  in  the  excess  of 
light.  As  Jowett  said  in  the  Essay  on  Natural 
Religion,  "  they  were  not  ideas  but  gods ;  pene- 
trating the  soul  of  the  disciple,  providing  the 
instruments  of  every  kind  of  knowledge." 

Plato  could  hardly  realize  that  his  ideal  doctrine 
was  a  vacant  scheme,  the  reflex  of  his  own  highest 
thought,  to  be  filled  up,  if  at  all,  through  many 
ages  of  scientific  labour.  And  yet  in  some  ways 
philosophy  seems  now  to  be  at  last  returning 
towards  the  unity  of  conception  that  marked  her 
origin.  She  is  growing  weary  of  dry  generaliza- 
tions and  a  sterile  intellectualism,  and  as  Plato 
attributed  to  his  ideas  not  only  truth,  but  power, 
so  recent  thinkers  have  tended  to  combine  the 
notions  so  long  sundered,  of  thought  and  reality. 
Thus  Mr  Percy  Gardner,  in  his  suggestive  work, 
the  Exploratio  Ev angelica,  says  that  Ideas,  as  con- 
ceived by  Plato,  "  are  not  mere  abstractions,  but 
real  existences  pregnant  of  results,  efficient  as 
well  as  formal  causes,  endued  with  life  and  motion." 

A  time  arrived,  however,  when  the  difficulties 
inherent  in  the  doctrine  became  clearly  apparent 
to  Plato  himself.  These  are  elaborately  stated  in 
the  Parmenides  and  Thecetetus,  and  the  discussion 


42       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

of  the  questions  which  arise  in  consequence  opens 
the  way  for  metaphysical  developments  of  great 
subtilty  and  convincing  clearness.  In  this  way 
distinct  progress  was  made  in  the  two  sciences 
*  Logic  and  Psychology.  On  both  these  subjects, 
a,  :ordingly,  it  is  necessary  to  add  a  few  words. 

4.  The  contrast  of  Universal  and  Particular  is1 
involved  in  every  proposition  whether  affirmative 
or  negative,  and  the  resolution  of  doubts  hence 
arising  is  necessary  not  only  to  philosophy  but 
to  the  use  of  language. 

The  consciousness  of  speculative  difficulties 
gives  a  new  turn  to  Plato's  thoughts.  The  Ideas 
are  by  no  means  relinquished,  but  they  change 
their  complexion.  The  philosopher  has  become 
aware  of  an  element  of  relativity  in  the  ideal 
world,  and  of  the  need  of  a  new  theory  of  pro- 
duction (yeve<ri$)  and  of  perception.  He  en- 
deavours to  clear  the  ground  through  a  criticism 
of  previous  philosophies.  Old  questions  arise  in 
a  new  shape.  How  is  error  possible?  What  is 
implied  in  negation?  What  is  the  criterion  of 
truth?  As  the  bright  haze  passes  off  from  the 
thinker's  vision,  the  Ideas  are  seen  as  no  longer 
separable  from  their  embodiments ;  the  mind 
returns  to  a  contemplation  of  the  actual  world  of 
growth  and  decay,  but  always  in  the  light  of  the 
Ideal.     Processes  of  all  kinds,  above  all  the  great 


METAPHYSICS  AND  PSYCHOLOGY         43 

process  of  the  Universe,  excite  an  inexhaustible 
interest,  and  the  root  notions  which  are  identified 
with  supreme  existence  are  no  longer  regarded 
as  " summa  genera"  but  as  a  kind  of  categories  . 
pervading  and  conditioning  all  beneath  them 
Already  in  the  Thecetetus,  Being  and  Not-bein&v 
Likeness  and  Unlikeness,  Same  and  Other,  are 
notions  of  the  mind  concerning  sensible  things. 
So  a  modern  thinker,  whom  Kant  has  convinced 
that  the  transcendental  "thing  in  itself"  is  incon- 
ceivable, might  set  himself  to  prove  that  relativity 
is  reconcilable  with  the  subjective  Universal. 

In  imaginative  passages,  such  as  the  opening  of 
the  Timceus  or  the  myth  in  the  Politicus,  the  old 
dualism  with  the  doctrine  of  pre-existence  and  of 
transmigration  ever  and  anon  recurs,  accom- 
panied with  the  religious  feeling  which  has 
deepened  with  time ;  but  in  the  metaphysical 
discussion,  which  becomes  more  and  more  formal 
and  exact,  the  logical  aspect  of  philosophical 
questions  is  presented  with  increasing  clearness, 
until  in  the  Laws  speculation  gives  place  to 
methodical  application. 

All  this  has  little  to  do  with  the  Republic.  But 
it  was  necessary  to  warn  the  reader  that  in  this 
Dialogue  Plato's  metaphysical  theory  had  not  yet 
reached  its  final  stage. 

5.  A  corresponding  growth  or  transition  is  per- 


44       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

ceptible  in  his  psychology.  And  here  also  the 
Republic  holds  a  middle  or  transitional  place. 
The  soul  whose  immortality  is  the  subject  of  the 
Phcedo  was  there  asserted  to  be  one  and  indivisible, 
a  simple  substance  without  parts.  But  this  view, 
as  Gomperz  observes,  is  not  consistently  main- 
tained, for  there  are  souls  in  Hades  who  are  still 
immortal,  although  the  lower  elements  in  them 
have  triumphed  over  the  higher.  Notwithstanding 
some  brilliant  glimpses,  such  as  the  clear  state- 
ment of  the  law  of  association  (like  other  pregnant 
utterances  occurring  incidentally),  the  psychology 
of  the  Phcedo  is  still  inchoate.  The  vision  in  the 
Phcedrus  is  more  distinct  The  soul  is  there 
a  composite  nature,  comprising  higher  and  lower 
impulses,  of  which  the  former  are  willingly 
obedient  to  reason,  all  three  (the  charioteer  and 
the  two  horses)  having  seen  the  truth  in  a  former 
state.  That  vision  gave  the  hint  for  the  tripartite 
analysis  of  the  soul  in  the  Republic,  which  does 
not,  however,  proceed  exactly  on  the  same  lines. 

For  the  spirited  element  in  the  Republic  is  not 
a  precise  repetition  of  the  white  or  noble  steed 
of  the  Phcedrus  myth.  Though  it  takes  part  with 
the  higher  faculty  in  the  conflict  of  reason  with 
desire,  yet  it  can  be  injuriously  softened  and 
weakened,  or  hardened  and  barbarized  by  bad 
training,  and  may  even  lose  the  lion-nature  and 


IDEA  AND  WILL  45 

degenerate  into  a  malicious  ape.  It  must  also  be 
observed  that  the  threefold  classification  is  said  at 
the  time  to  be  provisional  and  not  exhaustive,  and 
that  in  Book  X.,  under  the  fine  allegory  of  the  statue 
of  the  marine  god  Glaucus,  the  doubt  is  hinted 
whether,  after  all,  in  her  true  nature,  the  individual 
soul  is  many  or  one.  In  fact,  the  problem  of 
the  one  and  many,  which  was  by-and-by  to  be 
so  troublesome,  has  already  risen  upon  the  horizon. 
In  the  TimcBusy  Jhe  tripartite  division  re-appears, 
but  both  the  lower  faculties  of  anger  and  desire 
are  attributed  only  to  the  mortal  state,  and  the 
soul  when  she  gladly  escapes  at  death  leaves 
them  behind. 

Ancient  philosophy  has  no  term  exactly  corre- 
sponding to  volition  or  will-power.  Even  in 
Aristotle  the  nearest  analogue  is  "that  which 
chooses "  (to  Trpoaipov/Jievov)  or  that  "  leads  the 
way  "  (to  tjyov/xevov).  But  it  would  be  a  mistake  of 
verbalism  to  suppose  that  therefore  the  active 
powers  are  omitted  in  Plato's  scheme.  The  soul 
is  the  first  principle  of  all  motion,  of  all  activity. 
It  matters  little  whether  the  charioteer  or  the 
white  horse  is  the  prime  mover,  for  they  are 
really  one.  In  the  analysis  of  the  Republic,  the 
word  translated  by  "  spirit "  or  "  spirited  element " 
corresponds  most  nearly  to  our  notion  of  will. 
But  it  has  also  associations  that  belong  to  Butler's 


46       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

principle  of  "  Resentment,"  and  contains  a  passion- 
ate element  from  which  the  modern  notion  is 
exempt.  But  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  the 
Philosopher-King  this  principle  is  no  less  highly 
trained  and  only  less  prominent  than  con- 
templative reason.  He  is  not  a  thinker  only, 
but  a  ruler  of  men. 

In  the  Laws  the  Athenian  stranger  surprises 
us  with  the  possibility  of  an  evil  soul,  else  how 
account  for  the  predominance  of  evil  in  the  world  ? 
That  evil  should  prevail  finally  in  the  spiritual 
region,  is  of  course  not  believed  for  a  moment; 
but  it  is  evident  that  in  these  enquiries,  though 
he  made  substantial  progress,  Plato  never  arrived 
at  absolute  clearness.  In  Republic,  Book  VII.,  the 
psychological  problem  is  approached  from  the 
intellectual  side.  The  transition  from  mere 
sense  perception  to  active  thought  is  very  subtly 
described,  but  in  a  manner  which  shows  that 
the  more  finished  analysis  of  the  Thecetetus  had 
not  yet  been  worked  out,  though  it  may  have 
been  projected  as  part  of  the  "  longer  way."  Nor 
had  the  definition  of  thought  as  the  soul's  dialogue 
with  herself,  or  the  fine  distinctions  of  the 
Philebus,  between  memory,  recollection,  and 
imagination,  been  as  yet  elaborated. 

The  new  psychology  of  to-day  is  haunted  by 
corresponding  doubts.     The  phenomena  of  double 


NATURE  OF  THE  SOUL  47 

consciousness,  of  sub-conscious  and  pre-conscious 
conditions,  of  somnambulism  and  hypnotism,  are 
the  subject  of  enquiries  which  are  still  in  progress, 
and  the  investigator  is  looking  forward  to  a  time 
when,  as  Plato  says,  "  we  shall  see  the  soul  as  she 
really  is,  and  whether  she  have  one  form  or  many." 
"Of  her  affections  and  of  the  forms  which  she 
takes  in  this  present  life,"  we  have  not  "said 
enough,"  but  as  much  as  there  is  room  for  in 
this  little  volume. 


p.  33.  On     Heraclitus     and     Parmenides,     see     especially 

Gomfterz,  vol  i.  (English  translation),  pp.  66  ff., 

166    ff.  ;     Plato's    Thecetetus    (Clarendon    Press 

Edition) :     Appendix, 
p.  35.  Bacon's  Novum  Organon,  Aph.  XLVIII. 
p.  36.  (1)  Bacon's  Novum  Organon,  Aph.  LXIII.,  LXXI. 

(2)  Hippocrates   praised  by   Plato  in  the  Phcedrus, 

p.  270. 
p.  37.  (1)  Cratylus,  pp.  439,  440. 

(2)  Meno,  pp.  81  ff. ;  Phcedo,  p.  72  E. 
p.  38.  Phcedo,  p.  103  B  ;  Phcedrus,  p.  249  B  C. 
p.  39.  For  Good  as  the  first  cause,  see  Phcedo,  p.  99  c  ;  and 

for  the  Ocean  of  beauty,  Symposium,  p.  210  d. 
p.  40.  Phcedo,  p.  74  A. 
p.  41.  Jowett's  Essay  on  Natural   Religion   (2nd    vol.    of 

3rd  edition  of  St  Paul's  Epistle,  p.  222) 
p.  42.  Clarendon  Press  Edition  of  Plato's  Republic,  vol  ii., 

pp.  26-46. 
p.  43.  (1)  For   Plato's   criticism   of  previous    philosophies, 

see  especially  the  Sophist,  pp.  242  c-249  D. 
(2)  Thecetetus,  pp.  184C-185B. 


48       THE  METAPHYSICAL  BACKGROUND 

p.  44.  (1)  Phcedo,  p.  78  B  ff. 

(2)  Law  of  Association  ;  see  Phado,  p.  j$. 

(3)  On  the  spirited  element ;  see  especially  Republic, 

Book  III.,  p.  411  ;  Book  IX.,  p.  590 B. 
p.  45.  (1)  For    the    statue   of   the    marine    god,    Glaucus, 
see  Republic,  Book  X.,  p.  611. 

(2)  Timaus,  p.  69  D. 

(3)  Aristotle,  Eth.  Nic.  iii.  5. 

p.  46.  (1)  For  the  evil  soul,  see  Laws,  Book  X.  p.,  896  E> 

(2)  Thecetetus,  p.  189E;  Sophist,  p.  263  E  ;  Philebusx 
PP-  38,  39- 


CHAPTER   IV 

SOCIAL  AND   POLITICAL  ASPECTS 

i.  Among   the  subjects  of  Socrates'  persistent 
questioning  as  enumerated  by  Xenophon,  besides 
the  nature  of  virtue  and  of  the  several  virtues, 
were   problems   aimed  at  a  definition   of  huma^* 
society.     What  is  a  state?     What  is  governmenV?  y. 
What  is  it  to  be  a  ruler  of  men?     Of  Platonic 
Dialogues  probably  earlier  than  the  Republic,  the 
only  one  in  which   a   theme  of  this  character   is 
at     all  -  developed     is     the    Euthydemus,    where 
the  Platonic  Socrates   leads  an  ingenuous  youth 
through   a   maze   of  cross-questioning   to   a  con- 
sideration of  the  royal  science  of  political  wisdom,   y 
In  the  Republic,  for  the  first  time,  political  theory^ 
is  brought  seriously  to  the  aid  of  ethics.     The  pre- 
vailing notion  ridiculed  in  the  Gorgias  and  long 
afterwards  controverted  in  the  Laws,  that  the  first 
duty  of  every  government  is  to  maintain  itself  in 
power,  is   caricatured    in   the   person   of  Thrasy- 
machus,  and  is  traversed  by  the  Platonic  maxim, 

40  D 


JIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 


>  all  government  is  for  the  sake  of  the 
governed.  This  thesis  is  supported  by  the 
familiar  analogy  of  the  Arts.  But  the  doubts 
of  Glaucon  and  Adeimantus  are  not  thus  satisfied. 
Socrates  therefore  goes  back  to  the  origin  of 
society,  and  formulates  the  fundamental  principle 
of  the  division  of  labour,  on  which  ultimately  the 
definition  of  Justice  in  the  State  is  based.  As 
the  commonwealth  becomes  more  complex  and 
artificial  wants  arise,  opposing  interests  are 
developed  and  war  becomes  inevitable.  Hence 
one  special  function  of  the  highest  importance 
is  that  of  a  body  of  defenders  and  protectors,  who 
are  to  hold  in  check  any  possible  assaults  of  evil 
from  without  and  from  within.  Plato  never 
arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  there  is  "  a  soul  of 
goodness  in  things  evil,"  but  he  is  aware  that  in 
the  actual  world,  the  presence  of  Evil  is  a  condition 
of  Good,  giving  the  necessary  stimulus  to  bene- 
ficent activity.  The  "  Guardians "  are,  to  begin 
with,  a  standing  army  formed  by  selection  from 
the  citizens  themselves,  and  their  commanders, 
elected  in  the  first  instance  according  to  seniority 
and  merit,  are  the  destined  rulers  of  the  state. 

To  arrive  at  this  point,  Plato  has  employed  an 
ingenious  combination  of  experience  and  general- 
isation. That  men  have  need  of  one  another  is 
matter  of  experience.     That  each  can  serve  others 


DIVISION  OF  LABOUR 

best  by  keeping  to  his  proper  work  is  a  plau. 
observation  somewhat  naively  put,  but  one  which 
veils  the  main  object  which  Plato  had  in  view. 
He  is  preparing  for  the  cardinal  distinction  of 
deliberative,  executive,  and  industrial  functions, 
corresponding,  as  Plato  fancied,  to  the  tripartite 
division  of  the  soul.  He  is  far  from  conceiving 
the  unlimited  application  of  the  new  principle. 
Had  he  imagined  the  minute  ramifications  of 
mechanical  labour  .in  the  modern  world,  he  would 
have  been  amazed  and  horrified.  He  says,  indeed, 
that  human  nature  is  coined  into  a  multiplicity  of 
units,  but  he  could  not  realize  the  full  significance 
of  his  own  remark.  Had  he  done  so,  he  would 
have  appealed  from  the  abstraction  of  unity  to  the 
other  abstraction  of  the  whole.  Humanity,  he 
would  have  said,  even  in  its  lowest  forms,  must  not 
be  reduced  to  such  miserable  shreds.  The  cobbler, 
even,  is  not  a  cobbler  only,  but  a  citizen  of  the 
state,  still  less  may  any  one  in  the  form  of  man 
be  confined  to  the  production  of  one  part  of  a 
shoe. 

From  the  principle  once  established  are  deduced 
the  conditions  under  which  the  saviours  of  society 
are  to  live.  One  man  one  function  ;  therefore  the 
soldier  must  not  be  a  trader ;  he  must  not  have 
property  to  look  after,  nor  a  separate  home.  The 
consequences  of   this  triumph  of  abstraction  will 


.yiAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 

.nsidered  afterwards.  Again,  the  whole  state 
po  not  to  be  many  but  one ;  hence  limits  must  be 
assigned  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  else  under 
the  appearance  of  one  commonwealth  there  will 
be  two  communities  at  least,  one  of  the  rich, 
another  of  the  poor.  The  guardians  are  to  be  on 
the  watch  against  two  great  dangers,  the  extremes 
of  wealth  and  poverty.  How  they  are  to  provide 
against  these  is  not  clearly  stated,  but  some  hints 
are  given  in  treating  of  the  decline  of  states,  and 
the  task  here  left  to  the  wisdom  of  the  rulers  is 
met  with  definite  regulations  in  the  Laws. 

Adeimantus  interposes.  He  cannot  bear  that 
the  guardians  should  have  no  private  property. 
They  hold  the  state  in  their  hands,  yet  not  one 
of /them  is  to  call  anything  his  own.  How  is 
v  happiness  possible  in  such  a  case?  To  this 
\  Socrates  replies  that  in  forming  our  ideal  state 
we  are  not  to  think  of  the  happiness  of  a  part — 
even  of  the  highest  part — but  of  the  welfare  of  the 
whole.  And  yet  it  may  be  that  the  true  happi- 
ness of  the  part  also  may  thus  be  best  consulted. 

2.  The  idealizing  process  advances.  What  is  at 
fy&t  described  as  a  standing  army  is  transformed 
into  a  deliberative  and  executive  government, 
watching  over  the  welfare  of  the  community,  whose 
^willing  obedience  would  seem  to  give  the  rulers 
little   to   do.      For  the  state  as  a  whole  is  to  be 


VERSATILITY  DISCOURAGED  53 

virtuous,  and  this  implies  the  perfect  compliance  of 
the  industrial  population,  the  unimpeded  energy  of 
the  whole  class  of  guardians,  the  absolute  wisdom 
of  the  rulers.  What  was  at  first  an  aggregation 
of  separate  units,  has  now  developed  into  a 
harmony  of  component  parts.  That  the  recru- 
descence of  evils  will  be  averted,  that  the  delibera- 
tive body  will  make  perfect  plans  which  their 
administrative  subordinates  will  entirely  execute, 
and  to  which  the  subject  people  will  submit  with- 
out a  murmur,  is  assumed  as  a  consequence  of  the 
main  principle  of  a  perfect  education.  To  this 
point,  on  which  all  else  is  supposed  to  hinge,  we 
shall  return  in  a  separate  chapter. 

When  Athens  was  in  her  glory,  Pericles 
eulogised  the  versatility  of  the  average  Athenian, 
his  power  of  acting  effectually  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment,  of  rising  to  all  emergencies,  and 
fulfilling  the  most  varied  tasks  with  equal  grace. 
So  it  was  once  said  of  an  English  statesman 
that  he  was  equally  ready  to  lead  the  House 
of  Commons  and  to  command  the  Channel 
fleet.  Plato  had  seen  the  defects  of  these 
qualities ;  he  had  looked  upon  the  reverse  of 
the  shield.  The  tortoise  had  beaten  the  hare 
in  the  race  for  supremacy,  and  had  proved  the 
case,  as  it  appeared,  in  favour  of  firm  order  as 
against    unbridled   liberty,   impressing   thoughtful 


54         SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 

minds  with  the  value  of  that  incessant  training 
and  that  ingrained  respect  for  authority  which 
Pericles  encouraged  his  countrymen  to  disregard. 

Plato  also  inherited  some  of  the  prejudices  of 
an  aristocratic  house.  His  contempt  for  the 
mechanical  arts,  his  exclusive  treatment  of  the 
upper  classes,  his  neglect  of  the  navy,  are 
/  characteristic  of  the  high-born  Athenian.  In 
some  ways  he  reacts  against  these  tendencies, 
but  their  influence  is  not  to  be  ignored,  and  these 
partly  account  for  the  rigidity  of  his  social  system 
when  compared  with  modern  ideals.  Modern 
enlightenment  tends  to  obliterate  class  distinc- 
tions, and  to  make  education  universally  acces- 
,  sible,  whereas  Plato's  constitution  presupposes  a 
^  system  of  caste.  But  this  is  not  to  be  interpreted 
too  literally.  He  is  careful  to  provide  by  the 
way  for  occasional  transitions  from  lower  to 
higher,  and  from  higher  to  lower,  and  the  hardness 
of  the  lines  of  demarcation  is  partly  due  to  the 
exigencies  of  literary  arrangement.  The  form  of 
the  work  requires  that  one  subject  should  be 
\  treated  at  a  time,  and  hence  the  different  parts 
of  the  commonwealth  are  separated  in  appearance 
more  than  in  reality. 

But  the  fact  remains  that  Plato  has  left  almost 
unconsidered  the  condition  of  the  industrial  classes 
who    form   the   bulk   of    his    population.     A    few 


DISTINCTION  OF  CLASSES  55 

spattered  hints  regarding  them  may  be  gathered 
^here  and  there,  but  their  welfare  is  absolutely 
\dependent  on  the  wisdom  of  the  rulers  and  the 
vigilance  of  the  executive.  The  cobbler  is  to 
stick  to  his  last,  and  the  retail  dealer  to  his  booth  ; 
the  agriculturist  only  leaves  his  farm  to  purchase 
what  he  requires  for  professional  use.  No  one 
is  to  make  a  fortune,  none  are  to  be  impoverished. 
But  from  these  and  other  like  considerations,  such 
as  the  troublesome  problem  of  population,  the 
mounting  spirit  of  the  idealist  passes  to  higher 
things,  and  it  is  only  when  the  state  is  viewed  in 
its  decline  that  they  are  again  confronted.  Yet 
when  the  tendencies  of  ancient  political  specula- 
tion are  taken  into  account,  instead  of  wondering 
at  the  sharpness  of  the  distinctions,  we  should 
rather  welcome  the  admission  that  a  gold  or 
silver  child  may  possibly  be  born  of  parents  who 
are  themselves  composed  of  brass  and  iron. 

3.  One   class   must   rule,   another    must    obey, 
whether  through  some  hereditary  right  of  conquest 
or  in  consequence  of  internal  struggles.     It  was  a  / 
postulate  of  ancient  thought  that  human  life  must 
be  controlled  by  some  external    authority.     The  *** 
speculation    in    the   Republic    inevitably   takes    a 
similar    form.      But    to    profit   by  Plato's   views*? 
the   modern   reader   must  penetrate  beneath  the  \ 
form    to   the    spirit   which    animates    the    worjcj 


56         SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 

And  Plato  himself  encourages  us  to  this,  by  the 
extreme  generality  of  the  discussion.  Unlike  the 
Laws,  the  Republic  contains  very  few  regulations 
in  detail.  The  whole  argument  turns  on 
principles  rather  than  on  rules.  If  Plato  could 
have  imagined  a  state  of  humanity  in  which  all 
men  should  receive  a  tincture  of  philosophy, 
there  is  little  doubt  that  he  would  have  rejoiced 
to  contemplate  it.  Even  in  the  Republic^  he  will 
not  allow  "  the  many "  to  be  run  down.  Moses 
said,  "Would  God  all  the  Lord's  people  were 
prophet^"  and  Milton  at  one  time  believed  that 
it  was  so.^  And  we  on  our  part  do  not  relinquish 
the  pious  wish  that  knowledge  may  be  one  with 
power,  that  true  thought  may  have  free  scope, 
and  that  practical  minds  may  accept  the  ruling 
of  the  thinker.  The  life,  whether  of  individual 
or  community,  that  is  not  guided  by  wisdom,  is 
anarchic  and  weak ;  and  the  best  hope  for  thev 
world  lies  in  believing  that  in  spite  of  caprice  v 
and  selfishness,  there  is  a  tide  setting  towards^ 
the  true  ideal,  and  that  it  is  possible  to  reach 
down  to  this  deeper  current,  and  to  be  led  by  it. 
There  is  an  authority,  not  visibly  embodied, 
whose  divine  right  makes  itself  gradually  though 
obscurely  felt ;  there  is  a  nobility,  not  of  birth 
in  the  vulgar  sense,  but  yet  of  nature,  which  is 
acknowledged   by  a   sure   instinct   in    other  men. 


I 


FROM  THOUGHT  TO  ACTION  57 

There  is  an  obedience  voluntarily  yielded  to  con- 
viction though  refused  to  claims  that  have  not  the 
stamp  of  reason.  There  is  modest  labour  directed 
to  a  single  result,  and  therefore  fruitful,  under  the 
guidance  of  wise  thought  and  the  active  super- 
intendence which  that  thought  inspires. 

To  take  an  example  from  the  progress  of 
modern  science.  Some  natural  philosopher  dis- 
covers the  principles  of  electricity,  or  the  electro- 
magnetic theory  of  light.  The  mechanical  inventor 
consequently  arrives  at  a  scheme  of  wireless 
telegraphy,  or  the  production  of  rays  which 
penetrate  through  folds  of  flesh :  and  in  the  third 
remove  the  practical  mechanician  in  innumerable 
instances  carries  out  the  principle  which  one 
original  mind  had  grasped,  and  others  less  original 
but  active  and  keen  had  followed  into  special 
applications.  With  less  of  certainty  and  amidst 
continued  disputings,  something  like  this  may 
be  dimly  discerned  in  the  political  conducf~oF~ 
progressive  communities.  There  are  the  practical 
statesmen  who,  sooner  or  later,  as  opportunity 
offers,  bring  the  ideas  to  bear,  and  there  is  the 
multitude  of  intelligent  persons,  who  at  this  stage 
accept  the  established  principle  and  are  willing  to 
act  upon  it.  From  Adam  Smith  or  Ricardo, 
through  Cobden  and  Peel  to  the  British  Chambers 
of    Commerce,   we    have    a   succession    similarly 


58         SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 

answering  to  the  rulers,  the  subordinate  guardians, 
and  the  mass  of  citizens.  Such  is  the  deeper 
current,  unruffled  by  the  contentious  winds  that 
sweep  over  the  surface  of  society :  the  tide  which 
must  sooner  or  later  carry  onward  the  main  of 
waters.  By  working  with  it  and  not  against  it, 
we  may  hope  to  hasten  that  result,  for  as  has 
been  shrewdly  observed,  no  Millennium  will  ever 
come  unless  we  make  it. 
I  rlato  is  keenly  alive  to  the  dangers  arising  from 
^he  excessive  accumulation  of  wealth  as  well  as  to 
those  attending  over-population  or  the  reverse.  In 
the  Laws,  where  special  regulations  are  enacted  to 
obviate  such  disasters,  allowance  is  made,  within 
limits,  for  differences  of  outward  fortune,  and  the 
lowest  class  who  have  no  stake  in  the  country  are 
exempted  from  the  necessity  of  voting.  In  leaving 
them  free  to  vote,  it  is  implied  that  even  the 
humblest  citizen  who  is  sufficiently  interested  in 
public  affairs  to  leave  his  work  for  the  polling- 
booth,  need  not  be  wanting  in  intelligence  and 
judgment.  But  in  the  Republic,  the  industrial 
population  from  the  farmer  down  to  the  shoemaker 
have  no  part  at  all  in  the  government,  which  acts 
entirely  from  above.  It  is  left  wholly  undeter- 
mined on  what  conditions  the  industrial  classes  are 
to  cultivate  the  land,  and  under  what  regulations 
produce  of  all  kinds  is  to  be  distributed.     Duties 


THE  DIVINE  LEGISLATOR  59 

are  to  some  extent  indicated,  but  the  question  of 
rights  is  nowhere  considered. 

The  world  has  learned  by  bitter  experience  the 
futility  of  sweeping  revolutionary  changes,  the  im- 
possibility of  "  a  clean  state,"  the  gradual  means  by 
which  alone  lasting  progress  can  be  effected.  We 
cannot  banish  all  undesirables  if  we  would.  Still 
less  will  our  religion  permit  of  other  methods  at 
which  Plato  hints,  by  which  he  would  purge  the 
human  hive.  Nor  are  we  prepared  to  follow  his  -* 
attempt  to  embody  moral  conceptions  in  hard  and 
fast  social  regulations.  Such  notions  belonged  to 
the  ancient  world,  to  whom  the  long  vista  of  subse- 
quent history  was  inconceivable.  But,  all  this  not- 
withstanding,  the  thoughts  of  a  great  mind  "  on* 
man,  on  nature,  and  on  human  life "  in  a  time  of 
vivid  experience,  have  an  imperishable  value.  \^^ 

4.  No  Greek  philosopher  was  fully  aware  of  the 
truth  expressed  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh  that 
"  constitutions  are  not  made,  but  growy'  They  all 
assumed  that  as  Solon  and  Lycurgus  had  given 
their  impress  to  the  Athenian  and  Spartan  consti- 
tutions, so  the  state  of  the  future  must  have  its 
original  legislator,  whose  laws  in  their  main  outline 
would  be  eternally  binding.  They  contemplated 
radical  changes  to  be  effected  at  a  bound.  "  When 
once  a  commonwealth  is  started  on  right  lines," 
says  Plato,  "  it  goes  on  prosperingjmd  to  prosper." 


60         SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 

Yet  with  all  his  confidence  of  supreme  optimism, 
he  is  aware  of  the  appalling  difficulty  of  his 
attempt.  There  are  moments  when  his  mind  is 
clouded  with  a  doubt.  Whether  the  form  of  state 
on  which  his  affections  are  fixed  will  be  realized 
ages  and  ages  hence,  or  may  possibly  exist  in  some 
far  distant  clime,  he  will  not  venture  to  say.  And 
in  preparing  for  the  last  audacious  paradox  of  the 
philosopher-king,  he  reminds  his  hearers  of  the 
immense  gap  which  separates  talk  from  action. 
He  even  confesses  that  the  speculation  they  are 
engaged  in  is  a  sort  of  game :  "  I  forgot,"  he  says, 
"  that  we  were  only  in  play."  These  are  passing 
shadows,  yet  it  is  worth  while  to  take  note  of  the 
places  where  the  absoluteness  of  the  main  concep- 
tion is  modified.  "  The  framers  of  the  new 
commonwealth,  having  taken  the  'clean  state'  in 
hand,  will  glance  repeatedly  at  the  ideal  pattern, 
and  then  look  down  upon  the  outline  which  they 
have  drawn.  They  will  paint  out  and  re-touch  the 
picture  again  and  again,  until  they  have  hit  the 
exact  tone  and  complexion  in  which  the  human 
most  resembles  the  divine."  The  conception  of  a 
gradual  process  is  there  in  germ.  In  his  latest 
writing,  evidently  the  result  of  much  bitter  experi- 
ence and  disillusion,  the  precautions  against  initial 
errors  are  more  elaborate  still.  Selected  persons 
are  to  travel  and  bring  home  ideas,  in  the  light  of 


PHYSICIAN  AND  JUDGE  61 

which  they  are  to  criticise  the  laws  at  first  laid 
down  ;  and  only  after  long  and  anxious  considera- 
tion is  the  state  to  assume  its  ultimate  stereotyped 
form.  A  remark  in  the  fourth  book  of  the  Laws 
anticipates  still  more  distinctly  the  truth  which 
modern  experience  has  confirmed.  "  I  was  about 
to  observe,"  says  the  Athenian  stranger,  "that 
legislation  is  not  the  work  of  any  human  being, 
but  that  circumstances  and  events  falling  in  all 
manner  of  ways,  are  the  sources  of  all  our  legisla- 
tion. The  stress  of  war,  the  incidence  of  poverty, 
plagues,  and  other  disasters  oppressing  a  com- 
munity for  years,  compel  them  to  reform  their 
laws.  Yet  in  all  this  there  is  room  for  divine 
providence  and  opportunity,  and  for  human  wisdom, 
which  may  take  advantage  of  both."  The  optimist 
of  the  Republic  would  hardly  have  made  so  clear 
an  admission  that  "  time  and  chance  happen  to  all." 
Many  incidental  observations  have  reference 
not  to  the  ideal  but  to  the  actual  state  of  the 
world ;  such  as  the  distinction  between  the  cases 
of  the  physician  and  the  judge.  "There  is  no 
harm,"  it  is  said,  "  but  rather  an  advantage,  when 
the  physician  has  had  experience  of  physical 
infirmities.  But  the  judge  should  have  observed 
criminal  proclivities  only  from  outside.  He  must 
have  a  healthy  mind,  for  cynicism  is  a  worse 
distortion  of  judgment  than  simplicity." 


J 


62         SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ASPECTS 

|     5.  Plato  cannot  conceive  a  state  of  society  without 
Avar,  or  without  slavery ;  but  he  would  reform  the 
Njusages   of  war.     That    Greeks   should    war    with 
Greeks,   and    ravage   their    lands    and    hang    up 
-4/ophies  in   Greek  temples   after   such   unnatural 
conquest,   is   an   offence    against    Hellenic    gods. 
1  In  warring  with  barbarians,"  he  says    ironically, 
let    us     act    as    we    now    do    in    warring    with 
JHellenes." 

The  allusions  to  slavery,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
slight  and  indistinct.     Greeks  are  not  to  enslave 
1  their  own  countrymen,  but  it  seems  to  be  under- 
stood that  the  industrial  classes,   at   least,   would 
have  their  domestic  slaves;    and  in   Book   VIII. 
V     he  refers  to  the  danger  consequent  on  the  isolation 
of  a  household   which  is  only  counteracted   by  a 
Adrtual   federation    of   the   masters.      In    this    he 
-touches   upon    the   fringe   of  a   subject   which   is 
treated   more   fully   in   the    Laws.      There    it    is 
admitted    that    the    slave    is    indeed    a    difficult 
possession.     He   is   a   chattel   and   yet   a   human 
\   being.     He    must    be    treated    as    a    child,    with 
undeviating     firmness    but    also    with    kindness. 
Familiarity,    especially    with     women    slaves,    is 
carefully    to    be    avoided.      At    the    same    time, 
scrupulous  fairness  towards  them  is  to  be  observed. 
There  is  no  greater  test  of  a  sincere  love  of  justice 
than  the  manner  in  which   men   treat  those  who 


WAR  AND  SLAVERY 

are  in  their  power.  This  principle  applies  to  a 
positions  of  authority,  but  above  all  to  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave.  J'  The  cTifficulty  is  greatest," 
says  the  Athenian  stranger,  where  both  are 
Greeks.  And  it  is  desirable  that  the  slave  should 
be  of  a  different  race,  and,  if  possible,  speak  a 
different  language.  This  advantage  is  casually 
secured  by  the  provision  in  the  Republic  above 
referred  to,  that  Hellenic  prisoners  of  war  are 
never  to  be  reduced  to  slavery. 

References,  Chapter  IV. 

p.  49-  (0  Xenophon,  Memorabilia,  I.,  i.,  §  16  ;  Tratislation 

III.,  i.,  p.  5  ;  Euthydemus,  p.  291 B. 
(2)  Laws,  Book  IV.,  p.  714  c. 
p.  5°-  (0  Origin    of   Society,    Gomperz,    vol.   i.     (English 

translation),  pp.  392,  393  ;  Nettleship,  pp.  52-57. 
(2)  Thecetetus,  p.  176  A. 
p.  51.  Republic,  Book  III.,  p.  395  b. 
p.  52.  Republic,  Book  VIII.,   p.    556;   Laws,  Book   V.,   p. 

744  D  E. 
p.  59.  Infanticide  is  abandoned   in    Tinuzus,  p.   19 A;  and 

Nettleship,  p.  174,  questions  it  altogether, 
p.  60.  (1)  Republic,  Book  V.,  pp.  472,  473. 

(2)  Republic,  Book  VI.,  p.  501  AB  ;  Laws,  Book  XII., 

p.  957,  compared  with  Book  IV.,  p.  709  a. 
p.  62.  Laws,  Book  VI.,  p.  J7J  b. 


CHAPTER  V 

EDUCATION 

i.  EDUCATION  is  according  to  Plato  the  pivot 

\   article  of  a  standing  or  falling  commonwealth.     It 

^   is  the  living  spring  from  which  all  other  modes  of 

^  well-doing  are  derived,  and  so  long  as  it  is  steadily 

maintained   on   the  right  principles,  political  and 

>\moral  health  cannot  be  impaired. 

"  The  regulations  which  we  are  prescribing,  my 
good  Adeimantus,  are  not  as  might  be  supposed  a 
number  of  great  principles,  but  trifles  all,  if  care  be 
taken,  as  the  saying  is,  of  the  one  great  thing.  .  .  ." 
"  What  may  that  be  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  Education,  I  said,  and  nurture.  If  our  citizens 
are  well  educated  and  grow  into  sensible  men,  they 
will  easily  see  their  way  through  all  these  as  well 
as  other  matters  which  I  omit." 

Hence  educational  theory  occupies  about  one- 
third  of  the  whole  dialogue.  But  what  was  said 
above  about  the  separate  treatment  of  the  two 
classes  of  guardians  is  applicable  also  here.     The 

64 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION  65 

subject  is  treated  in  compartments,  which,  if  the 
scheme  were  put  in  practice,  would  be  found  to 
overlap.  And  as  the  industrial  classes  are  left 
almost  out  of  sight,  the  discussion  is  practically 
confined  to  the  training  of  the  rulers  and  their 
subordinates,  who  are  a  minority  in  the  state. 
But  it  is  from  this  discussion,  taken  as  a  whole,  that 
Plato's  general  views  of  elementary  and  higher 
education  are  to  be  inferred. 

From  hints  dropped  here  and  there  about  the 
people  at  large,  it  would  appear  that  their  educa-  J 
tion,    if  so   it   might  be  called,  was  to  be  purely 
"  technical."     The  children  of  the  agriculturist  or  of 
the  artizan  would  be  trained  simply  and  solely  in 
the   practice   of  their   father's    occupation.^   The 
cobbler's  son  would  be  educated  in  cobbling.     We 
are  reminded  of  the  institution  of  apprenticeship  as 
it  once  existed  in  modern  Europe.     The  youth  so 
instructed  would  no  doubt  be  brought  up  in  habits 
of  obedience,  and  in  the  observance   of  religious 
duties.     He  would  be  made  to  feel  that  he  was  not 
merely  a  cobbler,  but  a  citizen.     Nor  only  so  ;  for 
if  the  higher  principles  which  are  developed  in  the 
education  of  the  rulers  were   consistently  applied 
throughout,  it   would   be   seen   that  the  "  idea  of 
good"   is   to   be  realized  in  all  production.     The 
carpenter  makes  a  bed,  as  we  are  told  in  Book  X., 
according   to  an  ideal  pattern  which  is  of  divine 

E 


-f 


66  EDUCATION 

ordaining.  The  builder  must  have  some  tincture 
of  mathematical  notions,  if  he  is  to  use  aright  hi: 
ordinary  rule  and  square.  It  follows  that  even  i 
technical  education  were  all  in  all,  scientific  prin 
ciples  must  enter,  although  indirectly,  into  th( 
training  of  the  artizan.  But  the  artizan  is  no' 
therefore  to  pride  himself  on  the  knowledge  o 
principles.      The   mechanician   who    poses    as    i 

\  philosopher  is  like  an  escaped  convict  taking 
sanctuary  in  a  temple.  Education,  then,  may  be 
J     roughly  divided  into  practical,  moral,  and  intellec 

J  tual : — the  training  of  hand  and  eye,  the  formatior 
of  habits,  the  development  of  thought.  The  last  o 
these  departments  is  not  exclusive  of  the  other  two 
For  every  guardian,  whether  ruler  or  not,  has  beer 
trained  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  as  a  soldier 
and  no  one  is  selected  for  the  highest  education 
until  the  moral  and  political  principles  ingrainec 
by  authority  and  discipline  have  been  testec 
(through  pleasure,  pain,  and  fear)  and  found  no 
wanting.  Moreover,  the  benefits  of  the  highes 
education  are  more  widely  diffused  than  appears  a 
the  first  glance.  For  the  prospective  rulers  an 
chosen  from  a  much  larger  number,  and  it  may  b< 
inferred  that  many  are  allowed  to  pass  through  th< 
preparatory  standards  who  are  rejected  before  the} 
reach  the  highest  stage.  Arithmetic,  for  example 
is  only  mentioned  as  a  subject  of  the  higher  educa 


WHY  HOMER  IS  CONDEMNED  67 

tion  ;  but  it  is  implied  that  the  teaching  of  arith- 
metic is  commenced  in  childhood ;  and  in  the 
Laws  accordingly  we  find  a  sort  of  Kindergarten 
method  for  teaching  children  to  count  and  calculate, 
by  making  use  of  apples  and  garlands  to  represent 
the  units.  Hence  we  are  not  to  divide  too  sharply 
between  elementary  and  secondary  education. 
The  early  training  has,  in  fact,  two  sides  to  it : 
one  moral,  the  other  intellectual. 

In  the  Republic,  mental  precedes  physical  culture. \J 
The   mind   is   regarded   as   receptive   before    the-^ 
development  of  bodily  activity.     Moral  instruction/ 
cannot  begin  too  early.     The  youngest  child  de* 
lights  in  hearing  stories,  and  the  tales  are  to  be 
carefully  chosen   with   a   view   to   the  impression 
which  they  convey.     No  matter  how  fictitious,  they 
must  embody  principles  of  truth.     Plato  afterwards 
realized  that  physical  culture  cannot  be  begun  too 
soon  ;  but  in  the  Republic,  where  he  is  contemplate 
ing  the  Spartan  model,  and  is  determined  on  the 
selection   of  the   fittest,   there    is    only   a   casual 
allusion  to  the  nurse's  duty  of  moulding  the  infant 
limbs. 

2.  In  the  earlier  stage  of  education  the  moral 
element  predominated,  and  Plato  is  thus  led  to 
his  famous  criticism  of  Greek  mythology  and^ 
its  poetical  exponents,  especially  Homer  ancf 
Hesiod.      In   this    he    follows    the    examples    of 


68  EDUCATION 

Xenophanes  and  Heraclitus.  He  had  elsewhere 
recognised  the  value  of  the  existing  methods : — 
the  work  of  the  choir-master,  who  attended  tc 
the  manners  of  the  children  while  he  trained 
the  voice  and  ear ;  of  the  form-master,  who  set 
them  to  learn  by  heart  long  passages  from  the 
best  poets ;  and  of  the  writing-master,  whose 
copies  were  calculated  to  produce  a  moral  effect 
He  allowed  Protagoras  to  plead  for  these  estab- 
lished customs  as  making  for  civic  virtue.  The 
Socrates  of  that  early  Dialogue  does  not  com- 
plain of  the  method  but  of  its  result,  while  he 
desiderates  what  he  cannot  find, — a  scientific 
teacher  of  morality.  But  Plato  is  now  inspired 
with  his  own  positive  conception  of  the  moral 
ideal,  and  while  admitting  the  wisdom  of  im- 
memorial tradition  in  prescribing  music  (including 
literature)  as  the  vehicle,  he  insists  on  recasting 
both  the  substance  and  the  form  in  accordance 
with  his  own  more  refined  conceptions.  Already 
in  the  Euthyphro,  his  Socrates  has  confessed  that 
he  could  not  accept  the  current  fables,  which 
attributed  immorality  to  the  gods.  It  is  there 
suggested  that  such  an  opinion  had  much  to  do 
with  his  martyrdom.  That  hint  makes  more  im- 
pressive the  boldness  of  the  rules  about  theology 
which  are  here  laid  down.  All  talk  about  the 
gods     must    be    consistent    with    the    true    idea 


FEAR  NOT  DEATH,  BUT  SIN      69 

of  the  divine  nature,  and  also  such  as  to  give  a 
purely  ethical  direction  to  the  minds  of  the  young. 
It  must  never  be  implied,  for  example,  that  God 
is  the  author  of  evil ;  or  that  He  in  any  way,  by 
word   or    action,    deceives    mankind.      All    good 
that  is   really  good  proceeds  from    Him,  and    if  V 
at  any  time  He  inflicts  suffering  upon  mankind,*' 
it  is  of  the  nature  of  chastisement,  and  issues  in/ 
ultimate  benefit  to  the  sufferer.     Nor  are  children 
to   be   frightened   with   tales  about  the  world  of 
the   dead,   which   make   death   appear    a   terrible/ 
thing.     Such  fables  are  both  false  and   injurious; 
striking  at  the  very  root  of  courage.     Plato  has 
been     accused    of    inconsistency,    because    while 
deprecating  the  traditional  horror  of  the  unseen, 
he   has    himself  drawn   in    Book    X.    so   vivid    a 
picture   of  the   sufferings   of   the   wicked,    corry 
sponding    to   previous    sketches   in   the    Gorgiasi 
and    Phcedo.       This    supposed     discrepancy    haV 
even    been    made   a   ground    for   the    hypothesis 
that  Books  I.-IV.  had  been  written  at  some  earlier 
time.      But   such   criticism    ignores   the   essential 
difference   of    motive    between    the    passages   in 
question.      In    Book    III.    he    seeks    to   obviate, 
the  fear  of  death,  which  is  unworthy  of  a  freemanr 
In  Book  X.  his  aim  is  to  impress  every  soul  of 
man  with  the  fear  of  sin.     The  supposed  contraV 
diction  is  therefore  merely   superficial. 


70  EDUCATION 

3.  The  pupils  in  Plato's  preparatory  school  are 
also  to  be  taught  veracity — not  an  inborn  virtue 
in  the  mind  of  a  Greek.  God,  it  was  said  above, 
is  true,  or  rather  truth  itself,  and  cannot  lie ;  but 
in  the  human  sphere  there  are  two  modes  of 
falsehood,  both  of  which  are  to  be  forbidden  to 
the  young.  The  lie  in  the  soul  is  to  be  utterly 
abhorred  by  all  who  hope  to  have  a  share  of 
virtue.  But  there  are  cases  in  which  falsehood 
.in   word    is   inevitable    under   the    conditions    of 

-J  human  life.  The  exact  and  literal  truth  cannot 
be  told  to  a  madman,  or  to  a  designing  enemy. 
But  such  falsehood,  though  less  abominable  than 
the  other,  can  only  be  permitted  to  persons  in 
authority.  The  young  are  to  be  brought  up  in 
•J  utter  hatred  of  all  lies. 

x     The  "  lie  in  the  soul "  in  Plato's  paradox  nearly 

^answers    to    Aristotle's     absolute    ignorance,    or 

ignorance  of  principle,  which  he  refuses  to  admit 
as  an  excuse  for  vice.  Both  ultimately  rest  on 
the  Socratic  view,  which  identified  knowledge  and 
virtue.  Such  ignorance  is  in  modern  language 
the  entire  absence  of  a  moral  principle. 

Again,  the  young  are  to  be  taught  subordination, 
and  for  this  end  many  passages  of  Homer  must 

^be  discarded.  Achilles,  though  the  Spartans 
worshipped  him,  was  by  no  means  a  pattern  of 
Spartan   discipline.     The  son  of  a  goddess   must 


MORALITY  AND  LITERATURE  71 

not  be  described  as  insulting  his  chief,  nor 
as  indulging  in  the  pleasures  of  the  table ; 
nor  are  the  excessive  lamentations  of  heroic 
men  to  be  recited  in  the  hearing  of  our  pupils. 
All  extremes,  whether  of  grief  or  laughter,  are 
to  be  avoided  by  them.  These'  and  the  like 
rules  all  make  for  temperance,  sobriety,  and 
fortitude. 

Plato  is  not  contented  with  remodelling  the 
matters  taught,  the  substance  of  what  is  to  be 
conveyed  in  words.  The  style  and  manner  of 
expression  must  be  reformed  likewise.  As  entire 
unity  both  of  the  whole  and  of  each  individual 
part  is  the  chief  note  of  the  ideal  state,  so  the  form 
both  of  language  and  melody,  of  prose  and  verse, 
of  poetry  and  song,  is  to  be  stamped  with  direct- 
ness and  simplicity  &  The  fables  as  now  remodelled 
are  to  be  told,  not  acted/  Narration  is  to  be 
preferred  to  imitation,  n  Dramatic  representation 
is  inconsistent  with  the  main  principle  that  one 
man  is  not  to  play  many  parts.  All  effort  is  to 
be  concentrated,  not  dissipated,  and  the  emotions 
are  not  to  be  excited,  but  rather  represser  The 
very  charm  of  tragedy  constitutes  its  danger. 
So  in  the  sister  art  of  music,  which  is  the  handmaid 
of  poetry,  the  softer  and  more  pathetic  tunes  are 
to  be  discarded.  Two  sorts  alone  are  to  be 
retained :  one  brave  and  spirit-stirring,  one  calm 


72  EDUCATION 

and  resolute.     The  Dorian  mood  is  to  be  adopted, 
not  the  Lydian  or  the  Ionian. 

All  arts  and  crafts  in  which  production  is 
capable  of  beauty  are  to  be  similarly  reformed. 
In  everything  that  meets  both  eye  and  ear  there 
must  be  a  wholesome  influence  instinct  with  the 
true  ideal  of  virtue.  The  young  are  to  grow  up 
as  in  a  garden-ground  where  t  the  plants  are 
nourished  by  pure  air,  and  all  that  is  noxious 
and  encumbering  is  weeded  away.  Thus  sur- 
rounded from  their  earliest  years  with  shapes 
that  are  embodiments  of  reason,  they  will  recog- 
/*  nise  the  truths  of  reason  when  at  last  revealed  to 
them,  and  embrace  them  and  mould  their  lives 
accordingly. 

What  is  chiefly  emphasized  here,  is  the  import- 
ance of  early  impressions,  and  the  wisdom  of  stf 
^directing  education  that  the  pupil  may  have  as 
little  as  possible  to  unlearn.  That  an  education 
through  perfect  circumstances  is  impossible,  and 
that  were  it  possible,  it  would  leave  the  mind  so 
ducated  unarmed  against  the  assaults  of  evil,  is 
not  so  much  forgotten  as  for  the  time  ignored. 

Plato  might  reply,  that  experience  will  come 
soon  enough,  and  that  the  best  efforts  of  the 
teacher  can  only  suggest  a  standard  by  which 
the  facts  of  life  may  afterwards  be  truly  estimated. 
Still  a  serious  question  remains  behind.     May  not 


Js< 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION—MEDICINE        73 

an  education  through  perfect  circumstances  tend 
to  the  gradual  extinction  of  spontaneous  effort? 
(see  Chapter  XI.) 

4.  Physical  education,  though  beginning  later,  is  j 
to  be  continued  side  by  side  with  the  moral. 
Here,  likewise,  a  Spartan  severity  is  observable, 
but  with  the  important  difference  that,  while  the 
training  of  the  Greek  athlete  was  for  the  sake  of 
bodily  achievement  and  often  resulted  in  dulness 
and  inertness  of  mind,  that  of  the  guardians 
of  Plato's  commonwealth  aimed  at  producing 
the  mentil  characteristics  of  courage  and  self- 
control.  TThat  the  men  are  to  be  warriors  is  not 
forgotten,  but  this  consideration  is  secondary  to 
the  formation  of  character  as  such\]  This  fine 
remark,  like  others  which  occur  in  the  Republic, 
appears  to  have  been  afterwards  lost  sight  of. 
When  the  subject  of  gymnastic  is  again  treated 
in  the  Laws,  this  branch  of  education  is  regarded 
simply  as  a  training  of  the  body.  Similarly,  in 
Book  VI.,  when  enumerating  the  elements  of  the 
philosophic  nature,  Socrates  speaks  of  justice 
without  any  apparent  reference  to  the  definition 
in  Book  IV. 

An  incidental   observation   again    indicates   the 
hardness   of   Plato's    temper    at    this    time.     He 
makes     a     scathing     attack      on      contemporary  / 
medicine,     which     he     accuses     of    encouraging 


74  EDUCATION 

valetudinarianism.  v/Both  in  diet  and  therapeutics, 
he  for  once  prefers  "  the  good  old  rule  and  simple 
plan  "  of  the  Homeric  heroes,  amongst  whom  were  J 
the  sons  of  ^Esculapius.  It  is  curious  to  observe 
that  some  years  afterwards,  when  he  wrote  the 
Timcsus,  having  probably  himself  had  some  ex- 
perience of  illness,  he  employs  nearly  the  same 
expression,  "the  nursing  of  disease,"  in  recom- 
mending the  course  which  he  advises/  to  be 
pursued. 

Music  and  gymnastic,  that  is  to  say,  mental 
culture  and  physical  training,  are  to  be  so  com- 
bined as  to  form  the  mind  of  youth  to  gentleness 
and  courage:  Culture  when  pursued  alone,  re- 
laxes and  softens  the  mind.  Athleticism  blunts 
and  hardens  it ;  but  by  their  due  admixture  and 
the  adaptation  of  either  to  its  proper  end,  the 
whole  nature  is  at  once  strengthened  and 
harmonized.    V 

The  reader  may  have  noticed  that  in  Plato's 
Kindergarten,  there  are  no  lessons  in  handiwork. 
This  defect,  in  common  with  others  to  be  observed 
hereafter,  is  due  to  the  aristocratic  contempt  for 
mechanical  labour  which  had  been  for  ages  ir - 
grained  in  the  mind  of  the  high-born  Athenian. 

5.  Another  main  purpose  of  the  earlier  education 
is  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  youth,  and  fix  indelibly, 
love  of  the  Fatherland  and  right  opinion  as  to  the 


"REASON  BLENT  WITH  CULTURE"       75 

duties  of  the  citizen,  v  The  constitution  of  the  state 
thus  affords  the  link  desiderated  in  the  Meno, 
where  it  is  said  that  right  opinions  are  valuable,  / 
but  insecure  until  they  are  bound  fast  by  Reason. 
The  right  opinion  of  the  young  and  of  those 
guardians  who  never  attain  to  power  is  secured  by 
the  authority  of  the  rulers  who  have  the  Reason  in 
themselves.  ^J 

It  results  from  the  plan  of  the  whole  work,  that 
the  education  of  intelligence  appears  to  be  reserved  fS 
for  a  small  minority  of  the  population.     But  this 
apparent  reservation  is  not  to  be  taken  too  strictly, 
for  it  is  reasonable  to  presume  that  those  who  are  , 
chosen   from   the    class    of    guardians,   as    being 
capable   of  such   higher   training,   are    far  .more   / 
numerous  than  those  who  ultimately  rise  to   the 
position  of  rulers.     Individuals  who  are  rejected  at 
any  stage  have  obviously  received  far  more  in  the 
way  of  liberal   culture  than  the    mere   lessons   in/ 
music    described    in    Book    III.      The    educatea 
classes   thus    form    a   sort   of  pyramid,   which    is 
narrowed  by  successive  steps  towards  the  culmin^ 
ating  point.     The  combination  of  the  higher  with 
the   lower   education   is   described  in  the  phrase, 
Xoyo?    /uLovcrLKiJ    KeKpaiuLevog,    "  Reason     blent    with 
culture."     Those  who  are  to  be  the  subjects  of  the 
higher  education  are  selected  at  an  early  age,  the 
chief  test  being  their  readiness  to  respond  to  the 


76  EDUCATION 

call  of  duty.  "  While  they  are  children  their 
mental  exercises  are  to  have  an  element  of  childish 
playfulness."  It  follows  that  in  the  case  of  all  of 
them,  the  two  modes  of  education,  those  of  habit 
and  intelligence,  are  to  be  imagined  as  proceeding 
side  by  side.  And  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  though 
only  thrown  out  by  the  way,  that  part  of  their 
practical  training  consists  in  learning  to  ride. 

6.  Secondary  and  higher  education  as  we  conceive 
it,  was  a  novelty  in  Hellenic  life.  The  drill  of  the 
grammar  and  music  schools,  as  described  in  the 
Protagoras  and  in  the  Clouds  of  Aristophanes,  where 
children  learned  to  read  and  write,  and  play  the 
lyre  and  sing  in  unison,  was  not  calculated  of  itself 
to  train  the  understanding  or  awaken  the  reasoning 
powers.  Arithmetic,  as  children  are  now  familiar 
with  it,  was  not  included  there,  and  grammar  in 
the  modern  sense  was  a  mystery  which,  to  the 
ordinary  schoolmaster,  was  then  unknown.  The 
teaching  of  the  Sophists,  disliked  and  feared  by  the 
men  of  the  former  generation,  gave  the  nearest 
approach  which  then  existed  to  our  secondary 
education.  Protagoras  first  analyzed  the  parts  of 
speech  ;  Prodicus  discoursed  on  Greek  synonyms  ; 
and  the  elements  of  arithmetic  and  geometry,  or  of 
both  in  one,  were  being  studied  by  disciples  of 
Pythagoras.  What  are  to-day  regarded  as  rudi- 
ments  of  common    knowledge    were,    not    many 


TRAINING  OF  INTELLIGENCE  79 

the  inculcation  of  right  principles  through  moral 
discipline  is  steadily  maintained. 

(2)  That  facts  of  sensible  experience  are  to 
form  part  of  the  training  of  the  young  would  not 
be  denied  by  Plato.  But  his  contention  is  that 
facts  must  somehow  be  presented  in  the  light 
of  principles,  else  they  are  devoid  of  interest, 
and  have  no  educative  power.  A  good  memory 
is  a  necessary  condition  ;  but  merely  to  load  the 
memory  is  not  to  exercise  it  aright.  The  minjf 
must  be  gradually  led  to  grasp  by  its  own  activity^ 
the  laws  which  the  facts  exemplify.  Plato  does 
not  expect  the  faculty  of  reason  to  be  called  into 
complete  exercise  all  at  once.  He  only  insists 
that  the  true  educational  method  should  raise  the 
pupil's  thoughts  stage  after  stage  to  take  a  wider/ 
and  more  comprehensive  view  of  things.  The 
test  of  natural  ability  is  the  power  of  generalizing  ; 
of  grouping  facts  and  seeing  them  in  the  light 
of  their  connecting  principles.  "  He  who  sees 
things  together  is  capable  of  dialectic,"  he  who 
cannot  will  never  be  a  dialectician. 

(3)  These  methods  must  be  so  applied  that 
increasing  insight  may  be  accompanied  wit]V 
delight.  The  earliest  teaching  should  be  a  sort 
of  game.  This  is  shown  more  in  detail  in  the 
Laws,  where  Plato  quotes  Egyptian  methods  of 
teaching   arithmetic   to   young   children.      In  the 


76  EDUCATION 

call  of  duty.  "  While  they  are  children  their 
mental  exercises  are  to  have  an  element  of  childish 
playfulness."  It  follows  that  in  the  case  of  all  of 
them,  the  two  modes  of  education,  those  of  habit 
and  intelligence,  are  to  be  imagined  as  proceeding 
side  by  side.  And  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  though 
only  thrown  out  by  the  way,  that  part  of  their 
practical  training  consists  in  learning  to  ride. 

6.  Secondary  and  higher  education  as  we  conceive 
it,  was  a  novelty  in  Hellenic  life.  The  drill  of  the 
grammar  and  music  schools,  as  described  in  the 
Protagoras  and  in  the  Clouds  of  Aristophanes,  where 
children  learned  to  read  and  write,  and  play  the 
lyre  and  sing  in  unison,  was  not  calculated  of  itself 
to  train  the  understanding  or  awaken  the  reasoning 
powers.  Arithmetic,  as  children  are  now  familiar 
with  it,  was  not  included  there,  and  grammar  in 
the  modern  sense  was  a  mystery  which,  to  the 
ordinary  schoolmaster,  was  then  unknown.  The 
teaching  of  the  Sophists,  disliked  and  feared  by  the 
men  of  the  former  generation,  gave  the  nearest 
approach  which  then  existed  to  our  secondary 
education.  Protagoras  first  analyzed  the  parts  of 
speech  ;  Prodicus  discoursed  on  Greek  synonyms  ; 
and  the  elements  of  arithmetic  and  geometry,  or  of 
both  in  one,  were  being  studied  by  disciples  of 
Pythagoras.  What  are  to-day  regarded  as  rudi- 
ments  of  common    knowledge    were,   not    many 


TRAINING  OF  INTELLIGENCE  79 

the  inculcation  of  right  principles  through  moral 
discipline  is  steadily  maintained. 

(2)  That  facts  of  sensible  experience  are  to 
form  part  of  the  training  of  the  young  would  not 
be  denied  by  Plato.  But  his  contention  is  that 
facts  must  somehow  be  presented  in  the  light 
of  principles,  else  they  are  devoid  of  interest, 
and  have  no  educative  power.  A  good  memory 
is  a  necessary  condition  ;  but  merely  to  load  the 
memory  is  not  to  exercise  it  aright.  The  mina 
must  be  gradually  led  to  grasp  by  its  own  activity/ 
the  laws  which  the  facts  exemplify.  Plato  does 
not  expect  the  faculty  of  reason  to  be  called  into 
complete  exercise  all  at  once.  He  only  insists 
that  the  true  educational  method  should  raise  the 
pupil's  thoughts  stage  after  stage  to  take  a  wider/ 
and  more  comprehensive  view  of  things.  The 
test  of  natural  ability  is  the  power  of  generalizing ; 
of  grouping  facts  and  seeing  them  in  the  light 
of  their  connecting  principles.  "  He  who  sees 
things  together  is  capable  of  dialectic,"  he  who 
cannot  will  never  be  a  dialectician. 

(3)  These  methods  must  be  so  applied  that 
increasing  insight  may  be  accompanied  witjV 
delight.  The  earliest  teaching  should  be  a  sort 
of  game.  This  is  shown  more  in  detail  in  the 
Laws,  where  Plato  quotes  Egyptian  methods  of 
teaching   arithmetic   to   young   children.      In  the 


80  EDUCATION 

same  connection,  it  is  acutely  observed  that 
children  when  left  to  themselves  are  inventive 
in  their  play.  Meanwhile  the  elementary  educa- 
tion is  not  left  out  of  sight.  Habits  of  subordina- 
tion, freedom  from  irregular  desires,  determination 
to  do  rightly  are  pre-supposed.  And  in  the 
individuals  selected  for  the  higher  training,  there 
is  also  present  intellectual  curiosity  and  willingness 
to  study.  JThey  are  "not  bred  so  dull  but  they 
can   learn."     Attention   being   thus  secured,  it  is 

J  he  teacher's  fault  if  the  act  of  learning  is  not 
:eenly  enjoyed.     Plato's  remark  that  no  freeman 
is  to  be  made  a  slave  at  school,  suggestive  as  it  is, 

.must  therefore  be  taken  with  some  reservation  ; 

^but  that  hated  lessons  are  easily  forgotten  is  only 

\too  manifest  in  experience. 

(4)  The  old  dispute  between  the  advocates  of 
liberal  culture  and  of  useful  knowledge,  or  of 
general  and  special  education,  which  is  started 
here  by  Plato  in  the  Republic,  is  not  exhausted 
yet.  That  the  sciences  had  their  first  motive 
in  utility  is  an  obvious  fact ;  that  they  have  their 
outcome  in  extensive  usefulness,  is  well  known 
since  the  time  of  Bacon.  But  they  have  been 
the  more  fruitful  because  they  were  pursued  in 
Plato's  sense,  for  the  satisfaction  of  pure  intellect, 
and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  develop  mental 
energy   to   the   full.     "  Arithmetic    to   be   of    use 


GRADATION  OF  SUBJECTS  81 

in  education,  must  be  studied  for  its  own  sake 
and  not  with  a  view  to  shop-keeping."  "  Geometry 
has  its  uses  for  the  land-agent  and  the  tactician, 
but  it  must  be  carried  much  further  if  it  is  to  be 
worthy  of  the  name  of  science."  And  the  solid 
geometry  which,  as  Plato  says,  has  such  charms 
for  the  philosophical  mind,  owed  any  progress 
it  had  made  not  to  any  obvious  utility,  but  to  its 
own  delightfulness.  That  arduous  studies  should 
be  discarded  as  useless  would  have  seemed  to  Plato 
as  gloomy  an  anticipation  as  it  was  to  Renan. 
Similar  remarks  are  made  about  harmonics  and 
astronomy.  But  here  Plato's  passion  for  abstrac- 
tion has  led  him  to  an  incomplete  and  one-sided 
view.  That  no  progress  could  be  made  in  either 
science  without  mathematics,  was  a  truth  not 
sufficiently  recognised  in  his  time,  but  that  the 
mere  study  of  problems  respecting  the  abstract 
laws  of  matter  in  motion  could  make  either  perfect 
without  patient  observation  is  a  notion  which 
has  been  falsified  in  the  sequel.  Kepler's  specula- 
tions were  an  indispensable  stage  in  the  progress 
of  astronomy,  but  they  would  have  been  fruitless 
without  the  work  of  Tycho  Brahe. 

(5)  In  the  progressive  description  of  the  sciences 
proceeding  from  the  most  abstract  to  the  more 
concrete,  it  is  implied  that  the  preparatory 
training  of  the  guardians  is  to  follow  the  same 

F 


82  EDUCATION 

order,  beginning  with  arithmetic,  and  passing 
through  plane  and  solid  geometry  to  astronomy  and 
harmony,  or  in  other  words  to  the  laws  of  matter 
in  motion.  According  to  this  method,  if  the 
modern  sciences  of  dynamics,  chemistry,  physi- 
ology, biology,  had  been  at  that  time  developed, 
the  later  part  of  the  curriculum  would  have 
included  these. 

Plato  here  advances  two  main  principles :  (a) 
that  the  subjects  taught  are  to  be  adapted  to 
the  age  of  the  pupil,  and  (b)  that  the  manner  of 
teaching,  especially  at  the  earlier  age,  should  be 
such  that  the  teaching  will  be  accepted  with 
delight,  else  it  cannot  obtain  a  permanent  hold. 
These  principles  have  hardly  yet  been  worked  out 
into  their  final  application. 

8.  There  is  a  yet  higher  standard  to  be  passed 
before  attempting  to  put  on  the  coping-stone  and 
to  commence  the  study  of  pure  philosophy  or, 
in  Plato's  language,  of  dialectic.  This  standard 
corresponds  in  a  general  way  to  the  aim  of  our 
University  education.  When  the  secondary 
education  has  been  completed,  at  about  the 
age  of  seventeen,  there  follows  a  course  of  athletic 
training  and  military  drill  which  does  not  allow 
much  leisure  for  intense  intellectual  labour.  But 
in  the  twentieth  year  the  studies  of  the  previous 
years   are   to   be   reviewed,   and    surveyed    more 


DIALECTIC  83 

comprehensively  in  their  relation  to  each  other. 
The  nature  and  degree  of  their  affinities  are  to 
be  determined.  This  new  and  higher  subject  is 
what  is  now  recognised  as  the  Connexion  or 
Correlation  of  the  sciences. _.  Mind  is  rising  to 
a  higher  grade  on  the  ladder  of  thought,  and 
is  thus  gently  prepared  for  the  great  final  effort, 
after  which  from  the  contemplative  height  where 
she  lays  hold  of  the  idea  of  good,  she  is  to  be  en- 
abled to  look  abroad  over  all  time  and  all  existence? 

In  reserving  this  highest  of  all  subjects  for 
so  advanced  an  age — no  one  is  to  enter  on  it 
before  thirty — Plato  is  moved  by  the  alarm 
which  had  been  awakened  in  him  by  the  pre- 
valence of  logomachy  and  barren  scepticism 
amongst  the  youth  of  his  time.  (No  provision  of 
the  Republic  is  more  Utopian  than  this.  That 
young  men  of  nineteen  or  twenty,  whose  intellects 
had  been  quickened  by  the  most  enlightened 
culture,  should  be  withheld  from  speculating  on 
first  principles,  was  indeed  a  pious  wish,  which 
the  master  of  the  Academy  cannot  seriously  have 
hoped  to  realize.  He  treated  the  subject  more 
lightly  afterwards  in  the  opening  passage  of  the 
PJulebus. 

Plato   is   a   consistent   advocate   of  culture   for 
culture's     sake,    of    an     education     which     aims    / 
not   at   immediate    utility    but    at    getting   mind  V 


84  EDUCATION 

(KT/jcraarOai  vovv).     At  the  same  time  he  holds  the 

assurance    in    reserve   that   the  (soul    so    trained 

^will  in  the  end  be  the  most  useful  to  the  state 

and  the  most  fit  to  govern.     "  When  you  descend 

^into  \  the  cave,"  the  lawgiver  is  to  say  to  the 
aspiring    youth,    "you    will    be    infinitely    better 

>|  qualified  than  your  merely 'practical' neighbours, 
to  judge  of  the  shadows,  what  they  are  and  from 

^whence  they  come."  Bacon's  view  that  knowledge 
is  power,  and  yet  to  be  really  fruitful  must  be 
pursued  for  its  own  sake,  is  conceived  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Republic.  "Atalanta,  by  stooping  to  pick 
up  the  apple,  lost  the  race."  That  parable  would 
have  appealed  to  Plato.  But  on  the  other  hand 
the  "encroaching  intellect,"  again  to  use  Bacon's 
language,  in  soaring  to  such  heights  of  abstraction 
as  Plato  does  in  Book  VII.  of  the  Republic,  over- 
shoots itself  and  flies  beyond  the  goal.  However 
it  might  be  with  him  afterwards,  he  would  not  at 
this  time  have  acknowledged  the  value  of  the 
observatory  or  the  laboratory.  Still  he  may  help 
us  to  distinguish  between  that  induction  which  is 
a  mere  collection  of  particulars  and  that  which 

oleads  to  the  discovery  of  a  law ;  between  anti- 
fmarianism  and  the  critical  study  of  antiquity ; 
between  the  learning  which  clogs  the  mind  and 
that  which  enlightens ;  between  laborious  idle- 
less,  and  the  earnest  pursuit  of  truth. 


REFERENCES 


References,  Chapter  V. 


p.  64.  Republic,  Book  IV.,  pp.  423-425- 

p.  65.  Republic,  Book  V.,  p.  456  D;  Book  VI.,  p.  495  D  (a 

figure  in  the  manner  of  Lord  Bacon), 
p.  67.  (1)  Laws,  Book  VII.,  p.  819  B. 

(2)  Laws,  Book  VII.,  p.  789- 
p.  68.  On  Xenophanes,  see  Gomperz,  vol  i.  (English  trans- 
lation), p.  1 56. 
p.  70.  Aristotle,  Eth,  Nic,  iii.  2. 
p.  72.  Nettleship,  pp.  112,  141,  202. 
p.  73.  Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  i.  548  ;  L Allegro;  Dryden, 

Ode  on  St  Cecilia's  Day. 
p.  75.  Meno,  98  A  ;  Nettleship,  pp.  80,  306  ;  Republic,  Book 

VI.,  533  D,  537  c  ;  Book  VIII.,  p.  549  B- 
p.  76.  (1)  Protagoras,  p.  325. 

(2)  Aristophanes'  Clouds,  vv.  961-984. 

(3)  Nettleship,  pp.  291-3. 

p.  77.  Compare  Heraclitus,  ttoXiy«i0ii?  j^  ou  5i5do7c«. 

p.  78.  Thecstetus,  pp.  i5off.,  210  bc. 

p.  79.  6  avpoiTTiKbs  8ia\eKTiK6s,  Republic,  Book  VII.,  p.  537  C  ; 

cf.  Sophist,  p.  253  D  ;  Timceus,  p.  83  C. 
p.  81.  Nettleship,  pp.  269,  272, 
p.  83.  Philebus,  pp.  15  D- 16  A  ;  Nettleship,  p.  167. 


CHAPTER  VI 

POETRY  AND   ART 

The  almost  puritanic  severity  which  is  a  con- 
comitant of  Plato's  optimistic  theories,  arises 
partly  from  the  abstractedness  of  his  metaphysical 
point  of  view.  His  thought  has  not  yet  outgrown 
the  dualism  of  the  Phcedo,  where  a  sharp  dividing 
line  was  drawn  between  sensation,  opinion,  and 
emotion  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  pure  exercise 
of  mind  upon  the  other.  Had  the  philosopher 
come  to  conceive  clearly  the  nature  of  the  indi- 
vidual as  "  the  synthesis  of  the  universal  and 
particular,"  he  would  have  appreciated  at  its  full 
value  the  ideal  embodiment  of 'sensible  impressions 
in  poetry  and  art.  At  a  later  time  he  was  working 
out  a  more  complete  theory  of  the  relation  be- 
tween thought  and  perception  (see  Chapter  III.), 
but  he  never  relinquished  his  proscription  of  the 
poets,  whom  he  would  either  have  exiled  or 
placed  under  impossible  restraints. 

There   were   other   causes     for    this    persistent 


MORALITY  AND  POETRY  87 

prejudice.      One  lay  in    the  contrast   which    con- 
tinually presented   itself   between    Sparta    looked 
at  from  a  distance  and  the  actual  state  of  contem- 
porary Athens.     The  poetry  of  the  time  appeared 
adapted  to  perpetuate  those  very  features  in  the, 
lives   of  his   countrymen,   which    Plato   earnestly/ 
sought  to  remove ;  superstition  on  the  one  hanc^/ 
frivolity  and  unlimited  caprice  on  the  other.    Poets 
of  commanding  genius  were  no  more,  and  in  the 
consciousness  of  superiority,  he  entertained  a  just 

contempt  for  the  "  poeticules "  of  his    day.     The    ■ 

v' 
noble   art   of  tragedy    had    been    infected    with     - 

sophistry  and  rhetoric,  and  had  degenerated  into 

something   showy    and    unreal.      The     Dionysiac 

influence   more   and    more    betrayed   a  character 

detrimental   to   social    order,   and   the    traditions . 

associated  with  it  were,  as  Plato  saw,  the  reverse  v 

of   "political."      It    is   hard   for   the   inflammable 

southern    temperament   to    find    the    true    mean 

between  license  and  asceticism.      Plato  elects   to 

curb  and  restrain  what  he  despairs  of  regulating. 

lit  has  also  been  plausibly  argued  that  Plato's 

condemnation  of  the  poets  is  due  to  some  reaction 

against  what  he  felt  to  be  dangerous  tendencies 

in  himself.     He  confesses  to  the  powerful  charm 

which    Homer   had   wielded   over   him    from  his 

childhood,  and  not  to  dwell  upon  the  legend    of 

his    tearing   up    some    early   verses    on     making 


88  POETRY  AND  ART 

acquaintance  with  Socrates,  the  genius  which 
created  the  Symposium  and  Phcedrus  had  a  poetic 
swing  and  vehemence  and  a  fulness  of  inspiration 
not  easily  to  be  kept  under  control.  The  spirit 
of  the  prophet  might  be  subject  to  the  prophet, 
but  what  wjould  happen  in  the  case  of  other  gifted 
Greeks  ?  When  he  looks  abroad  and  contemplates 
the  need  V)^ temperance,  fortitude,  and  justice  in  a 
community,  h/6  conceives  an  exaggerated  fear  of 
the  consequences  that  may  arise  from  fictitious 
representations  of  unreal  scenes  in  which  emo- 
tional  sentiment  finds  \expression  and  excites 
\j  corresponding   emotion.    \ 

True  poetry,  says  Milton,  is  simple,  sensuous, 
passionate.  Plato,  in  arraigning  the  art  would 
not  have  accepted  that  as  a  defence.  On  the 
second  and  third  counts  she  would  stand  self- 
cbndemned,  and  as  for  simplicity,  that  is  the  very 
quality  which  he  looks  for,  and  finds  wanting.  In 
Irook  III.,  he  thinks  by  laying  down  certain  rules, 
to  make  poetry  innocuous  and  to  reform  music,  so 
^s  to  heal  and  purify  the  too  artificial  State.  But 
in  Book  X.  he  sees  reason  for  discarding  poetry 
altogether,  with  the  sole  exception  of  hymns  to 
"j^ods  and  heroes.  Even  the  best  of  men,  he 
thinks,  who  have  steeled  themselves  against  desire 
and  passion,  cannot  listen  to  those  sweet  strains 
without    losing   something   of    their   virtue ;    the 


"POETRY  FOR  POETRY'S  SAKE"    89 

contagious   influence   of  imaginary  sorrow   draws 
tears  from  eyes  unused  to  melt. 

It  is  singular  that  Plato,  who  deliberately  began 
the  work  of  education  with  fictitious  tales,  saying] 
boldly  that  false  language  must  be  employed  before 
the  true,  should  not  have  more  distinctly  recognise( 
the  worth  of  poetical  invention.  What  is  much  df 
his  own  best  work  but  reason  concentrated  in  th< 
form  of  feeling ;  or  what  are  his  famous  myths  but 
imaginative  fictions  embodying  truths  half-realized, 
and  expressing  a  passionate  aspiration  towards  the 
unseen?  They  are  but  words  reflecting  notions/ 
which  are  again  reflected  from  divine  realities; 
Are  they  not  therefore  "  the  imitation  of  an  irnjt^L- 
tion  "  ?  The  present  is  one  of  many  cases  in  which 
the  philosopher's  soaring  idealism  carries  him 
beyond  the  moderation  and  sobriety  of  his  own 
first  thoughts. 

Yet  if  we  try  to  bring  together  the  teaching  of 
Books  III.  and  X.  with  the  treatment  of  cognate 
subjects  in  the  Gorgtas,  Symposium,  Phcedrus,  and 
Laws,  we  perceive  that  Plato  is  aiming  all  the  while 
at  an  important  truth.  Jhe  cry  of  Art  for  Art's 
sake,  or  of  poetry  for  poetry's  sake,  must  be  frankly 
admitted  in  the  sense  that  no  artist  or  poet  can 
produce  good  work  unless  he  is  free  and  untram- 
melled in  his  endeavours  to  give  shape  to  his  con- 
ceptions and  complete  embodiment  to  his  peculiar 


90  POETRY  AND  ART 

ideal.  Plato  himself  admits  as  much  in  the 
Phcedrus,  where  the  poet  who  is  in  his  sober  senses 
is  said  to  have  no  chance.  But  the  moralist  also 
has  his  rights :  he  also  must  be  free  and  untram- 
melled in  judging  of  artistic  products  as  affecting 
conduct.  He  may  say  without  offence  upon  a  calm 
review,  "  This  work  of  art  has  an  ennobling,  that,  a 
degrading,  tendency."  "  This  ministers  to  harmless 
amusement,  that  inspires  to  effort  and  exalts  the 
mind."  And  the  philosopher  or  the  unbiassed 
critic  may  observe  the  difference  between  a  poem 
which,  however  rhythmical  and  melodious,  is  barren 
and  unmeaning,  and  one  which,  coming  sweetly 
from  nature,  is  the  manifest  outflow  of  the  vision 
and  the  faculty  divine.  J 

In  the  last  twcwcenturies  aesthetics  have  assumed 
an  important  place  among  the  subjects  of  philo- 
sophical enquiry.  Many  volumes  on  the  sublime 
and  beautiful,  on  the  principles  of  taste,  on  the 
relation  of  the  fine  arts  to  each  other  and  to  the 
conduct  of  life,  have  striven  to  give  laws  to  the 
Poet,  the  Painter,  and  the  Musician.  Sensational- 
ism makes  the  standard  of  beauty  depend  on 
association.  Idealism  seeks  to  fix  it  by  deductive 
argument.  For  the  pessimist  the  purpose  of  emo- 
tional poetry  is  to  detach  human  beings  from  the 
will  to  live,  while  to  the  practical  materialist  art 
merely   affords    relaxation    and    relief    from    the 


«. 


SUBSTANCE  AND  FORM  91 

serious  pursuit  of  gain.  Theory  has  supplanted 
theory,  fashion  succeeded  to  fashion,  new  conven- 
tions have  abolished  the  old ;  in  some  cases  it  is 
hard  to  say  whether  art  or  theory  has  led  the  way, 
although  the  original  artist  will  always  be  his  own 
lawgiver. 

It  is  not  an  idle  question  in  what  relation  poeti^ 
is  to  stand  to  life.     Plato  denounced  the  separation,   y 
which  had  begun   before  his  time,  of  music  frorfK 
song,  and  of  both  from  dancing.     He  would  have  I 
sympathized  with  the  Presbyterian  who  could  not 
bear   to   hear   the   organ   praising   God   by  itself. 
Are  we  now  to  have  a  further  severance,  not  onb 
of  sound  from  sense  and  meaning,  but  of  meaning 
from  human  experience  ?     A  recent  writer  has  in- 
vented a  subtle  distinction  between  the  subject  and 
the  substance  of  a  poem  ;  but  unless  the  substance 
is  in  some  way  derived  from  actual  emotion,  called 
forth  by  things  known  and  felt,  from  whence  in  the 
universe  are  the  pure  fountains  of  poetic  utterance 
to /be  replenished? 

(Plato  in  his  devotion  to  abstract  thought  regards 
all  sensuous  language  as  an  unworthy  vehicle. 
The  modern  tendency  is  to  prize  the  vehicle  as  all 
in  all,  and  to  be  indifferent  to  the  idea  conveyed. 
The  success  of  Coleridge's  Dream-poem  has  had 
too  seductive  a  charm.  In  either  way  a  wrong  is 
done  to  the  inherent  nobleness  of  Art. 


■    N 


92  /  POETRY  AND  ART 

The  spheres  of  morality  and  the  fine  arts  are 
separate  and  yet  related  to  each  other.  A  com- 
plete philosophy  must  comprise  the  knowledge  of 
both  and  assign  to   each   its  place   and  function. 

o  moral  strength  can  make  a  poet,  but  Plato  can 
hardly  be  wrong  in  thinking  that  grandeur  and 
nobility  of  conception  depend  in  some  way  on 
\  qualities  of  the  moral  nature, — that  splendour  of 
imagination  is  not  unconnected  with  character ; 
yet  he  is  mistaken  in  thinking  that  the  representa- 
tion of  what  is  evil  must  never  enter  into  the  com- 

osition  of  a  great   and  wholesome  work  of  art. 

ragic  pathos,  for  example,  has  unquestionably  a 
refining  and  elevating  influence  on  those  who  are 
capable  of  enjoying  it,  and  the  effect  of  Tragedy 
turns  almost  wholly  on  the  contrast  between  actual 
evil  and  possible  or  actual  good.  No  feeling  heart 
was  ever  debased  by  the  representation  of  wicked- 
ness in  Iago  or  Macbeth,  and  the  faithfulness  of 
Imogen,  the  purity  of  Marina,  shine  all  the  brighter 
for  the  foulness  of  the  atmosphere  surrounding 
them.  But  neither  Shakespeare  nor  Homer  can 
have  the  same  danger  for  us,  that  Homer  may 
really  have  had  for  the  majority  of  Plato's  edu- 
cated contemporaries.  \ 

jJn  reading  the  I  had  or  Odyssey,  we  accept 
what  is  human,  and  unconsciously  discount  what 
claims    to    be   divine   and    supernatural.      To   us 


PLATO'S  LATER  THEORY  9i 

they  are  splendid  monuments  of  great  poetry  * 
embodying  the  thoughts  and  fancies  of  a  distant 
age.  We  can  admire  their  grandeur  and  enjoy 
their  beauty  without  falling  under  the  domination 
of  an  immoral  polytheism.  But  it  was  otherwise 
with  the  average  Athenian  citizen,  who  had  beejrt 
taught  to  think  of  Homer  and  Hesiod  as  pro/ 
viding  not  only  aesthetic  enjoyment,  but  a  rbu^f 
of  life,  and  when  this  confidence  was  shaken, 
had  no  resource  except  in  moral  scepticism  or 
in  allegorical  interpretations  wh^re  he  "  found 
no  end  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

Although  Greek  religion  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  embodied  in  sacred  books,  yet  there  is  a 
real  analogy  between  the  authority  of  the  old 
poets  in  Plato's  age,  and  the  confusion  of  mind 
arising  from  the  literal  application  of  Scripture 
amongst  the  English  Puritans  or  the  Boers  of 
South  Africa.  So  much  may  be  said  in  vindica- 
tion of  Plato's  condemnation  of  Homer. 

In  respect  of  metaphysical  theory,  Plato's 
own  reasoning  in  the  later  Dialogues  went 
far  towards  restoring  to  the  senses  and  im- 
agination their  due  place  and  honour.  In 
the  Philebus,  he  even  approaches  a  practical 
inference  in  connexion  with  the  useful  arts.  The 
builder  and  carpenter  have  to  do  not  with  the 
absolute,  but  with  the  relatively  imperfect,  squarJr 


94  POETRY  AND  ART 

and  circle.  The  idealizing  impulse  continued 
notwithstanding  to  affect  Plato's  aesthetic  theory, 
and  his  experience  of  the  contemporary  drama 
in  an  age  of  minor  poets,  dragging  the  average 
Athenian  about  from  theatre  to  theatre  in  search 
of  some  new  thing,  which  the  strolling  companies 
provided  in  endless  variety,  the  absence  of  any 
authoritative  standard  of  taste  except  the  applause 
or  condemnation  of  clamorous  audiences,  had  dis- 
gusted him  too  deeply  to  permit  of  his  returning  to 
a  just  and  reasonable  view.  This  is  one  of  the 
few  subjects  in  which  the  logical  clearness  of 
Aristotle  grasped  a  truth  not  anticipated  by  Plato. 
The  Poetics  are  only  a  fragment,  but  have  had 
a  great  and  increasing  -influence  upon  modern 
aesthetical  theory.  Professor  Butcher  has  shown 
that  the  Stagyrite  comes  nearer  to  the  modern 
view,  which  makes  pleasure  the  text  of  excellence 
in  poetry,  than  most  of  his  successors  and  imitators, 
whether  in  Roman  literature,  or  French,  or 
English. 

A  word  should  be  added  on  Plato's  attitude 
towards  comedy.  At  the  close  of  the  Symposium 
his  Socrates  was  defending  the  famous  thesis, 
that  a  great  tragic  poet  could  be  a  great  comic 
writer  as  well.  In  the  Republic  he  makes  a 
v  remark  not  necessarily  inconsistent  with  the 
cjairmer,   that  in  point   of  fact  the   same   persons 


GREEK  MUSIC  95 

cannot  act  well  in  tragedy  and  comedy.  In 
allowing  his  guardians  now  and  then  to  imitate 
vicious  persons .  in  scornful  play,  he  has  been 
thought  to  give  some  opening  for  comic  art. 
A  provision  in  the  Laws  throws  an  interesting 
light  upon  this  point,  where  it  is  enacted  that 
the  citizens  may  not  take  part  in  comic  scenes 
themselves,  but  may  sometimes  witness  them 
when  the  characters  are  impersonated  by  slaves. 
A  good  deal  has  been  written  lately  about 
Greek  music.  The  discovery  of  some  genuine 
fragments  has  thrown  light  upon  the  technical 
discussions  of  Aristoxenus  (third  century  B.C.) 
and  Aristides  (first  century  A.D.).  The  subject 
is  too  complicated  for  explanation  heref?Bi 
it  is  still  difficult  to  account  for  the  extraordinary 
importance  attached  by  Aristotle  as  well  as  by  j 
Plato  to  the  moral  influence  for^j^od-^*^ejdL-ja£^ 
different  musical  modes.  /  vThe  statement  of 
Glaucon,  as  to  the  subtle  I  effect  of  some  change 
of  fashion  in  melody  insinuating  itself  into 
personal  conduct,  undermining  the  home,  and 
sapping  the  constitution  of  the  state,  is  to  the 
modern  mind  hardly  intelligible.  The  saying 
of  Fletcher  of  Saltoun,  "Let  me  make  the 
ballads  of  a  people,  and  I  care  not  who  makes 
their  laws,"  is  often  quoted,  but  little  believed. 
The  passion  associated  with  the  "  Marseillaise,"  or 


96  POETRY  AND  ART 

with  "  Rule  Britannia,"  is  an  effect  much  more 
than  a  cause.  We  are  familiar  with  the  sadness 
of  the  minor  key,  but  no  one  imagines  that  such 
a  setting  of  familiar  tunes  has  a  weakening 
effect  on  character.  \  We  can  only  suppose  that 
the  Greek  temperamjent  must  have  been  strangely 
responsive  to  melodious  sounds,  whether  gay  or 
pensive.  The  difficulty  is  not  lessened  by  the 
theory  which  is  advanced  on  high  authority,  that 
the  difference  between  the  scales,  which  are 
admitted  and  rejected  on  moral  grounds,  lay 
merely  in  a  higher  or  lower  pitch.  We  hardly 
seem  to  have  advanced  beyond  the  position  of 
Milton,  who  in  his  youthful  poem  asks  the  spirit 
of  mirth  to  lap  him  in  soft  Lydian  airs,  and  in 
the  work  of  his  maturity  represents  the  phalanx 
of  warriors  as  marching  to  the  Dorian  mood. 

lYet  it  must  be  admitted  by  those  who  still 
are  "  moved  with  concord  of  sweet  sounds,"  that 
at  the  close  of  some  strain  of  music  by  a  great 
composer,  they  have  been  conscious  of  a  moral 
influence  for  good  or  ill.  A  symphony  of  Beet- 
hoven's leaves  the  mind  composed  and  calm, 
whereas  in  rising  from  the  enjoyment  of  some 
of  "  the  music  of  the  future,"  we  are  aware  that 
our  emotions  have  been  excited,  and  not  allayedA 

The  imaginative  sympathy  with  all  that  affects' 
man  as  man,  which  is  of  the  essence  of  true  poetry, 


ART  AND  MORALITY  97 

and  the  sensitiveness  to  beauty  which  forms  the 
inspiration  of  Art,  may  often  co-exist  with  moral 
weakness,  or  with  vicious  proclivities.  It  may 
even  lessen  the  flow  of  spontaneous  human  kind- 
ness by  spending  on  imaginary  sorrows  what  is 
due  to  the  real.  The  history  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  affords  many  examples  of  this  truth. 
But  there  is  no  reason  in  the  nature  of  things  to 
justify  the  famous  saying  that  "  Art  is  the  bloom 
upon  decay."  I  Sanity  is  an  essential  note  of  the 
highest  genius,  and  if  a  sound  basis  of  character 
and  moral  purpose  is  pre-supposed,  poetic  imagina- 
tion and  the  artistic  faculty  cannot  fail  to  enhance 
the  worth  of  personality.  They  enlarge  the  sphere 
of  consciousness,  they  quicken  perception,  they 
lift  the  veil  between  human  hearts  that  hides  them 
from  each  other.  As  Tennyson  phrased  it  in  one 
of  his  earliest  lyrics,  the  true  poet  is  endowed  with 
"  the  hate  of  hate,  the  scorn  of  scorn,  the  love  of 
love."  Even  Momus,  as  Plato  might  say,  can 
hardly  object  to  the  genuine  fruits  of  such  an 
endowment. 

References,  Chapter  VI. 

p.  86.  Laws,  Book  VII.,  p.  8i6ff. 

p.  87.  Gomperz,  vol.  ii.  (German  edition),  p.  401. 

p.  89.  Gorgias,   p.    502  ;    Ph&drus,    pp.    268,   269  ;    Laws, 

Book  III.,  pp.  700,  701. 
p.  90.  Phcedrus,  p.  245  A. 

G 


98  POETRY  AND  ART 

p.  90.  Burke  on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful  ;  Alison  on 
Taste ;  Lessing's  Laocoon;  Hegel's  JEsthetik  ; 
Schopenhauer,  Pater,  Bernard  Bosanquet. 

p.  91.  Coleridge's  Kubla  Khan. 

p.  93.  (1)  On  Homer  as   an  educator,  see  Republic  X.,  p. 
606  E  ;  JVettleship,  p.  341. 
(2)  Philebus,  p.  62  A-C. 

p.  94.  See,  however,  Laws,  Book  II.,  p.  658  E. 

p.  95.  Nettles  hip,  pp.  118  ft. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PLATO'S  COMMUNISM. — THE  POSITION  OF   WOMEN 

i.  Plato  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  social/ 
and  political  evils  which  threatened  Athens  in  his 
time.     The  spirit  of  faction  prevailing  over  patriot?  / 
ism,  the  rich  plebeian  lording  it  over  the  highborn 
poor  man,  quarrels   and    offences   due  to  private/ 
interests  that  overbore  the  sense  of  common  good, 
the  decay  of  public  spirit,  the  greed  of  gain,  arc 
these  he  traced  to  the  defects  inherent  in  family 
life.     He  is  determined  that  in  his  ideal  common" 
wealth,    amongst    the    rulers,  at    least,    all    such 
temptations  shall  be  remoWd.     Natural  affection 
is  to  remain  unimpaired,  but  is  no  longer  to  be 
restricted  within  the  limits  of  a  single  household. 
He  imagines  that  this  end  will  be  secured  by  his 
strange  proposal   of  what  an  American    imitator 
(conscious  or  unconscious)   has   called   "  complex 
marriage." 

Plato  is  by  no  means   insensible  to  the  moral 
beauty  of  a  pure  and  well-regulated    home.     His 

99 


100  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

picture  of  the  house  of  Cephalus  at  the  opening 
of  the  Republic^  and  of  the  old  man's  care  for  his 
grown-up  sons,  the  gentle  badinage  of  Lysis,  about 
his  obedience  to  his  mother,  the  earnest  enforce- 
ment of  filial  duties  in  the  Lazvs,  show  that  he 
was  quite  alive  to  the  charms  of  domesticity. 
Had  he  lived  two  generations  earlier,  he  would 
probably  have  shared  the  deep  reverence  of  the 
great   tragedians  for  the   religion   of  the   hearth. 

/  But  the  Athenian  home  of  the  fourth  century  was 

.not  always  a  beautiful  thing.  At  its  best  it  must 
^  have  resembled  the  sort  of  "  doll's  house  "  described 
by  Xenophon  in  his  GLconomicus.  What  it  was  at 
its  worst  we  may  infer  from  certain  pages  in 
Aristophanes.  "  The  Athenian  woman  was  in  no 
yay  tne  equal  of  her  husband,   she  was  not  the 

"[entertainer   of  his   guests  or  the  mistress  of  his 
house,  but  only  his  housekeeper  and  the  mother 

^j6f  his  children  "  (Jowett). 

/'The  example  of  Lacedaemon  was  again  a  snare 

to    Plato.     The  institution  of  marriage   amongst 

.'  the  Spartan  aristocracy  was  laxly  observed.      Not 

/    that  the  bond  had  been  loosened,  but  it  had  never 

been  very  strictly  drawn  ;  and  the   state  in   con- 

V    trolling  such   relations   aimed   principally   at   the 

^preservation  of  the  warlike  breed. 

More  certainly  and  obviously  he  is  once  more 
imposed  upon  by  his  passion  for   abstract   unity. 


RESTRICTIONS  ON  MARRIAGE  101 

Since  the  actual  state  is  broken  up   and   divided  / 
through   private   interests,   he   is    determined    to  A 
abolish   private    interests    altogether.     The    state  y 
must  be  one  throughout,  there  must  not  be  man/ 
masters  ;  the  principle   is  virtually  admitted  that 
there  may  be  many  members  in  one  body,  but  the 
emphasis  is  unduly  laid  on  "  one." 

It    should   be   remembered   first   that   the   new 
regulations   applied    only   to   the   guardians,  whoK 
were  a  small   minority  in    the    community.     The 
ordinary  citizens  of  the  industrial  and  commercial  ^ 
classes   were   to   have   their   separate  households, 
buying     and     selling,    marrying    and    giving    in  v/ 
marriage ;  only  not  having  families  beyond  their  ^ 
means,  "for   fear  of  poverty  or  war."/  Secondly, 
Plato's  intention  is  the  very  reverse   of  any   en- 
couragement of  license.     It  is  rather,  as  Mr  Grote 
quaintly  expressed  it,  "  to  minimize  the  influence  ofl' 
Aphrodite."     Sexual    impulses   were   to   be    kept 
under   as   they   had    never   been  in  any  Hellenic 
community,  unless  perhaps  among  the  Pythagorean/ 
brotherhood.     The  race  must  be  continued  (always  > 
with  due  regard  to  the  dictates  of  the  mysterious  , 
"  number  of  the  State  ") ;  the  purity  of  the  breed 
must   be   preserved ;    natural   desires   must    have  , 
their  legitimate  scope  and  outlet ;  therefore  therer, 
must  be  marriage  festivals,  as  carefully  providea 
for  in  Book  V.     But  all  this  is  done  under  severe 


102  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

and  solemn  regulations.  Modern  revolutionists  in 
setting  up  new  moralities  or  pleading  for  the 
"  higher  law "  have  sometimes  imagined  them- 
selves to  be  followers  of  Plato.  But  it  may  safely 
be  affirmed  that  neither  the  poetical  Shelley  nor 
the  philosophic  Godwin  would  have  submitted  to 
Plato's  institution  for  a  year.  Sentiment,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word,  is  of  course  out  "of  tlj£ 
question.  It  had  little  place  in  Hellenic  life  at  al^ 
and  the  last  thing  in  Plato's  thoughts  is  to  ery 
courage  it. _^He  is  aware  that  "juxtaposition!' 
must  give  rise  to  mutual  attraction  between  younsp 
persons,  and  he  makes  this  the^tarting-point  for 
his  reasoning  on  thejsubject.     V 

The  experience  of  twenty-three  centuries  since 
Plato  wrote  has  confirmed  the  estimate  of  the 
Greek  tragedians  regarding  the  sacredness  of  the 
domestic  bond,  and  has  justified  Aristotle  in 
treating  the  family  as  the  irreducible  unit  in  the 
constitution  of  a  nation.  And  although  Christian- 
ity, in  its  first  beginnings,  like  other  revolutionary 
forces,  tended  in  some  ways  to  break  through 
family  ties — M  My  mother  and  my  brethren  are 
those  that  hear  the  word  and  do  it " — yet  in  the 
long  run,  notwithstanding  periods  of  asceticism,  the 
Christian  graces,  exemplifying  the  precepts  of  the 
divine  founder,  have  deepened  and  purified  home 
affections  and  have  raised  traditional    obligations 


PLATO'S  CAPITAL  ERROR 

into  a  law  of  the  spirit  of  life.      That  aberrations 
and   deflexions   have   been   frequent  in   Christian 
communities,  that  rash  bonds  have  brought  forth 
bitterness,  that  the   yoke   as  rigidly  imposed  has 
pressed  heavily  in  particular  instances,  is  only  too 
sadly  true.     But  modern  attempts  to  remedy  such 
anomalies    by   new    institutions    somewhat    after 
Plato's  model,  have  rarely  survived  a  generatioi 
and  then  only  under  the  predominant  influence 
some  commanding  personality,  as  in  the  America 
"  Perfectionist  "  community  of  Oneida  establishej 
by  John    Humphreys    Noyes.      Such    movements 
have  been  inevitably  overborne  by  the  legal  and 
moral  pressure  from  the  surrounding  world. 

'The  objection  of  Aristotle,  that  if  affection  were 
so  widely  distributed  it  would  be  watered  down,  is 
not  quite  in  point,  perhaps,  for  Plato,  in  destroying 
the  exclusiveness  of  personal  attachments,  would  \/ 
not  be  disinclined  to  lessen  their  intensity ;  but  iti/ 
is  certainly  true.     The  professed  universal  philan^. 
thropist  is  apt  to  care  little  for  the  things  of  his 
wn  house. 


f 


Plato,  however,  might  be  quoted  against  himself^ 
He  says  elsewhere,  in  speaking  of  the  education  of, 
childhood,  that  a  building  whose   foundation  hz^S 
been  neglected,  is  sure  to  fall.     The  family  is  the ,-. 
school  of  the  affections,  and  on  this  foundation  the'*"' 
whole  structure  of  wider  sympathy  reposes.^lato 


\ 


10o±  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

in  overleaping  the  first  step,  attempts  to  raise  his 
fabric   in    the   air.     That   he   was   wrong   in  this 

requires  no  further  demonstration, - 

.  |  But  while  rejecting  the  means  proposed,  it  is  still 
worth   while   to  consider   the   purpose  which  the 
philosopher  had  in  view.     He  would  lift  the  feeling 
of/common  nationality  into  a  sense  of  brotherhood 
as  instinctive  as  the  natural  affection  of  kindred. 
tHe   would   extend    the    loving-kindness    hitherto 
Associated  with  blood  relationship  to  every  member 
of  the  community.     May  not  the  same  end  be  more 
tefifectually  attained  by  spreading  far  and  wide  the 
warmth  first  kindled  at  the  family  hearth  ?     Have 
we  not  known  persons  whose  home  affections  were 
fresh  and  unattainted,  yet  whose  love  seemed  to  be 
Jlififused  in  undiminished  fullness  towards  all  with 
.whom  they  had  to  do  ?     Are  not  such  persons  the 
cement   of  our   society?      Can   we    not,    without 
\  unduly  straining  optimism,  imagine   them  multi- 
plied?    Human  sympathies  need  not  be  straitened 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  single  household,  but 
may  extend  to  all  who  share  the  common  life.     And 
those  whose  capability  of  loving  has  been  balked 
.or  frustrated,  may  find  a  world  of  consolation  in 
giving   more   than   they   receive.      But    all    such 
activities  are  quickened  by  the  memories  of  home : 
x  the   life  is  richer  in  proportion  to  the  vitality  at 
\root ;  just  as  the  soldier  in  devoting  himself  to  his 


A  NEW  UTOPIA  105 

country  is  said  to  be  "  more  brave  for  this,  that  he 
has  much  to  love." 

Ideal  for  ideal,  dream  for  dream  !  "  Once  upon 
a  time,"  we  will  say,  "  in  a  region  far  beyond  our 
ken,  the  institution  of  monogamy  was  perfected. 
Education  had  been  so  developed  that  each  indi- 
vidual had  been  fitted  for  an  occupation  suitable 
to  his  nature  and  conducing  to  the  public  good. 
This  absorbed  his  lifelong  energies,  and  to  this 
he  was  devoted  heart  and  soul.  For  labour,  in- 
tellectual and  manual,  was  so  distributed  as  to 
provide  ample  room  for  the  willing  efforts  of  all, 
and  to  ensure  to  each  a  modest  sufficiency.  The 
flush  of  passion  in  youth  was  allayed  by  early 
and  well-assorted  life-unions,  which  inspired  fresh 
motive  and  impulse  to  continued  exertion.  In 
those  peaceful  homes  warm  affection  and  mutual 
trust  were  so  firmly  welded  as  to  preclude  the 
possibility  of  jealousy  or  suspicion.  A  great  and 
unexampled  religious  revival,  on  a  Christian  basis, 
had  rendered  all  sexual  offences  the  object  of  a 
natural  horror  equal  to  that  which  had  previously 
made  incest  an  unheard-of  thing.  But  the  pure 
love  that  was  generated  in  the  family  circle  spread 
far  beyond  it,  until  all  within  the  social  range  were 
drawn  together  by  affection  like  that  of  brother 
and  sister,  father  and  child ;  while  many  who 
remained  unmarried,  or  had  suffered  early  bereave- 


106  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

ment,  found  scope  amongst  those  remaining  near 
to  them  and  in  society  at  large  for  abundant 
outgoings  of  benevolent  and  beneficent  activity. 
Through  such  persistent  endeavours  the  com- 
munity had  become  united  in  one  strong  and 
harmonious  whole,  and  even  the  head-workers  and 
the  hand-workers  had  come  to  understand  each 
other  and  to  recognize  the  interdependence  of 
their  several  labours." 

Such  an  Utopia  is  not  more  remote  from 
sober  actuality  than  was  Plato's  Republic  in  his 
day ;  and  the  result,  were  it  once  realized,  would 
be  infinitely  more  rich  in  good.  Then  some  con- 
ventional obstacles  which  a  wise  prudence  has 
interposed  between  man  and  woman  and  between 
youth  and  maid  might  be  discarded  as  no  longer 
needful,  and  human  intercourse  might  flow  onward 
at  high  levels,  in  a  full,  clear,  and  beneficent  stream. 

Thus  while  prizing  married  life  as  the  indis- 
pensable basis  of  all  social  good,  we  may  learn 
from  Plato  not  to  look  on  marriage  as  a  sort  of 
dual  selfishness.  He  would  pass  at  once  from 
centre  to  circumference.  We  would  gradually 
diffuse  the  light  and  warmth  from  many  centres 
over  the  whole  area.  As  the  centres  multiply, 
the  warmth  should  grow,  and  if  the  light  but 
increase  correspondingly,  then  "  behold  the  day  !  " 
The  feelings  which   are  naturally  called  forth  in 


CELIBACY  AND  MARRIAGE  107 

family  life  need  not  be  arrested  there,  but  the 
heart  so  disciplined  may  be  further  enlarged  to 
embrace  humanity.  And  there  may  be  single 
lives  independently  devoted  to  the  general  good, 
not  in  consequence  of  some  rash  vow,  but  through 
a  combination  of  choice  and  circumstance,  perhaps 
after  some  sore  trial.  Affections  that  have  been 
awakened  and  frustrated  may  be  transfused,  so 
as  to  become  more  largely  fruitful.  The  dis- 
appointed one  may  "  scatter  blessings  o'er  a  smil- 
ing land ; "  mysterious  words  of  Scripture  may  be 
realized :  "  let  not  the  eunuch  say  I  am  a  dry 
tree," — "  the  barren  woman  shall  keep  house,  and 
be  a  joyful  mother  of  children." 

The  widening  gradation  described  by  the 
Mantinean  prophetess  in  Plato's  Banquet — from 
fair  bodies  to  fair  souls,  fair  thoughts,  fair  acts, 
and  so  onward  to  the  ocean  of  beauty  —  need 
not  presuppose  the  dereliction  of  the  narrower 
sphere,  which  is  the  support  and  ground  of  the 
larger. 

"Thrice  blest  whose  loves  in  higher"  (let  us  add  in  wider) 
"  love  endure." 

In  certain  public  institutions,  where  celibacy  was 
at  one  time  obligatory,  it  used  to  be  an  occasion 
of  complaint  that  the  unmarried  "  don "  was  apt 
to   rust   and   vegetate,  and  to  lose  all  sympathy 


108  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

and  influence  over  others.  The  poet  even  phrased 
it  in  measured  words, — 

"  The  slow  mechanic  pacings  to  and  fro, 
"  The  set  grey  life,  and  apathetic  end." 

We  now  hear  the  opposite  complaint — that  the 
married  tutor  shrinks  into  a  hide-bound  conser- 
vatism :  enthusiasm  for  progress  and  reform  would 
endanger  his  domestic  interests :  he  cannot  afford 
to  be  public-spirited.  "  The  cares  of  this  world  " 
have  choked  the  good  seed  in  him  and  he  "be- 
comes unfruitful."  But  surely,  in  either  case,  as 
the  aged  Cephalus  puts  it,  "  the  fault  is  not  in 
the  circumstances  but  in  the  men,"  and,  in  the 
latter  case,  also  of  the  women. 

2.  If  that  great  work,  Aristotle's  History  of 
Political  Constitutions,  had  come  down  to  us  entire, 
and  if  all  of  it  were  on  the  scale  of  the  lately 
discovered  Athenian  Constitution,  we  should  know 
more  clearly  than  is  possible  now  to  what  extent 
Plato's  scheme  of  the  community  of  goods  is 
original.  We  know  that  in  Hellas  generally,  the 
rights  of  property  were  less  firmly  established 
than  in  modern  states.  "  Revolution "  always 
spelt  "redistribution  of  the  land,  and  the  ex- 
tinction of  debts."  "  Primitive  society  offered 
many  examples  of  land  held  in  common,  either  by 
a  tribe  or  by  a  township,  and  such  may  probably 


ARISTOTLE'S  CRITICISM  109 

have  been  the  original  form  of  landed  tenure. 
Ancient  legislators  had  invented  various  modes  of 
dividing  and  preserving  the  divisions  of  land 
among  the  citizens ;  according  to  Aristotle,  there 
were  nations  who  held  the  land  in  common,  and 
divided  the  produce,  and  there  were  others  who 
divided  the  land  and  stored  the  produce  in 
common  "  ( Jowett).  The  analogy  of  the  monastic 
orders  and  other  mediaeval  conventual  societies 
to  the  common  property  of  the  Republic  and  the 
common  meals  of  Republic  and  Laws,  has  often A 
been  pointed  out.  ^/ 

The  details  o£-the  scheme  which  Plato  intended 
are  not  clear,  because  the  position   of  the  loweV 
classes  is  left  out  of  sight.     They  were  to  have/ 
separate     households,,    and     possession     of     real 
property,    but    it    would    appear    that    the    land/ 
belonged  to  the  State,  although  the  rulers  were^ 
to  reap  no  advantage  from  it  beyond  bare  main- 


tenance. The  objection  of  Aristotle  tKat  motives 
for  exertion  would  be  taken  away,  Hardly  applies 
to  Plato's  highest  class  as  he  conceives  it.  The 
practical  solution  which  the  Stagyrite  expressed  in 
the  memorable  phrase,  "  property  should  be  private 
in  possession  but  public  in  use,"  is  not  original  in 
him,  for  it  is  Plato's  own  concession  to  the 
weakness  of  human  nature,  when  devising  his 
second  best  commonwealth  in  the  Laws. 


110  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

As  is  usual  with  him  in  criticizing  Plato,  Aristotle 

is  guilty  of  ignoratio  elenchi :  leaving  out  of  sight 

his   author's  point  of  view.     He  says  that  there 

will  be  no  motive  for  exertion  when  property  is 

abolished,   an    obviously    valid    objection,    if    the 

principle  of  "all  things  common"  were  extended 

fb   the   whole   state.     But    the   rulers   have   been 

selected,  trained,  and   tested    in    such   a   way   as 

t»   make   sure   that   no   motive   can   be   stronger 

I  with    them   than  the  general  good;  and  the   rest 

of  the  guardians  are  known  to  have  honour  for 

H  their  guiding   principle.     Viewed  in  the  light  of 

experience,    this    conception     is     not     altogether 

Utopian.     It     would     not    be    difficult    to    name 

persons,   "  now   with    God,"   whom  we  have  seen 

and   known,   in   whose   lives    the   former    motive 

was  predominant ;  and  with  the  second,  the  pursuit 

of  honour,  names  even  to-day  in  all  men's  mouths 

ought  to  have  made  us  familiar.     And  as  for  the 

love     of     gain,     which     Aristotle     and     political 

economists   assume   to   be   the   only   stimulus   to 

endeavour,    Plato,   even    in    the   Republic,   admits 

The  lawfulness  of  some  of  the  desires,  not  only 

%as  "necessary,"  but  as  approved  by  reason,  and 

.  sanctioned  by  wisdom.     The  "  Kings  "  themselves 

-*  are  not  wholly  unacquainted  with  these. 

Plato  leaves  it  to  his  guardians  to  keep  a  strict 
watch   against   undue  accumulation,  and  also   to 


PROPERTY  AND  THE  STATE  111 

prevent  the  impoverishment  of  any  citizen.     He    V 
does  not  specify  the  means  by  which  he  proposes 
to  obviate  the  former  evil,  but  in  Book  VIII.  he    / 
incidentally   suggests   two   ways  of  checking  the    . 
danger  of  financial  ruin — (i)  by  strict  regulations 
as  to  the  investment  of  trust-money  ;  and  (2)  by   * 
yorbidding  suretyship — all  investments  to  be  made 
at  the  sole  risk  of  the  investor.     It  is  also  implied 
that  there  should  be  a  law  of  entail. 

In  the  Laws,  where  the  conditions  of  life  are 
confessedly  less  strict  than  in  the  Republic,  the 
land  is  divided  amongst  the  5040  citizens,  each 
cultivating  his  own  allotment  for  himself  and  no 
longer  for  the  State;  then  all  real  property  is 
to  be  registered,  and  no  householder  is  allowed  to 
possess  more  than  four  times  the  value  of  his 
allotment.  What  would  Plato  have  thought  of 
the  Trust  and  Corner  system,  or  of  the  fortune 
of  a  multi-millionaire? 

The  problem  of  the  distribution  of  wealth  in 
the  modern  world  is,  however,  so  different  from 
that  in  ancient  Greece  that  it  is  impossible  to 
reason  from  the  one  to  the  other.  No  government 
nowadays  could  impose  such  conditions  of  tenure 
as  were  enforced  in  many  communities  known  to 
Plato  and  Aristotle.  A  Greek  state,  limited  lri , 
numbers,  and  based  on  slavery,  offers  scarcely 
any  analogy  to  our  democratic  peoples.     Such  a 


112  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

notion  as  that  of  abolishing  the  middle  classes 
and  placing  the  capitalist  at  the  mercy  of  the 
proletariate,  could  not  have  entered  into  the  mind 
of  any  ancient  thinker. 

Yet,  in  forecasting  the  future  of  society  the 
considerate  study  of  Plato  may  not  be  fruitless. 
Professor  Jowett,  in  his  introduction,  has  some 
striking  remarks  on  this  subject,  from  which  the 
following  may  be  quoted :  "  Property,  besides 
ministering  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  few,  may 
also  furnish  the  means  of  the  highest  culture 
to  all,  and  will  be  a  greater  benefit  to  the  public 
generally,  and  also  more  under  the  control  of 
public  authority.  There  may  come  a  time  when 
the  saying, '  Have  I  not  a  right  to  do  what  I  will 
with  my  own  ? '  will  appear  to  be  a  barbarous  relic 
of  individualism, — when  the  possession  of  a  part 
may  be  a  greater  blessing  to  each  and  all  than  the 
possession  of  the  whole  is  now  to  any  one." 

3.  The  remaining  paradox, — the  proposal  for 
the  education  and  employment  of  women — is  fast 
becoming  a  truism  for  the  twentieth  century 
A.D.  Plato  had  nothing  to  guide  him  here  but  the 
athleticism  of  Spartan  women,  and  such  legends 
a.d  those  of  the  Amazons  or  of  Atalanta's  race. 
*That  he  should  so  far  have  emancipated  himself 
ifrom  the  ideas  of  his  own  country  and  the  example 
of  the  East,  "  shows,"  as  Professor  Jowett  says,  "  a 


EQUALITY  OF  THE  SEXES  113 

wonderful  independence  of  mind."  The  admission^ 
of  Glaucon,  that  although  the  female  sex  is  on 
the  whole  the  weaker,  "yet  many  women/are  in 
many  things  superior  to  many  men,"ynits  the 
exact  point.  But  is  Plato  right  in  admitting  no 
characteristic  mental  differences?  Does  common 
language  err  in  esteeming  some  qualities  of  mind 
as  masculine,  others  as  feminine?  It  is  freely 
granted  that  both  may  be  blended  in  different 
proportions,  in  members  of  either  sex.  But  if 
such  specific  attributes  exist,  would  it  be  well  that 
either  sort  should  be  extinguished?  The  often- 
quoted  words  that 

"  Woman  is  not  undeveloped  man, 
But  diverse," 

cannot  be  lightly  discarded  or  put  aside.  A 
similar  opinion  is  finely  expressed  in  a  letter  of 
Thomas  Campbell's,  written  in  1808,  at  the  time 
when  he  was  meditating  Gertrude  of  Wyoming ; 
"  The  female  spirit  brightened  to  perfection  is  as 
unlike  and  different  from  the  male  mind  as  a 
diamond  is  unlike  gold.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to 
suppose  that  making  the  most  of  a  woman's  mind 
approximates  her  to  the  masculine  ...  I  think 
it  is  like  the  harmony  of  different  colours,  or  of 
the  same  notes  in  different  keys." 

The  verse  in  Miss    Hutchinson's    poem,   which 

H 


114  PLATO'S  COMMUNISM 

excited  so  the  risibility  of  Shelley,  when  his 
admiration  for  the  "  Brown  Demon  "  had  as  usual 
turned  to  scorn, 

"  All,  all  are  men,  women  and  all," 

was  perhaps  a  somewhat  crude  anticipation. 

It  by  no  means  follows  that  the  so-called 
emancipation  of  women,  already  fruitful  in 
manifold  advantages,  should  be  checked,  or  not 
encouraged  to  proceed.  Experience  will  show 
what  limits,  what  variations,  are  desirable.  Not 
only  normal  requirements,  but  exceptional  apti- 
tudes, should  have  free  scope.  Things  will  find 
their  level.  Exaggerations  will  bring  about  their 
own  remedies,  and  a  future  generation  will  be 
wiser  than  ours  has  been.     After   giving   women 

^  equal  rights,  Plato  at  last  found  a  peculiar  function 
which  he  thought  exactly  suited  to  them,  in  the 
superintendence    of   conjugal    relations    between 

•^  young  persons  for  the  first  ten  years  after 
marriage.  It  may  be  thought  that  such  an 
advisory  committee  of  matrons  would  be  liable 
to  do  more  harm  than  good ;  but  however  that 
may  be,  special  duties  may  still  in  the  future  be 
assigned  to  women,  when  the  present  movement 
has  run  to  its  furthest  limit.  It  may  prove  in 
the  end,  for  example,  that  although  some  men  are 
excellent   nurses,  and   some   women   can   acquire 


POSITxON  OF  WOMEN 

skill   in   surgery,  yet,  on    the   whole,  many  mt 
women  are  fitted  to  become   a   blessing  to  their 
generation    as    accomplished    nurses    than    could 
ever  rise  to  eminence  as  successful  surgeons. 

References,  Chapter  VII. 

p.  too.  Lysis,  pp.  207D-209C. 

p.  101.  On  the  number  of  the  state,  see  Nettleship,  p.  302. 

p.  102.  Aristotle's  Eth.  Nic,  viii.  14. 

p.  103.  The  0?ieida  Community,  by  Allan  Eastlake  :  London, 

George  Medway. 
p.  104.  Cf.  Dante  Purg.,  xv.  49  ff. 
p.  108.  Jowett's  Introduction   to   the  Republic,  vol.  Hi.,  pp. 

clxxxii.-cxciv. 
p.    109.   (i)  Laws,    Book   V.,    p.    739  E,   yJq    Koivrj   yewpyovvrwv, 

which  implies  that  in  the  former  commonwealth 

the  land  had  belonged  to  the  State. 
(2)  Aristotle's   Politics,   II.,  p.  5  ;   Lazvs,   Book  V., 

p.  740  A  ;  Nettleship,  pp.  136,  137. 
p.   no.  Republic,  Book  IX.,  p.  591  D. 
p.  in.  Republic,  Book  VIII.,  p.  556  A  B. 
p.  112.  (1)  Jowett's   Introduction  to  the   Republic,  vol.   hi., 

pp.  clxxv.-clxxvii. ;  Nettleship,  pp.  169,  179,  180. 
(2)  On  the  position  of  women  in  different  countries, 

see  Laws,  Book  V.,  pp.  805,  806. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SUPREMACY  OF  REASON. — THE  PHILOSOPHER- 
KING. — PLEASURE  AND  GOOD 

I  I.  "  There  is  no  more  dreadful  sight,"  said 
V  Goethe,  "than  ignorance  in  action  "  ;  and  according 
to  Plato,  the  spectacle  is  more  terrible  in  proportion 
to  the  capability  and  energy  of  the  ignorant  agent. 
He  maintains  that  the  most  vigorous  natures  when 
unenlightened,  are  the  most  mischievous.  This 
view  was  a  legitimate  outcome  of  the  Socratic 
position,  that  the  expert  in  any  art  can  alone  form 
an  opinion  worth  having,  and  that  the  art  of 
government  is  the  highest  and  most  difficult. 
Conduct,  as  regarded  by  Socrates,  was  the  precise 
correlative  and  necessary  concomitant  of  know- 
ledge. But  the  word  "  knowledge,"  when  applied 
to  moral  action,  insensibly  acquires  a  special  force, 
for  it  comes  inevitably  to  include  a  condition  and 
attitude  of  the  active  powers,  as  well  as  of  the 
intellectual  faculties.  The  connotation  of  the  term 
is    thus    extended    and    becomes    more    compre- 

116 


THE  PHILOSOPHER  IN  POWER  117 

hensive.  Hence  in  preparing  to  vindicate  his 
paradox  that  philosophers  alone  should  govern, 
^  Plato  postulates,  as  elements  of  the  nature  that  is 
capable  of  receiving  true  philosophy,  not  only 
quickness  to  know,  desire  of  wisdom,  and  love  of 
truth,  but  temperance,  liberality,  justice,  greatness 
of  soul,  and  in  addition  to  a  strong  memory,  a  lofty 
courage,  grace  of  bearing,  and  a  sense  of  proportion. 
In  other  words,  the  true  philosopher  is  not  only^ 
contemplative,  but  practical ;  power  of  comman^r 
must  be  united  in  him  with  the  power  of  thought. 
Plato  acknowledges  the  rarity  of  such  a  combina- 
tion, but  he  contends  that  where  it  is  not  present, 
there  is  something  wanting,  not  only  for  the 
purpose  of  right  government,  but  for  philosophy 
itself.  Another  form  of  the  same  difficulty  which 
he  puts  forward  in  the  Republic,  and  on  which  he 
insisted  to  the  last,  is  the  rare  co-existence  in  the 
same  persons  of  alertness  of  intellect  and  the  moral/ 
attributes  which  are  commonly  associated  withj/ 
it,  and,  at  the  same  time,  of  solidity  of  mental 
constitution,  ballast,  and  staying  power.  "  My 
son,"  said  Mr  Gladstone  the  elder,  "  has  ability,  but 
not,  I  fear,  stability."  This  reflection  naturally 
occurs  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  choose  the 
rulers,  or  rather  to  select  those  who  are  to  be 
educated  with  a  view  to  their  becoming  fit  to  rule. 
In  this  connexion  also  it  is  evident  that  moral  as 


118  SUPREMACY  OF  REASON 

well  as  intellectual  qualities  will  be  required  in  the 
philosopher-king.  "  The  gifts  which  are  deemed 
by  us  essential  rarely  grow  together :  they  are 
mostly  found  in  shreds  and  patches.  Quick 
intelligence,  memory,  sagacity,  cleverness,  and 
similar  qualities  are  seldom  found  in  the  same 
nature  with  that  force  of  character,  and  grandeur 
of  conception,  which  are  conducive  to  orderliness 
and  quietness  and  a  well-sustained  career.  Men 
of  genius  are  carried  hither  and  thither  by  their 
impulsiveness,  and  all  steadiness  is  eliminated 
from  their  lives.  On  the  other  hand,  those  steady 
and  unchanging  natures  on  whose  firmness  one 
would  rather  rely,  and  who  in  battle  stand  their 
ground  unmoved  by  fears,  are  likewise  slow  to  move 
when  they  are  confronted  with  intellectual  diffi- 
culties. They  seem  benumbed  when  there  is  any- 
thing to  learn,  and  yawn  and  go  to  sleep  over 
their  lessons.  Both  sets  of  qualities  must  be  com- 
bined in  those  who  are  to  be  thought  worthy  of  the 
higher  education,  and  ultimately  of  great  office  and 
supreme  authority."  A  very  similar  remark  is 
made  by  the  mathematician  Theodorus,  in  describ- 
ing the  aptitude  of  his  pupil  Theaetetus — the 
embodiment  of  Plato's  ideal  of  philosophic  youth  ; 
and  as  if  in  despair  of  finding  the  contrasted 
attributes  in  the  same  person,  Plato  in  his 
Statesman,  and  again   in    the   Laws,  recommends 


INTELLECT  AND  WILL  119 

that  those  endowed  with  these  diverse  gifts  should 
as  far  as  possible  be  brought  together  and  inter- 
woven in  the  fabric  of  the  state.  In  like  manner, 
in  place  of  the  philosophic  ruler,  he  suggests  that  a 
young  and  vigorous  monarch  should  choose  an 
accomplished  philosopher  for  his  counsellor  or 
vizier. 

It  is  in  just  accordance  with  these  conceptions 
that  the  pretenders  who  abuse  the  fair  name  and 
title  of  philosophy  are  described.  They  are  devoidY 
of  magnanimity,  they  spend  their  time  in  verbal  \J 
controversies,  and  in  abuse  of  one  another.  Their 
keen  little  legal  minds  are  bent  on  gain.  All  this 
is  urged  with  no  less  vehemence  than  the  poverty 
of  conception  which  keeps  their  intellect  moving 
on  the  lower  plane,  competing  for  the  prizes  which 
the  populace  award  to  him  who  shows  the  greatest 
quickness  in  observing  the  "  simultaneity  and  suc- 
cession "  of  the  shadows  on  the  wall.  They  have 
no  intellectual  perseverance,  and  are  contented  if 
they  can  frame  a  system  whose  parts  have  a 
plausible  appearance  of  consistency. 

It  is  true  that  the  training  indicated  in  Books 
VI.  and  VII.  is  purely  intellectual,  and  if  this 
portion  of  the  Dialogue  stood  alone,  it  might 
appear  that  when  reason  had  once  been  awakened 
into  full  strength  all  the  other  elements  of  ideal 
virtue  must  follow  of  themselves.     But  Plato  more 


120  SUPREMACY  OF  REASON 

than  once  reminds  his  readers  that  in  the  higher 
education  it  is  presupposed  that  the  work  described 
in  the  earlier  books  has  been  successful,  and  that 
so  far  as  habits  are  concerned,  courage,  self-control, 
and  justice  have  been  already  thoroughly  im- 
planted. Glaucon  is  allowed  to  express  a  desire 
that  the  idea  of  good,  the  coping-stone  of  the 
sciences,  and  the  philosopher's  final  goal,  should  be 
explained  to  him  as  clearly  as  temperance  and 
other  virtues  have  been  described  in  the  previous 
conversation.  And  when  the  account  of  the  higher 
education  has  been  completed,  Socrates  again 
remarks  on  the  exceptional  powers  and  capabilities, 
both  of  mind  and  body,  that  will  be  required  in 
persons  who  are  to  add  such  intense  intellectual 
toil  to  the  severe  exercises  exacted  of  them  in  their 
earlier  years.  Moreover,  it  is  provided  that  they 
shall  not  enter  on  the  advanced  study  of  the 
sciences  in  their  mutual  connexion  until  they  have 
completed  that  exhausting  course  of  physical 
training  which  is  indispensable,  not  only  for  their 
education  in  courage  and  soldier-like  qualities,  but 
to  the  calling  forth  of  their  active  powers  to 
practical  effect,  and  to  the  acquisition  of  that 
bodily  strength  which  will  enable  them  to  undergo 
a  lifetime  of  continuous  mental  labour.  Lastly,  in 
Book  IX.,  the  "King"  is  said  to  have  had  experi- 
ence of  the  pleasures  of  gain  and  honour,  as  well  as 


THE  TRUE  KING 


<§> 


of  the  delights  of  learning.  So  anxious  is  Plato, 
as  he  himself  expresses  it,  to  avoid  a  lame  or  lop- 
sided result. 

With   these   provisos,  the   rulers  are  of  course^ 
before  all  things  accomplished  in  wisdom.     Plato's 
commonwealth  is  an  intellectual  aristocracy  X  Pre- 
disposed as  he  was  to  emphasize  the  claims  of  birth  ^ 
and  to  contemn  the  ^avocations  of  commerce  and    ( 
industry,  experience,  added  to  his  master's  teaching, 
had   led   him   to   transfer   his   exclusiveness  from 
birth  to  wisdom.     He  would  be  ready  to  say  with 
Bacon,   "  knowledge   is    power."     But   the   phrase 
from  his  lips  would  have  a  different  meaning.     For 
the  power   he  aimed    at  was   not  command   over  y 
nature,  but  the   secret  of  guiding  and  governing 
human   beings   rightly.     The   philosopher   having/ 
entire  control  over  the  springs  of  action  in  himself, 
and  framing  his   life  and  conduct  after   the  ideal  "v 
pattern,  is   alone  competent  to  mould   and  direct 
the  lives  of  others. 

A  slight  difference  of  expression  indicates  the 
manner  in  which  here,  as  elsewhere,  Plato's 
thought  gathers  force  with  the  development  of 
his  argument,  and  becomes  more  positive.  At 
the  end  of  Book  IV.  it  was  said  that  it  mattered 
little  whether  the  state  had  one  philosophic  ruler 
or  several.  In  Books  V.-VIL,  however,  the  rulers 
are   always  spoken  of  in  the  plural.     This  mode 


122  SUPREMACY  OF  REASON 

of    regarding     them     remains    at     the    opening 
of  Book  VIII.,  but  instead  of  "rulers,"  they  are 
now  denominated  "kings,"  and  towards  the  close 
of  Book   IX.,  in  contrast  to  the  tyrannical  man, 
^  the  ideal  philosopher  is  spoken  of  as  "  the  King." 
■v  Thus,  although  an  absolute  monarchy  is  nowhere 
J  formulated,  the  notion  of  aristocracy  seems  to  be 
gradually  modified  so  as  to  prepare  for  such   a 
conception.     We  are  reminded  of  the   theocracy 
regretted    in    the    Politicus,   and    of    the    young 
despot  who  is  desiderated  in  the  Laws.     And  if 
we  look  forward  a  little,  we  find  a  hint  also  of 
the  wise  man  of  the  Stoics,  who  is  "  lord  of  him- 
self though  not  of  lands." 

Yet    Plato's    optimism    at   the   time   when    he 
wrote    the    Republic    had    another    aspect,   more 
friendly   to  the   people   than   that   which  he  has 
<v  elsewhere  displayed.     Though  he  cannot  imagine 
.  them  as  becoming  imbued  with  philosophic  ideas, 
he  refuses  to  believe  that  they  are  irreclaimably 
averse  from  philosophy.    If  they  could  once  see  the 
I    philosopher  as  he  really   is,  they   would  joyfully 
accept  his  government.     And  the   false   teachers 
who   deceive  the   people   are   not  so  perverse  in 
themselves   as   blinded   by   an    ignoble   ambition. 
The    sophists    prophesy    falsely,   and    the   dema- 
gogues bear  rule  by  their  means,  and  the  people 
love  to  have  it  so,  but  all  this  would   be  altered 


"NOT  FOR  POWER"  123 

if  the    philosophic    ruler    were    once    effectually 
revealed. 

The  true  ruler  does  not  desire  to  rule.     Thisy 
to     the     politician     must     appear     the     greatest^ 
paradox  of  all.     Plato  lays  great  stress  upon  it,/ 
for  it  is  one  of  the  points  of  his  fully  developed 
theory  which  are   anticipated  in  Book   I.,  and  if 
stripped  of  its  ironical  form,  the  sentence  contains 
an  unquestionable  truth.     Not  until  thought  has* 
slain  ambition  and  the  love  of  country  has  ovei>  / 
borne   the   love   of  power   and    office,   does    the* 

|  statesman   attain   to   the   height   of  real   success. 

I  The  image  of  the  elder  Chatham,  or  of  Peel,  who 
saved  England  while  incurring  the  obloquy  of 
former  friends,  may  recur  to  the  mind.  "  The 
ideal  statesman  must  not  be  in  love  with  power, 
for  there  will  be  many  rival  lovers  who  will  fight 
him  for  it."  He  ought  to  have  been  familiar 
with  a  larger  outlook  than  is  possible  for  those 
who  only  know  the  dust  of  the  arena.  He  will 
then  come  to  office  as  a  duty,  and  not  as  winning 
a  prize.  When  Glaucon  doubts  whether  those 
who  have  risen  to  the  contemplation  of  the  idea 
of  good  can  be  induced  to  descend  into  the 
world  of  actual  life,  Socrates  merely  replies  that 
they  are  just  men,  and  our  request  is  just,  for 
they  owe  their  education  to  the  lawgiver,  and 
will  respond  to  his  appeal.     But  he  might  have 


124  SUPREMACY  OF  REASON 

added,  that  before  they  were  introduced  to  the 
higher  training  their  patriotism  and  affection  for 
their  city  had  been  tried  to  the  utmost  and 
not  found  wanting.  This  love  of  country  will 
not  permit  them  to  refuse  the  service  by  which 
their  country  may  be  saved. 

2.  In  Book  VI.  Socrates  expresses  a  pious  horror 

at  the  thought  that  pleasure  should  in  any  way  be 

>f\identified  with  the  good.     But  in  Book  IX.  it  is 

^proved  that  the  pleasure  of  the  king  is  greatest. 
There  is  here  an  apparent  discrepancy,  which  runs 
through  Plato's  whole  treatment  of  the  relation 
of  pleasure  to  the  higher  life.  But  the  inconsist- 
ency is  superficial,  although  the  subject,  even 
in  the  Philebus,  is  not  quite  clearly  thought  out. 
In  the  Protagoras  the  pleasure  of  the  moment 
is  contrasted  with  a  supposed  scientific  estimate 
of  the  greatest  amount  of  pleasure  in  the  long-run. 
But  the  emphasis  is  laid,  not  on  the  amount  of 
pleasure,  but  on  the  importance  of  the  art  of 
measuring,  which  is  indispensable  if  that  amount 

„  is  to  be  secured.  When  taken  out  of  the  ironical 
Socratic  form,  the  meaning  is  seen  to  be,  that  not 

^  pleasure  but  knowledge  is  the  proper  object  of 
pursuit.  "  Poor  human  beings,  pursue  pleasure  if 
you  will — that  may  be  the  inevitable  condition  of 
your  being;  but  know,  that  you  cannot  achieve 
your  end  until  you  have  acquired  the  power  of  true 


PLEASURE  AS  A  MOTIVE  125 

comparison,  by  which  you  can  '  forecast  the  years 
and  find  in  loss  a  gain  to  match.'  "     In  other  words, 
nen  are  advised   to   renounce   pleasure   as   their 

^immediate  aim,  and  seek  after  wisdom,  with  the 
assurance  that   the   pleasure   most  worth   havi/g 

v*  will  ultimately  follow.  Long  afterwards,  in  the 
Thecetetus,  the  momentary  and  permanent  are 
similarly  contrasted ;  the  expert  in  each  science 
is  the  judge  of  future  pleasure,  though  it  be  only 
the  satisfaction  of  appetite ;  the  cook  knows  best 
whether  I  shall  enjoy  my  dinner  or  not. 

In  the  Gorgias,  Plato's  idealism  has  led  him 
into  a  paradoxical  mood,  in  which  pleasure  is 
passionately  discarded.  But  there  is  a  corre- 
sponding opposition  between  wishing  and  willing, 
and  it  is  assumed  that  knowledge  is  the  cure  of 
•  caprice.  In  place  of  the  art  of  measuring,  there 
is  here  advanced  the  sense  of  true  proportion, 
described  under  the  figure  of  geometry,  the 
science  which  Callicles  has  neglected.  On  this, 
as  on  some  other  questions,  the  Republic  presents 
a  moderate  and  comprehensive  view.  Pleasure 
i  is  not  one  with  the  highest  life,  but  is  inseparable 
from  it.  Once  more  in  the  Laws  it  is  frankly 
admitted  that,  considering  the  frailty  of  human 
nature,  the  Lawgiver  would  be  ill-advised  if  he 
did  not  at  the  outset  exert  his  gift  of  persuasive 
speech   to   convince    mankind   that,   in   following 


26)  SUPREMACY  OF  REASON 


his  precepts,  they  would  find  the  truest  pleasure  ; 
~  that   wisdom    is   the   secret   of  happiness  :    "  Her 
ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  patr  s 
are  peace." 

Certainly  the  writer  of  the  Laws  has  travelled 
a  long  way  since  he  wrote  the  Gorgzas,  where  the 
art  of  persuasion  was  denounced  as  valueless,  and 
delights  were  scorned  in  comparison  with  laborious 
days.  The  only  use  of  rhetoric,  it  was  then  ironi- 
cally said,  is  to  secure  conviction  and  punishment 
for  ourselves  and  friends  when  we  or  they  have 
sinned.  Yet  the  difference  of  attitude  is  not  a 
difference  of  spirit.  In  the  Gorgias  he  was  defy- 
ing the  world  that  had  slain  Socrates;  in  the 
Laws,  at  least  a  generation  later,  he  has  a  faint 
hope  of  conciliating  mankind,  to  whom  he  is 
aware  that  a  life  without  pleasure  would  seem 
to  be  no  life  at  all.  His  studies  in  psychology 
had  also  taught  him  the  truth  which  Aristotle 
expressed  more  tersely,  that  pleasure  is  the 
accompaniment  and  momentary  reflex  of  all  vital 
energy,  differing  only  with  the  different  modes 
of  life.  Even  in  the  Republic  he  distinguishes 
not  only  between  necessary  and  unnecessary 
pleasures,  but  also  between  those  which  are  honour- 
able and  dishonourable.  His.  jealousy  of  pleasure, 
v  as  a  motive  of  action,  indeed,  increased  with  years  : 
the  victory  over  pleasure  is  the  test  and  triumph 


TRIUMPH  OF  SELF-CONTROL  (m) 

of  virtue.  But  he  does  not  practically  yield  to 
the  cynic  view,  which  would  rob  moral  action  of 
its  natural  reward.  He  rather  asserts  that  the 
highest  life  is  accompanied  with  the  highest 
pleasure,  and  that  the  philosopher  alone  can  tell  * 
L  how  infinitely  more  precious  is  the  delight  of  \ 
scientific  discovery  than  that  of  the  lover's  con-  y 
quest,  or  the  glory  of  a  feast.  In  the  Philebus, 
not  only  the  pleasures  of  knowledge,  but  the  pure 
pleasures  of  sense,  especially  those  of  colour  and 
smell,  are  admitted  as  elements  in  the  composition 
of  the  Good.  There  is  no  inconsistency,  then,  in 
saying  that  children  are  to  be  led  to  delight  in  all 
that  makes  for  virtue,  and  at  the  same  time  assert- 
ing that  the  denial  of  those  pleasures  which  form 
temptation  is  essential  to  the  perfect  man. 

References,  Chapter  VIII. 

p.  1 1 6.  Cf.  Dante,  Purg.,  xxx.  n8ff. 

p.  117.  Jowett's  Introduction  to  the  Republic,  vol.  iii.,  p.  cxcvii. 

p.  118.  Republic,  Book  VI.,  p.   503  c   (Jowett's  Translation 

slightly  altered), 
p.  121.  Nettleship,  p.  96.     "His  conceptions  are   never  at 

rest  in  his  hands." 
p.  122.  "The  people  good  at  bottom,"  see  Nettleship,  p.  204. 
p.  125.  Jowett's  Introduction  to  the  Republic,  vol.  iii.,  pp. 

cxliii.,  cxliv. ;  Laws,  Book  II.,  pp.  662,  663. 


CHAPTER   IX 

POLITICAL    AND    MORAL    DECLENSION.  —  DEMO- 
CRACY AND  TYRANNY. — THE   IDEAL  OF    EVIL 

THERE  is  no  part  of  the  Republic  in  which  Plato's 
creative  imagination  is  so  vividly  displayed  as  in 
Books  VIII.  and  IX.  None  is  so  rich  in  experi- 
ence, —  and  in  none  is  the  experience  so  trans- 
figured and  transfused  with  thought  and  wit  and 
fancy. 

i.  In  the  Dorian  type  of  constitution,  or  Timo- 
cracy,  as  it  is  here  denominated,  true  wisdom  is 
overbalanced  by  ambition.  But  courage  and  the 
love  of  honour  still  remain.  There  is  a  traditional 
reverence  for  age  and  authority;  but  while  the 
form  of  law  remains,  the  power  of  it  is  under- 
mined by  occult  wilfulness.  Athleticism  dulls 
the  edge  of  culture.  The  rulers  treat  their 
subjects  harshly.  Those  who  were  formerly  their 
free  and  loving  providers  are  now  an  inferior 
populace  who  work  under  compulsion.  The  state 
as  a  whole    is  always  at   war.     There   is   also   a 

128 


TIMOCRACY  AND  OLIGARCHY  129 

more  subtle  change,  preparing  trouble  for  the 
future.  Through  some  fault  of  breeding,  elements 
of  brass  and  iron  have  got  mingled  with  the  gold 
and  silver ;  and  notwithstanding  the  stability  of 
time-honoured  institutions,  a  secret  vein  of  cove- 
tousness  is  harboured  in  the  high  places  of  the 
state.  The  nobles  have  their  separate  strong- 
holds and  private  treasuries  where  they  keep  their 
wives  and  favourites  in  forbidden  Juxury.  Having 
themselves  been  schooled  by  force,  they  are  apt 
to  skulk  and   hide  from    the   law. 

Those  illicit  hoards  are  the  cause  of  the  further 
change  from  Timocracy  to  Oligarchy,  or  Pluto- 
cracy—  the  government  of  wealth.  The  vener- 
able laws  which  have  become  honeycombed  with 
secret  irregularities  are  gradually  set  aside,  and 
the  warrior  chieftains  rival  one  another  in  the 
accumulation  of  riches.  At  last  they  adopt  a  new 
constitution,  founded  not  on  birth  or  valour,  but 
on  a  property  qualification.  The  consequence  is, 
an  incompetent  magistracy  and  an  ever-widening 
gulf  which  separates  the  rich  from  the  poor.  It 
is  a  condition  fraught  with  evils,  and  full  of  danger. 
For  the  two  classes  into  which  the  commonwealth 
is  now  divided  are  always  plotting  each  against 
the  other,  and  the  official  leaders  cannot  count  on 
being  loyally  followed  in  the  war. 

As  wealth  increases,  extravagance  also  springs 

I 


130  POLITICAL  AND  MORAL  DECLENSION 

up  and  flourishes,  and  numbers  of  the  upper  class 
are  ruined.  And  as  more  and  more  become  im- 
poverished, a  strange  phenomenon  is  developed, 
in  the  multiplication  of  paupers  and  criminals, — 
an  ever-growing  swarm  of "  drones,"  some  sting- 
less,  but  some  armed  with  stings  and  prepared 
for  any  mischief. 

The  rich  men  are  more  and  more  engrossed 
with  money-grubbing,  and  affect  to  be  blind  to 
the  evils  by  which  they  gain  immediate  profit ; 
till  by-and-by  the  lean  and  hungry  multitude 
become  conscious  of  their  strength.  "  And  often 
rulers  and  their  subjects  may  come  in  one  another's 
way,  whether  on  a  journey  or  on  some  other 
occasion  of  meeting,  on  a  pilgrimage  or  a  march 
as  fellow-soldiers  or  fellow-sailors ;  ay,  and  they 
may  observe  the  behaviour  of  each  other  in  the 
very  moment  of  danger  —  for  where  danger  is 
there  is  no  fear  that  the  poor  will  be  despised  by 
the  rich — and  very  likely  the  wiry,  sunburnt,  poor 
man  may  be  placed  in  battle  at  the  side  of  a 
delicate  and  burly  rich  man,  who  has  never  spoiled 
his  complexion,  and  has  plenty  of  superfluous 
flesh.  When  he  sees  such  an  one,  purring  and  at 
his  wit's  end,  how  can  he  avoid  drawing  the 
conclusion  that  men  like  him  are  only  rich  be- 
cause no  one  has  the  courage  to  despoil  them  ? 
And   when   the   poor  men   meet   in   private,   will 


DEMOCRACY  131 

they  not  be  saying  to  one  another, '  The  plutocrats 
are  at  our  mercy,  for  they  are  nothing  worth."' 
The  result  is  a  revolution,  in  which  the  proletariate 
conquers  and  the  state  is  plunged  into  democracy. 

As  Sparta,  with  her  mingled  good  and  evil,  stood 
for  the  picture  of  Timocracy,  so  under  the  image 
of  Democracy  contemporary  Athens  is  satirically 
described.  The  satire  is  good-humoured,  but 
penetrating. 

"  Socrates. — He  who  has  a  mind  to  establish  a 
state  as  we  have  been  doing,  must  go  to  a  demo- 
cracy as  he  would  to  a  bazaar  at  which  they  sell 
them,  and  pick  out  the  one  that  suits  him ;  then 
when  he  has  made  his  choice,  he  may  found  his 
state. 

"  Glaucon. — He  will  be  sure  to  have  patterns 
enough. 

"  Socrates. — And  there  being  no  necessity,  I  said, 
for  you  to  govern  in  this  state,  even  if  you  have 
the  capacity,  or  to  be  governed  unless  you  like, 
or  to  go  to  war  when  the  rest  go  to  war,  or  to  be 
at  peace  when  others  are  at  peace,  unless  you  are 
so  disposed — there  being  no  necessity  also,  because 
some  law  forbids  you  to  hold  office  or  to  be  a 
dicast,  that  you  should  not  hold  office  or  be  a 
dicast,  if  you  have  a  fancy :  is  not  this  a  way 
of  life  which  for  the  moment  is  supremely 
delightful  ? 


132  POLITICAL  AND  MORAL  DECLENSION 

"  Glaucon. — For  the  moment,  yes." 

That  is  the  earlier  stage,  in  which  the  demo- 
cratic constitution  retains  something  of  stability 
or  rather  of  an  unstable  equilibrium.  But  by- 
and-by,  as  the  lust  for  freedom  grows  by  what 
it  feeds  on,  and  the  intoxicating  draughts  are 
ministered  in  excess,  lovers  of  order  are  at  a 
discount,  and  no  one  is  honoured  but  the  pro- 
fessing friend   of  the   people. 

"The  state  would  have  subjects  who  are  like 
rulers,  and  rulers  who  are  like  subjects.  These 
are  the  men  after  her  own  heart,  whom  she  praises 
and  honours  both  in  public  and  private."  Then 
follows  a  humorous  picture  of  liberty  unlimited. 
"  The  father  grows  accustomed  to  descend  to  the 
level  of  his  sons  and  to  fear  them,  and  the  son 
is  on  a  level  with  his  father,  he  having  no  respect 
or  reverence  for  either  of  his  parents ;  and 
this  is  his  freedom,  and  the  metic  (naturalized 
foreigner)  is  equal  with  the  citizen,  and  the 
citizen  with  the  metic,  and  the  stranger  is  quite 
as    good    as   either." 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "that  is  the  way." 

"And  these  are  not  the  only  evils,"  I  said, 
"there  are  several  lesser  ones.  In  such  a  state 
of  society  the  master  fears  and  flatters  his 
scholars,  and  the  scholars  despise  their  masters 
and   tutors ;    young   and   old    are   all    alike ;    and 


RIPE  FOR  TYRANNY  133 

the  young  man  is  on  a  level  with  the  old,  and  is 
ready  to  compete  with  him  in  word  or  deed ;  and 
the  old  men  condescend  to  the  young,  and  are 
full  of  pleasantry  and  gaiety;  they  are  loth  to 
be  thought  morose  and  authoritative,  and  there- 
fore they  adopt  the  manners  of  the  young." 

He  adds  that  the  slave  is  as  free  as  his  master, 
and  that  women  assert  their  equality  with  men  ; 
and  the  description,  which  is  not  without  reality, 
ends  with  an  extravagant  touch  of  humour.  "  The 
horses  and  asses  have  a  way  of  marching  along 
with  all  the  rights  and  dignities  of  freemen  ;  and 
they  will  run  at  anybody  who  comes  in  their  way, 
if  he  does  not  leave  the  road  clear  for  them." 
Glaucon  replies,  and  his  experience  is  not  singular, 
that  the  same  thing  has  often  happened  to  him 
when  walking  in  the  country. 

Under  the  gaily  variegated  surface  of  this 
smiling  anarchy,  the  state  is  fermenting  with  the 
germs  of  further  change.  The  excess  of  freedom 
is  preparing  for  the  extreme  of  servitude.  Re- 
action is  an  universal  law.  The  "  drones "  are 
multiplied  in  such  an  atmosphere,  and  they  have 
lined  their  cells.  The  keener  and  more  active 
spirits  amongst  them  (the  drones  with  stings) 
assume  the  part  of  demagogues,  and  they  are 
followed  by  the  stingless  drones,  who  deafen  the 
assembly  and  the  law-courts  with  their  clamorous 


134  POLITICAL  AND  MORAL  DECLENSION 

applause.  Between  them  they  occupy  the  public 
offices,  and  fleece  the  sleek  and  comfortable 
citizens,  while  the  small  landholders,  who  form 
the  mass  of  the  people,  and  might  sway  the 
commonwealth  if  they  would,  are  not  quickly 
roused  to  political  action,  and  are  only  too  easily 
prejudiced  against  the  rich,  or  else  bribed  to 
silence  by  a  share  of  the  spoil.  The  richer  men 
are  thus  forced  against  their  will  to  club  together. 
(There  is  a  federation '  of  the  capitalists.)  Re- 
viled as  oligarchs,  they  become  oligarchs  indeed. 
The  people  are  alarmed,  and  choose  a  protector, 
whom  they  invest  with  dictatorial  powers.  The 
man  thus  armed  attacks  some  private  enemy,  and 
blood-feuds  ensue.  He  then  demands  a  body- 
guard, and  the  people  grant  it  to  him,  not  fear- 
ing for  themselves,  but  for  their  dear  defender. 
At  that  signal  of  approaching  storm  the  rich 
oligarch,  if  he  is  to  save  his  life,  must  flee. 

The  despot  in  his  first  days  is  full  of  smiles 
and  promises,  and  some  of  his  enemies  are 
reconciled  to  him,  but  not  all :  some  Hampden 
or  John  Selden  stands  out  for  law  and  liberty ; 
proscription  follows ;  the  tallest  heads  are  lopped 
away ;  all  that  is  most  precious  is  destroyed,  and 
only  things  vile  and  refuse  remain  subject  to 
the  accomplished  tyrant.  Even  by  these  he  is 
hated,  and  lives  in  constant  danger  and  suspicion. 


STATE  AND  INDIVIDUAL  135 

He  surrounds  himself  with  mercenary  troops  (the 
Swiss  guard),  a  worse  mischief  than  the  stinging 
drones,  and  arms  the  slaves  of  his  subjects  to 
recruit  his  body-guard.  To  feed  that  motley 
company,  he  robs  the  temples,  and  at  last  lays 
hand  upon  the  goods  and  persons  of  the  people 
themselves,  who  in  their  simplicity  trusted  him 
with  power.  He  is  a  parricide  who  does  violence 
to  the  father  who  begat  him,  and  to  his  mother- 
land. 

That  is  the  consummation  of  political  disaster. 
Plato's  account  of  the  evolution  of  tyranny  is 
less  inspired  by  any  historical  survey  than  by  his 
anxiety  to  indicate  and  summarize  existing 
conditions,  and  to  emphasize  the  dangers  which 
he  perceived  in  the  politics  of  contemporary 
Athens.  He  warns  his  countrymen  that  they 
are  in  the  rapids  which  lead  towards  the  Niagara 
of  tyranny. 

2.  In  the  description  of  typical  individuals  corre- 
sponding to  the  imperfect  states,  there  is  revealed 
a  tendency  analogous  to  that  which  found  expres- 
sion in  the  characters  of  Theophrastus.  Aristotle's 
picture  of  the  magnanimous  man  is  in  a  similar 
vein. 

The  order  of  the  characterizations,  the  minute 
parallelism  between  individuals  and  states,  and 
the   management   of    the    transitions,  is   at   once 


136  POLITICAL  AND  xMORAL  DECLENSION 

very  ingenious  and  extremely  fanciful.  But  many 
touches  are  clearly  taken  from  life.  The  Spartan 
character  appears  in  the  timocratical  man,  who 
is  no  speaker,  but  fond  of  hearing  speeches  and 
songs.  He  is  rough  with  his  slaves,  a  huntsman, 
and  ambitious  in  war.  Like  Coriolanus,  his 
pride  makes  him  the  victim  of  popular  syco- 
phants and  informers,  and  his  son  takes  warning 
and  flings  away  ambition ;  thus  descending  a 
step  lower  in  the  moral  scale,  from  the  love  of 
honour  to  the  pursuit  of  wealth — for  reason  has 
been  long  since  dethroned.  With  that  ignoble 
aim  he  keeps  his  animal  passions  in  control. 
But  they  swarm  within  him,  for  both  high 
/  thoughts  and  honourable  ambitions  are  subdued, 
and  where  he  has  no  fear  of  detection  he  is  ready 
to  rob  the  fatherless,  and  defraud  the  widow. 
That  swarm  of  low  desires,  Socrates  compares 
to  the  "drones"  in  the  state,  and  in  like  manner 
some  of  them  are  violent,  while  some  are  only 
base. 

This  "  oligarchical "  man  in  turn  begets  a  son, 
whom  he  educates  to  hold  in  check  the  irregular 
desires,  not  from  any  noble  motive,  but  to  avoid 
expense,  and  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  those 
cravings  which  are  necessary  for  comfortable 
life.  But  the  city  abounds  with  rogues  and 
spendthrifts,  of  whose  honied  delights  the  young 


THE  DEMOCRATICAL  MAN  137 

man  tastes  in  an  evil  hour.  His  lawless  passions 
then  are  reinforced,  and  after  a  struggle  in  which 
his  father's  precepts  prove  to  have  little  force, 
because  they  were  not  grounded  on  principles 
of  reason,  that  empty  head  is  crowded  with 
vain  thoughts,  which  seize  upon  the  citadel  of 
his  soul. 

"  The  state  of  man, 
Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection." 

The  youth  then  takes  up  his  abode  with  the 
"lotus-eaters,"  from  whom  he  learns  to  call  evil 
good  and  good  evil,  and  a  period  of  wild  revelry 
and  dissipation  follows ;  but  when  the  storm  and 
stress  are  somewhat  abated  he  settles  down  into 
more  respectable  ways,  still  indulging  every  chance 
impulse,  but  in  moderation  as  he  conceives,  giving 
the  reins  to  each  in  turn,  and  leading  a  life  not 
of  vulgar  or  slavish  passion,  but  what  he  deems 
moderate  enjoyment  of  the  pleasures  of  life.  The 
description  is  perhaps  partly  taken  from  the  career 
of  Alcibiades.  "  He  lives  from  day  to  day  indulg 
ing  the  appetite  of  the  hour,  and  sometimes  he 
is  lapped  in  drink  and  strains  of  the  flute.  Then 
he  becomes  a  water-drinker,  and  tries  to  get  thin. 
Then  he  takes  a  turn  at  gymnastics,  sometimes 
idling  and  neglecting  everything,  then  once  more 


138  POLITICAL  AND  MORAL  DECLENSION 

living  the  life  of  a  philosopher.  Often  he  is  busy 
with  politics.  He  starts  to  his  feet  and  says 
and  does  whatever  comes  into  his  head ;  and  if 
he  is  emulous  of  any  one  who  is  a  warrior,  off 
he  is  in  that  direction,  or  of  men  of  business, 
once  more  in  that.  His  life  has  neither  law  nor 
order,  and  this  distracted  existence  he  terms  joy, 
and  bliss,  and  freedom. 

In  short,  he  is  "not  one  man,  but  all  men's 
epitome."  This  man  again  begets  a  son  in  his 
likeness,  and  brings  him  up  in  his  own  ways. 
But  the  boy  is  less  fortunate  than  his  father, 
for  instead  of  ranging  himself  after  his  first  youth, 
he  becomes  possessed  with  a  great  master-passion 
which  sways  him  to  his  ruin.  And  when  he  has 
spent  all  and  is  reduced  to  dire  straits,  there  is 
no  crime  which  he  will  not  commit  without 
scruple.  He  falls  into  a  depth  of  wickedness  and 
misery  beyond  description  :  but  there  is  a  lower 
deep  which  still  awaits  him,  when  others,  like 
himself,  taking  advantage  of  the  infatuation  of 
a  democracy,  conspire  to  set  him  on  the  throne 
of  tyranny.  Of  the  tyrannical  man-made  tyrant, 
it  is  said :  "  He  grows  worse  from  having  power ; 
he  becomes,  and  is  of  necessity,  more  jealous, 
more  faithless,  more  unjust,  more  friendless,  more 
impious  than  he  was  at  first ;  he  is  the  purveyor 
and   cherisher   of    every   sort   of    vice  ;    and    the 


THE  IDEAL  OF  EVIL  139 

consequence  is,  that  he  is  supremely  miserable, 
and  that  he  makes  everybody  else  as  miserable  as 
himself." 

It  is  impossible  to  condense  into  a  few  words 
the  impressiveness,  the  exuberance  and  the 
ingenuity  which  Plato  has  put  forth  in  this 
representation  of  the  ideal  of  evil,  and  of  the 
misery  of  a  passion-ridden  soul.  One  feels  that  he 
is  terribly  in  earnest.  The  pathetic  utterance  of 
Macbeth, — 

"  The  things  that  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honour,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends, 
I  may  not  look  to  have,  but  in  their  stead 
Curses  not  loud  but  deep," — 

is  expanded  into  a  heart-moving  tragedy. 

The  wretchedness  of  the  tyrannical  man.  is 
finally  contrasted  with  the  happiness  of  the  king — 
that  is  to  say,  of  the  philosopher  who  is  a  ruler 
in  the  ideal  city — and  whether  such  a  common- 
wealth ever  comes  into  existence  upon  this  earth 
or  not,  there  is  an  eternal  pattern  of  it  in  the 
heavens,  after  which  every  wise  man  will  frame  his 
individual  life. 

References,  Chapter  IX. 

p.  128.  On  weak  points  in  the  Spartan  character,  see  Laws, 
I  pp.  633  ff.  ;  Aristotle,  Politics,  Book  VII.,  c. 
14,  VIII.,  c.  4  ;  Netlleship)  p.  306. 


140  POLITICAL  AND  MORAL  DECLENSION 

p.    129.  Republic,  VIII.,  p.  544  C,  avxydv  yfyovaa  ko.kG)V  iroKireia  ; 

536C. 
p.  130.  Republic,^  III.,  p.  556,  adopting  J.  Adam's  emendation 

(which    I    had    hit   upon    independently),   tivdpes 

7)lxiTepoi'   del  yhp  ov5h. 
p.  131.  Republic,  VIII.,  pp.  562,  563. 
p.   134.  Herodotus,  v.  92  ;  Aristotle,  Politics,  V.,  p.  10. 
p.  135.  Aristotle,  Eth.  Nic,  Book  IV.,  c.  8. 
p.   137.  (1)  Republic,  VIII.,  p.  561  CD. 
p.   138.  (2)  Republic,  IX.,  p.  580  A. 
p.  139.  For  the  pattern  in  the  Heavens,  cf.  Book  VI.,  p.  500  c. 


Plate  V.— A  Siren. 

{British  Museum.) 


[To  face  page  141. 


CHAPTER    X 

THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT PLATONIC 

MYTHOLOGY 

In  Book  II.  it  was  said  that  while  God  is  absolutely 
true  in  thought,  and  word,  and  deed,  some  measure 
of  falsehood  in  words  must  be  permitted  to  human 
beings  who,  to  satisfy  a  laudable  desire,  invent 
fables  about  past  things  of  which  the  truth  is 
hidden  from  them.  Plato  would  doubtless  have 
extended  this  allowance  to  those  fictions  of  which 
he  is  so  fond,  representing  not  the  past,  but  those 
eternal  verities  which  the  mind  partly  apprehends 
but  cannot  wholly  comprehend.  His  Socrates,  in 
the  immediate  prospect  of  death,  discourses  of  the 
destiny  of  the  soul  in  language  which  he  himself 
describes  as  mythological.  The  myth  in  the 
Phczdrus,  with  the  picture  of  the  beatific  vision, 
beheld  by  the  aspiring  souls  who  ride  once  round 
the  back  of  heaven,  is  exceptionally  bold  ;  and  yet 
in  the  later  part  of  the  same  Dialogue,  is  said  to 
have  been  thrown  out  "  in  play."     The  vision  of 

141 


142         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

judgment  in  the  Gorgias  was  introduced  by  the 
remark  that  it  is  really  an  argument  and  not  a 
myth ;  but  there  is  a  reason  for  this,  because 
Callicles  who  is  to  hear  it  is  expected  to  ridicule 
the  doctrine  as  an  old  wives'  fable. 

The  two  chief  places  in  the  Republic  where  the 
philosopher  has  recourse  to  a  similar  indulgence  of 
the  imagination,  are:  (i)  at  the  opening  of  Book 
VII.,  where  under  the  image  of  the  prisoners  in 
the  den,  he  illustrates  the  relation  between  poor, 
uneducated  human  nature,  and  the  world  of  ideas 
presided  over  by  the  form  of  good  ;  and  (2)  at  the 
conclusion  of  Book  X.,  and  of  the  whole  Dialogue, 
where  Socrates  repeats  the  tale  of  Er,  the  son  of 
Armenius,  who  described  the  vision  which  his 
temporarily  disembodied  spirit  had  seen. 

I  do  not  propose  to  repeat  the  substance  of  these 
great  passages  ;  but  merely  to  offer  some  remarks 
which  may  assist  readers  of  the  Dialogue  to  realize 
the  meaning  of  particular  expressions  which  are 
apt  to  be  imperfectly  understood.  It  is  hoped 
that  the  accompanying  illustrations  may  render 
my  observations  more  intelligible. 

1.   The  Fable  of  the  Cave  or  Den. 

This  allegory,  which  suggested  to  Bacon  his 
brilliant  aphorisms  in  the  Novum  Organum  con- 
cerning the  idola,  must  be  read  in  connection  with 
the   classification   of  mental    faculties    and    their 


THE  CAVE  OR  DEN  143 

objects  at  the  close  of  Book  VI.  The  method  is 
not  unlike  that  in  the  passage  of  the  Phcedo  above 
referred  to.  There  mankind  were  said  to  dwell  in 
a  deep  hollow,  filled  with  a  "congregation  of"  foul 
and  corrosive  "  vapours,"  where  they  were  as  igno- 
rant of  the  real  earth  and  sky  as  frogs  at  the  bottom 
of  a  pool.  "  There  are  many  such  '  dim  spots,'  or 
misty  depressions  about  the  surface  of  the  globe, 
which,  as  a  whole,  is  gleaming  with  ruby,  emerald, 
and  sapphire  radiance  in  the  light  of  Heaven. 
Could  the  poor  indwellers  but  put  their  heads 
above,  as  fishes  leap  on  the  surface  of  the  Bay  of 
Salami's  to  greet  the  rising  sun,  how  different  would 
the  world  appear  to  them  !  " 

In  Book  VII.  human  beings  in  their  unenlight- 
ened  state   are    represented   as    chained    in    the 
furthest  recess  of  a  deep  cavern,  with  their  faces? 
turned  away  from  such  glimmerings  of  daylight  as/ 
feebly  penetrate  there.    The  illustration  (Plate  VI.) 
represents  a  section  of  the  cave.     The  sitting  figure 
must  be  imagined  as  riveted  and  manacled,  so  as  to 
be  unable  to  move  or  even  turn  the  head.     He  is 
one  of  an  endless  line  of  individuals,  each  of  whom 
is   similarly   situated.     The  shadows  at  which  he 
gazes   are   cast  by  the  objects  which  are   carried 
along  by  persons   hidden    behind  the  parapet  or/ 
screen,  and   are   thrown,  by  the  light  of  the  fire 
which  is  burning,  towards  the  entrance  of  the  cave>> 


144         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

'he  fire  represents  the  sun,  who  in  Book  VI.  is 
said  to  be  the  offspring  of  the  Good,  and  lord  of  the 
.  visible  sphere.  The  images  which  cast  the  shadows 
1  are  natural  kinds,  created  in  the  likeness  of  eternal 
realities  and  moved  by  divine  powers  who  are 
emissaries  of  the  supreme  Creator.  (Compare  the 
Demiurgi  in  the  Timceus.)  The  shadows,  which 
alone  the  man  can  fee,  are  the  transient  impres- 
sions of  sensible  experience,  which  the  uncultivated 
mind  receives.  What,  then,  is  implied  in  education  ? 
There  are  several  stages.  First,  the  fetters  are 
knocked  off,  and  the  man  is  turned  about  so  as  to 
behold  the  images  that  are  being  carried  past, 
hey  are  pointed  out  to  him,  and  he  is  asked  to 
ame  them.  That  step  is  analogous  to  the  cross- 
questioning  method  of  Socrates.  Then  he  is 
c  ragged  up  the  rough  ascent,  until  he  is  brought  at 
hngth  above  and  beyond  the  fire  into  the  light  of 
c  ay.     He  is  dazzled   at  first ;  but  by  degrees  he 

E's  accustomed  to  the  glare.  This  process  corre- 
nds  to  the  training  in  the  sciences  which  is 
paratory  to  dialectic  or  the  study  of  the  ideas. 
This  also  is  a  gradual  process.  The  pupil  is  first 
taught  to  look  at  the  reflections  in  the  water,  that 
is,  perhaps,  to  study  the  ideas  through  language ; 
then  to  look  steadily  at  real  objects,  that  is,  at  the 
ideas  in  'their  abstraction ;  first  singly,  then  com- 
prehensively   (the    connection    of    the    sciences). 


THE  IDOLA  145 

Then  he  lifts  his  eyes  to  the  moon  and  stars  by 
night  (i.e.,  perhaps,  the  highest  abstractions  or 
categories  of  being,  sameness,  difference,  unity, 
etc.) ;  and  last  of  all,  he  is  able  to  gaze  directly  at 
the  sun,  that  is,  to  contemplate  the  idea  of  Good. 

No  allegory  ought  to  be  pressed  too  hard,  and 
we  have  found  elsewhere  that  Plato's  thought  is 
ever-growing,  and  refuses  to  be  tied  down  to  a 
previous  statement.  Therefore,  although  the  whole 
passage,  as  observed  above,  is  an  application  of  the 
view  expressed  at  the  end  of  Book  VI.,  the 
parallelism  must  not  be  presumed  to  be  precisely 
exact.  It  would  be  misleading,  for  example,  to 
identify  tooc^oselyjthe  reflections  in  the  water  with 
the  "hypotheses"  of  Book  VI.,  or  the  idola  (the 
images  that  are  carried  past)  with  the  visible 
symbols  of  the  mathematical  sciences.  That  the 
objects  which  cast  the  shadows  and  are  inter- 
mediate between  them  and  the  archetypes,  are  not 
merely  mathematical,  is  sufficiently  proved  by  an 
expression  in  p.  517,  where  the  educated  man  on 
returning  to  the  cave  is  compelled  to  dispute 
about  the  images  of  Justice  or  the  skadows-oi  the 
images,  that  is  to  say,  the^actual  institutions  of  the 
state  or  the  opinions  of  his  contemporaries  con- 
cerning them.  Here  the  images  (idola)  of  Justice 
have  nothing  to  do  with  squares  or  circles,  planes 
or  solids   (though   the   first   of  these  might  be  a 

K 


146         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

Pythagorean  notion),  but  are  simply  the  earthly 
embodiments  of  the  ideal,  the  fleeting  shadows  of 
which  are  all  that  the  uneducated  can  apprehend. 

Not  only  are  these  shadows  flitting  along  the 
wall  of  the  cave,  but  there  are  also  faint  echoes 
of  the  voices  proceeding  from  the  unseen  beings 
who  bear  the  images.  These  echoes  only  the 
prisoners  hear.  This  additional  circumstance 
prepares  for  the  introduction  of  the  science  of 
harmony,  in  regard  to  which  Plato's  idealism 
transcends  the  speculations  alike  of  the  empirics 
in  music  and  the  Pythagorean  philosophers  them- 
selves. "  Heard  harmonies  are  sweet,  but  those 
unheard  are  sweeter." 

In  the  fable  next  to  be  considered  it  will  appear 
that  the  voices  of  the  Sirens,  singing  all  together 
one  melody  in  one  key,  for  ever  accompany  the 
eight  revolving  spheres. 

The  height  of  abstraction  which  leads  Plato  to 
disregard  methods  of  observation  in  the  sciences 
of  Astronomy  and  Harmony,  is  nowhere  more 
apparent  than  in  the  contemptuous  phrase  with 
vjwhich  he  dismisses  the  so-called  philosophy  of  the 
prisoners  in  the  den.  The  brief  sentence  might 
almost  serve  as  an  abstract  of  the  system,  which 

Jin  modern  times  has  been  known  as  Sensational- 
ism. "  If  they  were  in  the  habit  of  conferring 
honours   among   themselves   on   those   who   were 


THE  VISION  OF  JUDGMENT  147 

quickest  to  observe  the  passing  shadows,  and  to 
remark  which  of  them  went  before,  and  which 
followed  after,  and  which  were  together,  and  who 
were  therefore  best  able  to  draw  conclusions  as 
to  the  future,  do  you  think  that  he  would  care  for 
such  honours  and  glories,  or  envy  the  possessors 
of  them  ?  Would  he  not  say  with  Homer,  "  '  Better 
to  be  the  poor  servant  of  a  poor  master,'  and  to 
endure  anything,  rather  than  think  as  they  do, 
and  live  after  their  manner  ? " 

Do  we  not  seem  to  hear  the  very  catch-words, 
Contiguity,  Simultaneity,  Succession  ? 

2.   The  Vision  of  Judgment. 

The  early  commentators  declare  that  Plato 
borrowed  much  from  Orphic  sources,  and  it  is 
manifest  that  some  parts  of  his  work  are  coloured 
by  Pythagorean  ism.  It  has  also  been  suggested 
that  the  fable  now  in  question  was  derived  from 
a  Zoroastrian  origin.  Clement  of  Alexandria 
even  asserted  that  Er,  the  son  of  Armenius,  was 
no  other  than  Zoroaster.  But  it  is  still  doubtful 
whether  the  Platonic  elements  in  the  Zend-Avesta 
have  not  been  introduced  at  some  later  time. 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  how  much  of  what 
may  be  termed  the  Platonic  mythology  may  have 
been  suggested  by  one  or  another  of  these  several 
traditions.  But  one  thing  is  certain  r  Plato  uses 
these  and  all  his  materials  with  absolute  freedom 


148         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

and  originality.  Whether  he  repeats  an  Orphic, 
a  Pythagorean,  or  a  Zoroastrian  fancy,  he  stands 
behind  it,  moulding  it  anew  and  making  it  the 
vehicle  for  the  expression  of  his  individual 
thought. 

Take,  for  example,  the  Pythagorean  passages, 
in  which  some  elaborate  manipulation  of  numerical 
proportions  is  made  to  symbolize  a  moral  or 
political  conception.  The  number  of  the  State, 
in  Book  VIII.,  has  never  been  explained,  and  it 
isrnoX.  certain  that  Plato  intended  it  to  be  in- 
telligible. What  he  clearly  means  is  to  express 
{/  his  conviction  that  political  changes  depend  on 
subtle  and  intricate  conditions,  the  law  of  which, 
were  it  ascertainable,  might  be  expressed  in  a 
mathematical  formula.  But  if  the  philosophic 
rulers  not  yet  called  into  being  are  expected  to 
fail  to  observe  it,  through  the  admixture  of  sense 
still  clinging  to  their  reason,  is  it  supposable  that 
Socrates  could  have  grasped  it,  or  expressed  it 
completely?  Or  why  should  Plato  be  so  careful 
to  tell  us  that  the  Muses,  in  expounding  their 
magnificent  theorem,  are  playing  with  us  in  mock 
earnest  and  laughing  in  their  sleeves  ? 

The  mathematical  passage  in  Book  IX.,  which 
serves  to  measure  the  gulf  that  separates  the  king 
from  the  tyrant,  is  put  forward  as  an  attempt  to 
express  the  inexpressible.     If  the   misery  of  the 


GORGIAS  AND  REPUBLIC  149 

tyrant  has  escaped  beyond  the  reach  of  calculation, 
can  Plato  be  serious  in  finding  an  expression  for 
it  in  the  cube  of  nine  ? 

This  consideration  may  suggest  an  argument 
against  the  very  ingenious  theory  which  makes  the 
number  of  the  State  12,960,000.  Did  any  ancient 
arithmetician  ever  deal  with  numbers  on  this  scale  ? 

We  pass  now  to  the  vision  of  Er.  The  Gorgias 
and  Phcedo,  both  earlier  than  the  Republic,  the 
Gorgias  much  earlier,  have  each  of  them  a  fabulous 
description  of  the  judgment  of  souls ;  and  some- 
thing may  be  learned  by  comparing  these  two 
passages  with  the  end  of  the  Republic, — not  with 
the  futile  aim  of  harmonizing  discrepancies,  but 
rather  to  trace  the  development  of  Plato's  thought. 
In  the  Gorgias,  as  in  the  Republic,  the  place  of 
judgment  is  said  to  be  "in  the  meadow."  In  our 
dialogue  it  has  been  previously  described  as  a 
mysterious  place,  but  in  the  Gorgias  the  meadow 
is  spoken  of  without  preface,  and  with  the  article 
prefixed.  May  we  conclude  from  this  that  "the 
meadow "  had  been  the  scene  of  similar  descrip- 
tions in  an  earlier  mythology?  The  Gorgias 
retains  other  traditional  features  which  are 
dropped  in  the  Republic.  The  souls  from  Asia 
are  judged  by  ^Eacus,  those  from  Europe  by 
Rhadamanthys,  while  the  Cretan  Minos  arbitrates 
as  judge  of  appeal.     In  the  Republic  there  is  no 


150         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

such  distinction.  May  we  not  suppose  that 
nationality  has  ceased  to  have  any  importance  for 
disembodied  souls?  And  does  not  this  rather 
support  the  conjecture  that  Er,  the  Pamphylian, 
is  Man  of  all  races,  or  of  no  particular  race  ? 

In  the  Gorgias  the  place  of  judgment  is  said  to 
be  at  the  parting  of  the  ways  which  lead  severally 
towards  Tartarus  and  the  Islands  of  the  Blest. 
But  in  the  Republic,  the  righteous  souls  ascend  to 
Heaven  through  a  rift  in  the  sky,  and  the  con- 
demned pass  downward  to  the  lower  places  of  the 
earth — Tartarus,  however,  as  also  in  the  Phcedo 
being  a  special  prison-house  in  the  lowest  depth, 
reserved  for  those  whose  wickedness  is  incurable. 
(In  the  Gorgias  the  incurables  were  said  to  be 
made  a  warning  to  others.)  In  all  this  there 
seems  to  be  an  advance  from  a  traditional  to  a 
more  spiritual  view. 

We  may  note  some  corresponding  changes  in 
looking  back  from  the  Republic  to  the  Phcedo ',  where 
the  torments  of  the  wicked  are  indicated  by  their 
being  confined  to  this  or  that  infernal  river, 
Cocytus  or  Phlegethon,  according  to  their  crimes  ; 
the  worst  of  all  being  condemned  to  everlasting 
imprisonment  in  Tartarus  ;  whereas  in  the  Republic 
the  horrors  of  the  under-world  are  left  undescribed, 
but  are  made  more  impressive  by  the  groans  and 
lamentations  with  which  the  souls  returning  from 


FREE-WILL  AND  NECESSITY  151 

below  are  said  to  have  recounted  them,  and  the 
awe  with  which  the  returning  souls  had  witnessed 
the  doom  of  those  not  destined  to  return.  One 
other  difference  between  the  Phcedo  and  Republic 
may  be  mentioned  before  leaving  the  Phcedo, 
— though  not  strictly  in  place.  It  is  minute,  but 
significant.  Socrates  speaks,  in  the  Phcedo,  of  the 
genius  of  Destiny,  to  whom  each  soul  had  been 
assigned  by  lot.  But  in  the  Republic  it  is  explicitly 
proclaimed  that  the  Genius  who  is  to  assume  the 
guidance  of  the  soul  at  birth,  is  to  be  chosen  by  the 
soul  herself.  Plato  here  touches  upon  the  problem/ 
which  has  vexed  theologians  in  modern  times — 
the  question  of  Necessity  or  Free-will.  He  allowy 
a  limited  freedom,  and  though  the  limits  are  ex- 
tremely narrow,  yet  he  dwells  emphatically  on 
the  consequent  responsibility :  "  Here,  my  dear 
Glaucon,  is  the  supreme  peril  of  our  human  state, 
and  therefore  the  utmost  care  should  be  taken.  Let 
each  one  of  us  leave  every  other  kind  of  knowledge 
and  seek  and  follow  one  thing  only,  if  peradven- 
ture  he  may  be  able  to  learn  and  may  find  some- 
one who  will  make  him  able  to  learn  and  discern 
between  good  and  evil ;  and  so  to  choose  always  and 
everywhere  the  better  life  as  he  has  opportunity." 

But  this  is  to  anticipate ;  for  the  choice  of  lives 
comes  afterwards.  We  return  to  Er's  narrative. 
When  the  just  and  unjust  souls  of  the  lately  dead 


152         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

had  been  judged  and  gone  to  their  reward,  the 
returning  pilgrims  from  above  and  from  beneath 
who  were  assembled  in  the  meadow  continued  there 
for  seven  days  in  mutual  converse,  interchanging 
their  experiences.  Then  all  were  marshalled  in  a 
throng,  and  marched  to  where  they  saw  the  pillar 
of  iridescent  light  that  holds  together  the  universal 
sphere.  This  shaft  seems  to  be  imagined  as  pass- 
ing through  the  centre  of  the  earth,  from  the  upper 
to  the  nether  pole  of  the  outer  Heaven.  It  is  not 
visible  from  the  habitable  part  of  the  globe,  and 
is  only  reached  after  a  journey  of  several  days. 
The  earth  is  imagined  spherical,  as  already  in  the 
Phcedo,  but  Plato  has  not  yet  revised  the  notion 
of  "  upward  and  downward."  That  is  reserved  for 
the  Timceus.  The  outer  heaven  is  imagined  as 
fastened  together  with  a  chain,  the  ends  of  which 
hang  downward  from  the  pole,  and  to  these  is 
affixed  by  its  hook  the  Spindle  of  Necessity.  The 
august  form  of  Necessity  sits  amidst  the  iridescent 
light ;  the  spindle  turns  upon  her  lap,  and  the  three 
Fates,  who  are  seated  round  her  on  their  thrones, 
are  moving  it.  The  spindle's  movement  is  said  to 
be  the  means  of  heavenly  revolutions.  But  no 
mechanical  stress  or  impact  is  really  to  be  supposed. 
It  would  be  a  mistake  so  to  attempt  to  explain  the 
passage.  The  spindle  is  in  fact  a  sort  of  orrery, 
symbolizing  the  celestial  motions,  according  to  the 


Cd 


{To  face  -ba.ee  i?2. 


THE  SPINDLE  OF  NECESSITY  153 

astronomical  theory  which  Plato  accepted  at  the 
time.  His  dynamics,  if  one  may  use  the  expres- 
sion, are  not  mechanical,  but  vital  or  spiritual, 
depending  on  some  occult  and  mysterious,  but 
rational,  motive,  which  gives  to  the  revolutions  of 
the  orbs  a  mathematical  regularity.  As  in  the 
vision  of  Ezekiel,  "  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature 
is  in  the  wheels."  The  astronomical  fact  is  referred 
to  a  psychical  principle  of  regulated  volition. 

The  shaft  of  light  is  probably  borrowed  from  the 
Pythagorean  central  fire,  round  which  the  earth 
revolved,  turning  her  face  away  from  it.  No 
revolution  of  the  earth  seems  to  be  thought  of 
here.  And  if  she  does  revolve  on  her  axis  in 
the  Timceus,  it  must  be  very  slowly  indeed,  only 
so  as  to  account  for  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes. 
Besides  the  grand  figures  of  Necessity  and  the 
Fates,  there  are  Sirens,  one  resting  on  each  of  the 
revolving  orbits, — 

"  That  sing,  and  singing  in  their  glory  move," 

— each  emitting  one  note,  and  making  amongst 
them  one  melody.     Compare  Christina  Rossetti : 

"  Jerusalem  makes  melody 
For  simple  joy  of  heart ; 
An  organ  full  of  compass  she, 
One-tuned  through  every  part." 

To   this   melody   the    Fates  are    ever    chanting: 


154  THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

Lachesis,   of    the    Past,    Clotho,   of    the    Present, 
Atropos,  of  the  Future. 

In  the  accompanying  illustrations,  the  reader  will 
find,  on  the  left  hand,  the  drawing  of  an  ancient 
spindle,  reproduced  from  Bliimner's  Technologic 
The  hook,  however,  which  should  have  crowned 
the  shaft  and  which  took  hold  of  the  wool  to  be 
spun,  is  absent  here.  The  whorl  or  weight  that 
balanced  the  motion  is  seen  in  profile,  but  so 
as  to  show  something  of  the  upper  surface,  which  is 
decorated  with  concentric  grooves.  This  form 
corresponds  to  the  description  in  the  Republic. 
Turning  now  to  the  diagram  on  the  right  hand, 
the  upper  surface  of  the  whorl  of  Necessity's 
spindle  will  be  found  represented  there.  The 
whorl  consists  of  eight  circular  cups  fitting  into 
one  another  like  Chinese  boxes.  Their  edges  thus 
form  one  smooth  face  in  eight  compartments. 
Beginning  from  outside,  the  first  and  broadest 
rim  represents  the  starry  sphere,  the  second  that 
of  Saturn,  the  third  the  sphere  of  Jupiter,  the 
fourth  of  Mars,  the  fifth  of  Mercury,  the  sixth  of 
Venus,  the  seventh  of  the  sun,  the  eighth  of  the 
moon.  The  little  disc  within  this  shows  a  section 
of  the  shaft  of  the  spindle,  which  pierces  through 
the  whorl  at  this  central  point.  The  whole  moves 
from  left  to  right,  completing  the  revolution  in 
a  day.     But  the  seven  inner  boxes  are  retarded 


Plate  VIII. 


Fig.  i. — An  Ancient  Spindle:  showing  the  form  of  the  Whorl. 

The  metal  hook  at  the  top,  by  which  the  wool  was  drawn  from  the  distaff,  is  lost. 


Plate  VIII. 

Fig.  2. — Upper  surface  of  the  Whorl  attached  to  the 
Spindle  of  Necessity. 

The  small  disc  in  the  centre  represents  a  section  of  the  shaft,  which  is 
driven  through  the  innermost  circle.  The  order  of  the  several  rims  in  point  of 
breadth  is  shown  by  the  numerals,  I,  2,  3,  etc.  The  capitals,  A  B,  C,  etc., 
mark  the  relative  swiftness  of  the  retrograde  movements,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
periods  in  which  the  "Planets,"  including  sun  and  moon,  accomplish  their 
several  revolutions,  as  distfhct  from  the  diurnal  revolution  in  which  all  partici- 
pate. 


[To  go  between  pages  154- 


THE  LAW  OF  DESTINY  155 

by  a  counter  or  retrograde  movement  from  right 
to  left,  which  carries  the  moon  round  in  a  month, 
the  sun  in  a  year,  and  the  remainder  with  varying 
velocity,  as  specified  in  the  diagram.  Mercury  and 
Venus  here  simply  accompany  the  sun.  The 
eccentric  variations  in  their  movements  referred  to 
in  the  Timceus  are  ignored,  perhaps  as  interfering 
with  simplicity  and  symmetry.  The  colours  are 
of  course  as  generally  perceived.  Venus  is  less 
white  than  Jupiter,  because  her  nearness  to  the 
sunrise  or  sunset  affects  her  with  a  corresponding 
tinge.  The  shaft  and  hook  of  the  spindle,  which 
connect  it  with  the  outer  heaven,  are  of  pure 
adamant  or  steel ;  the  whorl  of  adamant  alloyed 
with  other  metals,  because  nothing  that  is 
corporeal  can  be  absolutely  pure.  The  Fates, 
who  control  the  heavenly  motions,  are  also  con- 
cerned with  the  human  destinies  of  the  souls 
who  are  now  gathered  round  the  vision.  Lachesis, 
the  power  of  the  past  upon  the  future,  a  sort  of 
Karma,  gives  the  word  for  the  lottery  and  choice 
of  lives.  Her  minister  throws  down  the  lots  and 
scatters  the  specimens  of  life-careers,  and  then 
utters  the  warning  of  the  goddess,  daughter  of 
Necessity.  It  is  at  this  point  that  the  doctrine  of 
Free-will  comes  in. 

"You    are   to   choose,"   says   the    exponent    of 
Lachesis,  "  the  genius  which  is  to  be  your  destiny. 


156         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

There  is  no  monopoly  of  virtue,  but  as  a  man 
honours  or  dishonours  her  in  making  his  choice, 
he  will  have  more  or  less  of  her  ;  the  responsibility- 
is  with  the  chooser, — God  is  justified."  So  in 
Timczus,  42  D.,  the  Creator  gives  laws  to  His 
creatures,  that  He  may  be  guiltless  of  future  evil 
in  any  of  them,  and  instructs  the  younger  gods  so 
to  pilot  the  mortal  animal  as  to  avert  from  it 
all  but  self-inflicted  harms.  Compare  also  Laws, 
X.,  904,  where  God  is  described  as  placing  living 
beings  in  a  state  of  probation,  and  making  their 
future  character  to  depend  on  virtue  and  vice,  of 
which  one  or  the  other  is  to  be  chosen  in  an 
instant.  The  allegory  is  not  to  be  too  closely 
pressed  :  for  while  it  is  said  that  the  life-career 
selected  before  birth  determines  character,  this 
is  followed  by  the  exhortation  to  study  philosophy, 
so  that  everywhere,  both  here  and  hereafter,  a  man 
may  choose  the  best  life  with  reference  to  its  moral 
effect.  In  the  Phcedrus,  likewise,  the  decree  of 
predestination  (Oeo-/xo?  ASpacrrelag)  contains  the 
provision  that  the  soul  before  being  re-embodied 
shall  be  free  to  choose  her  life  career.  As  Nettle- 
ship  has  well  expressed  it,  "  Circumstance,  the  fact 
of  choice,  and  the  irrevocableness  of  choice,  are  the 
three  great  elements  in  life."  It  is  needless  to 
recapitulate  the  graphic  scene  which  follows,  "at 
once  sad,  and  laughable,  and  strange,"  or  to  dwell 


LETHE  AND  RE-BIRTH  157 

at  any  length  on  the  links  which  bind  the  impres- 
sive conclusion  to  the  previous  discourse — such 
as  the  association  of  irredeemable  wickedness 
with  tyranny. 

Lachesis,  the  goddess  of  the  lot,  directs  each 
individual  soul  to  be  led  by  the  genius  of  her 
destiny  beneath  the  hand  of  Clotho,  who  spins 
the  thread  accordingly,  and  then  to  the  work  of 
Atropos,  who  makes  firm  and  irreversible  what 
has  been  spun.  Then  one  by  one  they  pass 
beneath  the  throne  of  Necessity.  That  is  a 
solemn  moment.  The  Fates  who  guide  and 
regulate  the  cosmic  motions,  and  the  same 
supreme,  inevitable  Law,  have  thus  to  do  also 
with  individual  destinies.  The  souls  are  then 
conducted  through  fierce  heat,  which  aggravates 
their  thirst,  to  the  barren  plain  and  fleeting  river 
of  forgetfulness.  Here  again  there  is  some  room 
for  choice,  for  the  wiser  spirits  drink  less  in  spite 
of  the  thirst,  and  are  less  completely  steeped  in 
oblivion.  At  midnight,  amidst  thunder  and  earth- 
quake, they  are  launched  to  their  several  births 
"  like  shooting  stars." 

There  is  not  space  to  consider  the  influence  of 
this  great  myth  on  subsequent  literature  and 
belief;  for  it  is  time  to  conclude  with  a  few 
general  remarks  on  the  relation  of  Plato's  Republic 
to   modern   life   and   thought.     It   is    enough    to 


158         THE  SUPRA-MUNDANE  ASPECT 

observe  that  Plato,  in  finishing  this  great  work, 
returns,  as  in  a  piece  of  music,  to  the  leading 
motive  of  the  Moral  Ideal. 

References,  Chapter  X. 

p.   141.  (1)  Republic,  Book  II.,  p.  382 D. 

(2)  Republic,  Book  VI.,  pp.  506  Eff. 

(3)  Phcedo,  pp.  61  E,  114D. 

(4)  Phcedrus,  pp.  246  ff.,  265  C  ;  Gorgias,  p.  523  A. 

p.  142.  Bacon,  Novum  Organum,  I.,  Aph.  38-44  ;  Tinuzus, 
pp.  41  ff.  ;  Phcedo,  III.,  A-C  ;  cf.  Dante,  Inferno, 
Canto  IX.,  11.  82-3— 

Dal  volto  rimovea  quell'  aer  grasso, 

Menando  la  sinistra  inanzi  spesso. 

p.   144.  Cf  Republic,  Book   III.,  p.  402  B,  eUSvas  ypq/xfidruv 

K.T.X. 

p.  146.  (1)  On  the  music  of  the  spheres,  see  Nettleship,  p. 

363. 
(2)  Republic,  VII.,  p.  515  B. 
p.   147.  (1)  See   James  Darmesteter's   commentary   on   his 

translation  of  the  Zend-Avesta  into  French, 
p.   148.  (1)  Republic,  Book  VIII.,  p.  546. 

(2)  Nettleship,  p.  302. 

(3)  Republic,  Book  IX.,  p.  587  C-E. 

p.  149.  On  the  Platonic  number,  see  J.  Adam  ;  and  read 
notes  to  the  Republic  in  Clarendon  Press  Edition, 
vol.  in.,  pp.  364-373.  And  for  the  details  of  the 
following  myth,  read  carefully  the  notes  to  the 
Clarendon  Press  Edition  of  the  Republic,  vol.  iii., 
pp.  472-484 — after  first  correcting  an  erratum  on 
p.  172,  line  12  from  bottom,  by  transposing  the 
words  "  Venus,"  "  Mercury,"  thus  : — 

5  6 

"  Mercury,"  "  Venus." 
p.    15O;  iraiuptfkios,  from  7ras  and  <f>v\ir). 


CHAPTER  XI 

PLATO   AND    MODERN    LIFE 

"We  hope  to  be  going  on  by  steps,  not  by  bounds.  We 
must  keep  our  eyes  on  the  stars,  but  we  must  also  remember 
that  our  feet  are  on  the  ground." 

President  Roosevelt. 

Plato's  direct  influence  on  after  ages  has  been 
less  than  might  be  inferred  from  the  frequent 
mention  of  his  name.  His  light,  as  reflected  in 
the  Neo-Platonists  and  the  Greek  fathers,  in 
Scotus  Erigena,  or  in  the  Florentine  Academy, 
was  blurred  and  indistinct,  and  few  of  those  who 
have  worshipped  him  as  the  father  of  idealism 
have  taken  the  trouble  to  master  his  philosophical 
meaning  and  intention.  Dante  did  not  know 
him  at  first  hand,  and  Milton  in  his  younger 
days  could  speak  of  "  the  spirit  of  Plato  "  and  of 
Hermes  Trismegistus  in  the  same  breath.  The 
Cambridge  Platonists  gave  almost  equal  attention 
to  Plato,  Proclus,  and  Plotinus. 

In  spite  of  the  hackneyed  saying  of  Coleridge, 

159 


1G0  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

"  Every  man  is  born  a  Platonist  or  an  Aristotelian," 
it  may  be  truly  affirmed  that  the  writings  of 
Aristotle,  in  which  floating,  conceptions  adopted 
from  his  teacher  were  crystallized  and  stamped 
with  logic,  have  indirectly  conveyed  to  posterity 
more  of  the  results  of  Plato's  lifelong  intellectual 
labour,  than  many  so-called  Platonists  have 
derived  from  the  Platonic  Dialogues  themselves. 
But  there  is  still  much  to  be  gained  in  going 
back  from  the  pupil  to  the  master,  and  watching 
the  metal  in  its  fusile  state,  ere  it  has  been  cast 
into  the  mould  of  system.  The  form  of  Dialogue, 
holding  much  in  solution  that  requires  some 
mental  affinity  to  draw  it  forth,  has  been  adverse 
to  any  wide  or  general  acceptance  of  the  great 
Athenian's  thoughts. 

Another  cause  of  vagueness  has  been  the 
confusion,  so  long  inevitable,  between  the  earlier, 
middle,  and  late  periods  of  a  speculative  effort 
whose  evolution  was  the  work  of  fifty  years.  To 
understand  Plato  aright,  the  different  moods  of 
his  ever-moving  mind  must  be  first  of  all  dis- 
tinguished and  then  taken  into  a  single  view. 
For  example,  were  the  Republic  all,  the  estimate 
of  Joubert,  quoted  by  Matthew  Arnold  in  the 
Essays  in  Criticism  (ist  series,  p.  294),  would  be 
nearly  justified  : — "  Plato  shows  us  nothing,  but 
he  brings  his  brightness  with  him  :  he  puts  light 


PLATO'S  LATER  THOUGHTS  161 

into  our  eyes,  and  fills  us  with  a  clearness  by 
which  all  objects  afterwards  become  illuminated. 
He  teaches  us  nothing,  but  he  prepares  us, 
fashions  us,  and  makes  us  ready  to  know  all. 
Somehow  or  other,  the  habit  of  reading  him 
augments  in  us  the  capacity  for  discerning  and 
entertaining  whatever  fine  truths  may  after- 
wards present  themselves.  Like  mountain  air,  it 
sharpens  our  organs,  and  gives  us  an  appetite 
for  wholesome  food."  ..."  It  is  good  to  breathe 
his  air,  but  not  to  live  upon  him."  But  this 
criticism  loses  something  of  its  edge  when  the  ideal 
optimism  of  the  Republic  is  supplemented  by  the 
practical  moderation  of  the  Laws;  where  the  aim  is 
lowered  to  what  has  been  well  called  "  meliorism," 
and  "old  experience  doth  attain  to  something  of 
prophetic  strain."  To  pass  from  the  former  to 
the  latter  Dialogue  is  like  an  appeal  to  "Philip 
sober."     Let  me  quote  one  or  two  sentences : — 

"  The  difficulty  is  to  find  the  divine  love  of 
temperate  and  just  institutions  existing  in  any 
powerful  forms  of  government,  whether  in  a 
monarchy  or  oligarchy  of  wealth  or  of  birth. 
You  might  as  well  hope  to  reproduce  the 
character  of  Nestor,  who  is  said  to  have  excelled 
all  men  in  the  power  of  speech,  and  yet  more 
in  his  temperance.  This,  however,  according  to 
the  tradition,  was  in  the  times  of  Troy  ;   in  our 

L 


162  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

own  days  there  is  nothing  of  the  sort ;  but  if 
such  an  one  either  has  or  ever  shall  come  into 
being,  or  is  now  among  us,  blessed  is  he,  and 
blessed  are  they  who  hear  the  wise  words  that 
flow  from  his  lips.  And  this  may  be  said  of 
power  in  general.  When  the  supreme  power  in 
man  coincides  with  the  greatest  wisdom  and 
temperance,  then  the  best  laws  and  the  best 
constitution  come  into  being ;  but  in  no  other 
way"  {Laws,  Book  IV.,  p.  711).  "Masters  and 
freemen  in  states  are  very  likely  to  arrive  at  a 
true  conviction  that  without  due  regulation  of 
private  life  in  cities,  stability  in  the  laying  down 
of  laws  is  hardly  to  be  expected ;  and  he  who 
makes  this  reflection  may  himself  adopt  the 
laws  now  mentioned,  and,  adopting  them,  may 
order  his  house  and  state  well  and  happily  "  (ibid., 
Book  VII.,  p.  790). 

If  Plato  "is  in  the  air  and  on  firm  ground  in 
successive  instants "  (Jowett),  this  truth  is  still 
more  apparent  when  different  periods  of  his 
activity  are  compared.  The  same  spirit  is  recog- 
nisable, but  in  the  later  writings  the  wildness, 
the  paradoxical  attitude,  the  audacity  of  sanguine 
hope,  have  passed  away. 

Yet  to  the  last  it  was  impossible  for  Plato  or 
any  of  the  old  Greek  thinkers  to  anticipate  the 
complexity  of  the  modern  world,  or  the  gradual 


MODERN  IDEALS  1^3 

progress  by  which  freedom  and  orderliness  are 
being  developed,  in  what  to  them  would  have 
seemed  a  seething  chaos  of  incongruous  atoms, 
in  the  course  of  many  generations.  As  Professor 
Jowett  observes,  "The  regular  growth  of  a  state 
enlightened  by  experience,  progressing  in  know- 
ledge, improving  in  the  arts,  of  which  the  citizens 
were  educated  by  the  fulfilment  of  political  duties, 
appears  never  to  have  come  within  the  range  of 
their  hopes  and  aspirations.  .  .  .  Progress  has 
been  the  exception  rather  than  the  law  of  human 
history.  Tlje  idea  of  progress  is  of  modern/  / 
rather  than  ancient  date,  and  like  the  idea  of/ 
the  philosophy  of  history,  is  not  more  than  a 
century  or  two  old." 

That  which  modern  experience  supplies  as  the 
counter-active  or   corrective  of  Utopian    schemes 
is  not   blind   faith   in   the  wisdom  of  the   many, 
but   the  conviction   that   true   ideas  emerging  in 
original   minds   and    enforced   with    disinterested 
energy  must  soon  or  late  be  universally  acknow- 
ledged, so  as  to  leaven  the   thoughts  and  mould 
the   conduct   of   collective    humanity.      Men   wilt 
follow    a    wise    leader    whom    they    instinctively  ( 
trust   and   know   to   be   wise.      There  are  germs* 
of  such   a   belief  even    in   the  Republic.     "Could\J 
the    populace    see    the    philosopher     as    he     is, 
they  would  certainly  accept  him  for  their  guide."  </ 


164  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

How  far  Plato  himself  was  from  wishing  to 
inaugurate  a  violent  revolution  amongst  his  own 
countrymen,  appears  from  the  Crito,  which  gives 
the  philosopher's  answer  to  the  question  of 
Niebuhr,  "Was  Plato  a  good  citizen?"  He 
recognises  the  danger  "of  unsettling  men's 
minds  by  sudden  changes,  or  by  destroying  the 
sacredness  of  one  set  of  ideas  when  there  is 
nothing  else    to    take    their  place"  (Jowett). 

But  when  once  launched  on  a  course  of  political 
speculation  he  will  not  stop  short  until  he  has 
given  formal  completeness  to  his  ideal  of  human 
society,  or  rather  of  an  Hellenic  state.  To  this 
effect  his  philosophical  determination  was  re- 
enforced  by  his  literary  instinct.  The  Greek 
world  was  so  disorganized  as  to  cry  aloud  for 
one  great  change.  When  that  had  been  accom- 
plished, a  new  set  of  traditions  was  to  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  old,  and  stereotyped  for  all  the 
time  to  come.  The  change  for  the  better,  if 
accomplished  at  all,  was  to  be  the  work  of  some 
new  Solon  or  Lycurgus,  who  should  start  the 
Commonwealth  afresh  on  philosophic  lines,  to 
proceed  thenceforward  with  increasing  smoothness 
and  velocity. 

But  while  the  Greek  idea  of  progress  was  thus 
rudimentary,  there  is  no  stimulus  to  progress  com- 
parable to  the  Hellenic  spirit,  which  in  Plato  attains 


POWER  AND  WISDOM  165 

the  zenith  of  its  power.     His  works  are  an  unfail- 
ing antidote  to  dead  traditions  and  stale  conven- 
tions.   Plato's  faith  in  the  supremacy  of  reason,  htfs 
lofty  conception  of  the  true  destiny  of  the  human 
soul,  will  continue  to  animate  the  endeavours  of  all 


lovers  of  their  race  long  after  they  have  learned 


/ 


from  experience — such  as  that  of  the  "  moderates  "     / 
in  the  French  Revolution,  who  would  have  trans-  ▼ 
planted  the  English  constitution  bodily — to  distrust 
ready-made  reforms,  and  to  "  keep  their  feet  on  the    v< 
ground  while  looking  at  the  stars."     Notwithstand^JX 
ing  the  great  gulf  which  separates  the  Greek  city 
from  the  modern   nation,  European  or  American 
statesmen   and    moralists    may   yet   derive    some 
wisdom  from  the  study  of  him. 

The  union  of  wisdom  ajigVbejieficence^v^h^ojyjr,^ 
which   is   the   vital   principle   of  Plato's   politicals 
creed,  has  been  the  dream  of  all  in  every  age  whov 
have  reflected  at  all  deeply  on  the  lives  of  their  •/ 
fellow-men.      ^Eschylus   saw  this  in   vision  when 
he   composed  the  Promethean   trilogy ;   although 
his  suffering  Titan  failed  to  realize  the  force  of  his 
own  words  as  applicable  to  struggling  humanity  : — 

"  Not  so  :  not  yet :  all-consummating  Fate 
Decrees  this  otherwise.     Through  countless  shocks 
And  agonies  I  win  to  Freedom's  goal." 

And  what  other  thought  was  in  the  mind  of  the 


166  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

British  statesman,  who  said,  when  it  seemed  to 
him  that  a  Conservative  government  had  "  shot 
Niagara  "  :  "  We  must  educate  our  masters  "  ? 

In  conclusion,  I  propose  to  dwell  briefly  on  a  few 
out  of  many  isolated  points  in  which  principles  of 
the  Republic  may  be  usefully  suggestive  at  the 
present  day : — 

I.  The  paradox  of  Book  I.,  that  justice  is  for 
another's  good,  and  yet  to  be  just  is  to  be  happy, 
touches  on  a  confusion  of  thought  that  is  .still  pre- 
valent in  the  modern  world.  The  Utilitarian 
theory,  in  identifying  pleasure  and  happiness,  has 
left  an  impression  on  some  minds  that  Reason  is 
limited  by  Self-love,  and  that  actions  other  than 
self-regarding  are  "  ultra-rational."  Sir  Galahad's 
saying,  on  hearing  of  Siege  Perilous,  "  If  I  lose 
myself  I  gain  myself,"  would  in  that  case  be  simply 
nonsensical.  But  it  is  matter  of  experience  that 
by  every  disinterested  act  the  individual  person- 
ality is  enriched  and  enlarged.  It  is  by  going  forth 
from  self  without  any  thought  of  self  that  the  true 
self  is  raised  to  higher  powers,  and  man  becomes 
more  and  more  himself.  It  is  a  pinched  and  jejune 
conception  of  reason  that  fails  to  include  such 
action  under  the  category  of  rational. 

We  have  seen  that  in  Plato's  conception  of  the 
philosopher,  reason,  will,  and  emotion  are  virtually 
combined.     The  vision  of  the  Good  has  vindicated 


HUNGER  AS  A  MOTIVE  167 

the  soul's  inheritance,  and  has  revealed  her  native 
affinity  to  truth  and  right.  And  if  the  aim  of 
righteous  conduct  be  no  higher  than  the  greatest 
happiness  of  the  greatest  number,  it  is  hard  to  say 
whether  in  the  consequent  endeavour,  intellect, 
feeling,  or  volition  is  supreme.  To  call  in  aid  a 
mystical  religious  motive  separate  from  all  these  is 
only  to  say  that  in  our  best  moments  the  three 
factors  of  spiritual  life  are  fused  in  one. 

2.  Owing  to  his  neglect  of  the  industrial  classes, 
Plato  seems  to  forget  the  starting-point  in  his  for- 
mation of  the  state  as  the  idealizing  process  is 
continued.  The  consciousness  of  want  is  overborne 
in  the  guardians  generally  by  the  spirit  of  patriot- 
ism, and  in  the  rulers  by  the  contemplation  of  all 
existence  in  the  light  of  the  good.  But  amongst 
those  who  in  the  community  correspond  to  the 
animal  nature  in  the  individual,  the  originating 
cause  of  social  union  must  be  conceived  as  still 
operating,  though  under  the  severest  regulation 
from  above.  Humanity  cannot  be  imagined  with- 
out it.  A  late  metaphysician,  Professor  Ferrier  of 
St  Andrews,  once  said  of  Hunger  as  a  primary 
motive,  "There  he  sits  weaving  the  diverse 
threads  into  the  web  of  social  life."  When  this 
crude  principle  has  been  developed,  as  in  modern 
communities,  into  commercial  greed,  and  inter- 
necine competition  threatens  to  overcome  morality, 


168  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

it  is  plain  enough  what  Plato  would  have  thought, 
though  how  he  would  propose  to  obviate  the 
mischief  we  cannot  know.  He  would  certainly 
have  foreseen  a  danger  in  the  substitution  of  an 
oligarchy  of  wealth  for  an  aristocracy  of  birth. 
Nor  would  the  accumulation  of  vast  fortunes  have 
appeared  to  him  a  worthy  use  to  make  of  intellect- 
ual power. 

3.  But  there  is  another  aspect  of  his  social  scheme 
in  which  the  obscuration  or    extenuation   of  the 
^perpetual  life-struggle  involves  a  possible  danger. 
^S  7lato  has  based  the  earlier  education  on   perfect 


(Veil 

if  an 


<  /circumstances  tempered  with  culture.  The  young 
\j*  are  to  be  sedulously  guarded  from  all  knowledge  of 
evil.  From  everything  they  hear,  from  every 
object  on  which  their  eyes  may  rest,  they  are  to 
drink  in  principles  of  beauty,  honour,  and  truth : — 
not  truth  of  fact,  but  truth  of  idea.  (For  Plato 
agrees  with  Joubert,  that  Fiction  has  no  right  to 
exist,  unless  it  is  more  beautiful  than  reality.) 

What  educational  conditions  are  the  most 
favourable  for  the  formation  of  character  ?  "  Plato 
does  not  seem  to  consider  that  some  degree  of 
rreedom,  '  a  little  wholesome  neglect,'  is  necessary 
to  strengthen  and  develope  the  character,  and  to 
give  play  to  the  individual  nature"  (Jowett). 
The  question  thus  raised  is  too  large  to  be  con- 
sidered here,  but  it  may  suggest  another,  which  is 


COMPLEXITY  AND  UNITY  169 

not  less  grave.  How  far  is  the  elevation  of  the 
standard  of  comfort,  on  which  in  modern  politics 
so  much  stress  is  laid,  to  be  trusted  as  a  means  for 
improving  the  morals  of  mankind?  Is  it  not 
possible  that,  unless  corroborated  by  forces  of  a 
more  spiritual  nature,  the  greater  easefulness  of 
our  environment  may  sap  the  springs  of  energy 
and  tend  gradually  to  the  extinction  of  spontaneous 
effort?  It  is  a  matter  of  degree  ;  but  one  manifest 
inference  from  the  mere  mention  of  it,  is  the 
responsibility  which  rests  upon  the  leisured  classes 
— not  only  to  dabble  in  philanthropy,  but  to  set 
before  themselves  high  moral  aims,  and  by  ex- 
ample, by  sympathy,  by  emphasizing  the  serious- 
ness of  life,  to  counteract  the  inertia,  the  false 
excitement,  the  frivolous  distractions,  which  are 
the  cankers  of  contemporary  civilization. 

4.  The  leading  notes  of  Plato's  commonwealth 
are  simplicity  and  unity  ;  characteristics  hard  to 
impress  upon  modern  societies.  Yet  his  pattern, 
although  drawn  in  outline,  may  not  be  useless  to 
those  who  would  strike  the  balance  between 
centralization  and  local  authority,  or  who  feel  the 
difficulty  of  reconciling  patriotism  with  govern- 
ment by  party.  Mr  Matthew  Arnold,  in  days 
when  an  untempered  individualism  prevailed,  used 
to  hold  before  his  countrymen  the  idea  of  the 
State.     Readers   of   Friendship's    Garland,   or   of 


170  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

Culture  and  Anarchy \  may  find  analogies  between 

/his  point  of  view  and  Plato's.     The  friction  which 

(     is  inevitable  in  democratic  governments  recalls  a 

\hint  of  Plato's  in  Book  VIII.  (p.  564),  "see  how 

(sensitive    the    citizens    become ;    they   chafe   im- 

)  patiently  at  the  least  touch  of  authority."     In  the 

/  earlier  days  of  Athenian  democracy,  Pericles  had 

^-so-much  influence  with  his  fellow-citizens  that  he 

could   speak   words   to    anger   them.      Is    it    the 

"  sensitiveness  "  of  the  people,  or  the  want  of  moral 

courage  in  the  statesman,  that  has  made  possible 

such  disastrous  measures  as  the  permissive  clauses 

in  the  recent  Vaccination  Act  ? 

5.  Plato's  theory  of  education  as  the  development 
of  latent  powers,  has  often  been  revived  in  modern 
Jreatises.  Jpwett,  however,  observes,  "  he  does  not 
see  that  education  is  relative  to  the  characters  of 
individuals."  This  may  be  true  of  the  Republic, 
where  the  strict  unity  of  the  State  requires  that  the 
guardians  should  be  cast  in  one  mould.  But  the 
^rem^rk  does  not  apply  to  the  classical  passage  of 
the  PJicedrus,  which  might  have  satisfied  even  the 
author  of  Wilhelm  Meister : — "The  orator  (or 
teacher)  must  learn  the  differences  of  souls — they 
are  so  many  and  of  such  a  nature,  and  from  them 
come  the  differences  between  man  and  man  .  .  . 
such  and  such  persons  are  affected  by  this  or 
that   kind   of  speech    in    this   or    that    way.  .  .  . 


PRACTICAL  EFFECTS  OF  CULTURE        171 

When  he  knows  the  times  and  seasons  of  all  these 
things,  then,  and  not  till  then,  he  is  a  perfect  master 
of  his  art"  "^ 

How  far  it  is  desirable  that  all  the  members  of  a 
state  or  nation  should  be  educated  in  common,  how 
soon  or  to  what  extent  specialization  should  be 
admitted,  is  a  problem  which  is  only  now  in  course 
of  gradual  solution.  A  particular  case  of  it,  and^a^ 
most  important  one,  occurs  in  connection  with 
Plato's  theory  of  government.  The  philosopher  is 
brought  back  into  the  den  out  of  the  ampler  ether 
which  he  has  been  breathing  in  the  upper  world. 
And  this  requirement  is  vindicated  as  follows : — 
"  You  must  contrive  for  your  future  rulers  another 
and  a  better  life  than  that  of  a  ruler,  and  then  you 
may  have  a  well-ordered  state  :  for  only  in  the 
state  which  offers  this,  will  they  rule  who  are  truly 
rich,  not  in  silver  and  gold,  but  in  virtue  and 
wisdom,  which  are  the  true  blessings  of  life." 

We  are  sometimes  laughed  at  in  Great  Britain 
because  our  statesmen,  our  judges,  and  our  pro- 
fessional men  have  carried  their  general  education 
further  into  life  than  is  usual  in  other  lands.  But 
experience  has  proved  that  the  greatest  amount  of 
liberal  culture  that  is  compatible  with  the  acquisi- 
tion of  professional  knowledge  and  skill  is  not  only 
no  hindrance  but  a  most  valuable  furtherance 
towards  the  highest  practical  success.     The  labours 


172  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

of  one  so  trained,  like   the   delights   of  Antony, 

"Are  dolphin-like,  they  show  his  back  above  f 

The  element  they  live  in." 

Not  only  is  the  whole  community  thus  better  har- 
monized, but  the  individual  members  are  approxi- 
mately more  complete.  Those  monstrosities, 
as  Plato  would  call  them  (oXXokotol  rives),  the 
bookworm,  the  faddist,  and  the  doctrinaire,  are  less 
in  evidence,  and  such  lame  or  one-sided  products  as 
the  mere  student  or  the  half-professional  athlete, 
are  discredited.  Officials  are  less  in  danger  of 
sinking  into  a  groove,  and  those  employed  in 
"  limited  professions  "  are  in  some  measure  prepared 
to  recognise  the  value  of  pursuits  of  larger  scope. 
I  read  the  other  day,  "  Carlyle  had  not  been  a  work- 
man "  : — Carlyle,  whose  title  to  remembrance  is 
largely  due  to  his  indefatigable  industry !  The 
phrase  in  whicj>  Plato  sums  up  his  twofold  plan  of 
education,  Weason  blended  with  culture"  (Xoyo? 
fjiovcriKiJ  /ce/c/3a/xei/o?),\express^s^tne  aim  which  all 
teachers  should  have\  inview,  and  only  needs  that 
technical  or  practical  training  should  be  super- 
added. 

6.  Two  minor  principles  of  education  on  which 
the  author  of  the  Republic  insists  are  worth  repeating 
here, — that  subjects  should  be  classified  and  gradu- 
ated /according  to  the  pupil's  ages,  and  that  the 
^    earliest  lessons  should  be  accompanied  with  enjoy- 


THE  COSMIC  PROCESS  173 

ment.  Have  not  both  these  rules  been  violated  by 
our  public  school  system, — promoting  cram  and 
gerund-grinding  between  eight  and  twelve,  and 
depriving  the  more  arduous  studies  of  the  fresh 
interest  that  might  else  attend  them,  if  commenced 
when  the  mind  has  been  prepared  to  profit  by 
them  ? 

In  treating  of  the  Sciences  of  Astronomy  and 
Harmony,  Plato  disparages  observation  in  com- 
parison with  mathematical  demonstration.  He  is 
far  from  recognising  that  true  theory  is  only  fact 
explained.  Yet  he  was  in  advance  of  his  con- 
temporaries, including  the  Pythagoreans,  in  antici- 
pating the  important  part  which  mathematics 
would  have  to  play  in  ascertaining  the  laws  of 
matter  in  motion. 

7.  The  celestial  revolutions  were  for  Plato  the 
type  of  obedience  to  eternal  law.  His  thought  might 
be  expressed  in  words  used  in  another  connection 
by  the  prophet  Joel :  "  They  shall  not  break  their 
ranks,  neither  shall  one  thrust  another,  they  shall 
walk  every  one  in  his  path."  The  progress  of 
science  has  given  a  different  meaning  to  the  cosmic 
process.  The  stars  are  now  "  cold  fires,  yet  with 
power  to  burn  and  brand  his  nothingness  into 
man."  Life,  according  to  natural  law,  is  the 
struggle  for  existence,  resulting  not  in  moral  noble- 
ness   but    in    brutal    strength.      The    Darwinian 


174  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

tendency  to  belittle  human  history  in  comparison 
with  the  times  preceding  man,  and  to  assume 
natural  selection  as  the  condition  of  human  pro- 
gress, has  been  combated  by  Darwin's  great  disciple 
and  champion,  the  late  Professor  Huxley,  in  his 
Romanes  lecture  entitled  "  Evolution  and  Ethics!' 
He  argues  with  great  force  that  human  progress 
has  consisted  and  must  always  consist  in  resolute 
and  persevering  opposition  to  the  cosmic  process, 
i.e.,  to  "the  coarse  struggle  for  existence  of  the 
state  of  nature."  He  acknowledges  that  man  is  in 
a  sense  the  product  of  the  very  process  which  he 
thus  opposes,  and  he  would  of  course  admit  that, 

"  Nature  is  made  better  by  no  mean, 
But  nature  makes  that  mean  "  ; 

or,  as  Bacon  put  it,  that  she  is  conquered  by  obey- 
ing her ;  nor  does  he  deny  that  amongst  lower 
animals  also  there  are  tendencies  to  social  union. 
But  he  is  not,  like  some  evolutionists,  a  slave  to 
language,  and  he  makes  liberal  use  of  the  word 
"  ideal."  Imagining  a  new  colony  planted  in  a 
savage  country,  he  says : — "  Our  administrator 
would  select  his  human  agents  with  a  view  to  his 
ideal  of  a  successful  colony,  just  as  the  gardener 
selects  his  plants  with  a  view  to  his  ideal  of  useful 
or  beautiful  products.  ...  In  order  to  attain  his 
ends,    he    would    have    to    avail    himself  of  the 


"EVOLUTION  AND  ETHICS"  175 

courage,  industry,  and  co-operative  intelligence  of 
the  settlers  ;  and  it  is  plain  that  the  interest  of  the 
community  would  be  best  served  by  increasing  the 
proportion  of  persons  who  possess  such  qualities, 
and  diminishing  that  of  persons  devoid  of  them. 
In  other  words,  by  selection  directed  towards  an 
ideal. 

"  Thus  the  administrator  might  look  to  the 
establishment  of  an  earthly  paradise,  a  true  garden 
of  Eden,  in  which  all  things  should  work  together 
towards  the  well-being  of  the  gardeners  .  .  . 
where  men  themselves  should  have  been  selected 
with  a  view  to  their  efficiency  as  organs  for  the 
performance  of  the  functions  of  a  perfected  society. 
And  this  ideal  polity  would  have  been  brought 
about,  not  by  gradually  adjusting  the  men  to  the 
conditions  around  them,  but  by  creating  artificial 
conditions  for  them  ;  not  by  allowing  the  free  play 
of  the  struggle  for  existence,  but  by  excluding  that 
struggle,  and  by  substituting  selection  directed 
towards  the  administrator's  ideal  for  the  selection 
it  exercises." 

The  serpent  in  this  Eden  is  again  the  "  cosmic 
process,"  reappearing  in  the  form  of  competition, 
not  merely  for  the  commodities,  but  for  the  means 
of  existence. 

"  That  which  lies  before  the  human  race  is  a 
constant   struggle   to   maintain   and    improve,   in 


17G  PLATO  AND  MODERN  LIFE 

opposition  to  the  state  of  Nature,  the  state  of 
Art,  of  an  organized  polity ;  in  which,  and  by 
which,  man  may  develop  a  worthy  civilization, 
capable  of  maintaining  and  constantly  improving 
itself." 

Thus,  in  the  view  of  the  most  distinguished 
advocate  of  modern  scientific  method,  while  the 
relation  of  man  to  the  cosmos  is  differently 
conceived,  the  moral  ideal  remains,  and  is  set  forth 
in  a  manner  of  which  Plato  might  have  approved. 
Meanwhile  the  grandiose  image  in  Republic,  Book 
X.,  where  the  souls  after  their  choice  of  lives  are 
led  by  their  destinies  beneath  the  throne  of 
Necessity,  has  lost  little  of  its  essential  significance. 

I  will  end  with  one  more  quotation,  and  it  shall 
be  taken  from  a  writer  who  is  recognised  by  many 
persons  as  an  exponent  of  the  modern  spirit : — 
Maurice  Maeterlinck,  in  writing  about  Hamlet,  says 
"  Lofty  thoughts  suffice  not  always  to  overcome 
destiny,  for  against  these  destiny  can  oppose 
thoughts  that  are  loftier  still ;  but  what  destiny 
has  ever  withstood  thoughts  that  are  simple  and 
good,  thoughts  that  are  tender  and  loyal  ?  We  can 
triumph  over  Destiny  only  by  doing  the  very 
reverse  of  the  evil  she  fain  would  have  us  commit. 
For  no  tragedy  can  be  inevitable." 


REFERENCES  177 


References,  Chapter  XI. 

p.  1 59.  "  Dante  did  not  know  him,"  unless  through  a  Latin 
translation  of  the  Timceus.  See  Toynbee's  Dante 
Dictionary,  s.v.  "  Platone." 

p.  160.  (1)  See  A.  W.  Benn  on  The  Later  Ontology  of  Plato; 
in  Mind,  vol.  xi.,  n.s.,  No.  41. 
(2)  Essays  in  Criticism,  1st  series,  p.  294. 

p.  163.  Jowett's  Introduction  to  Republic,  pp.  ccxii.,  ccxiii. 

p.  16$.  JEsch.  Prom.,  V.,  pp.  5x1-513. 

p.  168.  Jowett's  Introduction  to  Republic,  p.  ccix. 

p.  169.  See  also  Mixed  Essays.  "The  nation  may  acquire 
in  the  State  an  ideal  of  high  reason  and  right 
feeling,  representing  its  best  self,  commanding 
general  respect,  and  forming  a  rallying  point 
for  the  intelligence  and  for  the  worthiest  instincts 
of  the  community,  which  will  herein  find  a  true 
bond  of  union." 

p.  170.  (1)  Jowett's  Introduction  to  Republic,  p.  ccviii. 
(2)  Phcedrus,  p.  271  D. 

p.  171.  (1)  Republic,  VII.,  p.  521  A. 
(2)  Republic,  VI.,  p.  487  D. 

p.  174.  (1)  Collected  Essays,  by  T.  H.  Huxley,  vol.  ix.,  1894. 
(2)  Prolegomena  to  Romanes  Lecture,  ibid.,  pp.  18-20. 

p.  175.  Ibid.,  p.  44. 


M 


INDEX 


Achilles,  70.- 

Adeimantus,  1,  2,  5,  50,  52,  64. 

./Eacus,  149. 

/Eschylus,  17,  165. 

^isculapius,  74. 

Alcibiades,  137. 

Anaxagoras,  19. 

Antony,  172. 

Apology,  14. 

Arginusoe,  18. 

Aristides,  17,  95. 

Aristocracy,  6,  121,  122,  168. 

Aristophanes,  18,  100  ;  Clouds  of, 

76. 
Aristotle,  8,   12,  24,   33,  45,   70, 

94,   95,    102,    109,    no,    III, 

126,     135,     160;     History    of 

Political  Institutions,   108. 
Aristoxenus,  95. 
Arithmetic,  76,  78,  79,  82. 
Arnold,  Matthew,  169  ;  Essays  in 

Criticism,  160. 
Arts,  the,  20,  50,  72,  89,  91,  92, 

97,  163. 
Association,  44. 
Astronomy,  81,  146,  153,  173. 
Athenian    life,    17  ;    Constitution, 

108. 

Athens,  53,  87,  99,  131,  135. 
179 


Athleticism,  74,  82,  112,  128. 
Atropos,  154,  157. 

Bacon,  35,  36,  80,  84,  121,  174 ; 

Novum  Organum,  142. 
Berkeley,  12. 
Beethoven,  96. 
Boers,  93. 

Butcher,  Professor,  94. 
Butler,  45. 

Callicles,  125,  142. 

Campbell,  Thomas,    Gertrude   of 

Wyoming,  113. 
Carlyle,  172. 
Cave,  the,  142,  171. 
Cebes,  2,  9. 
Celibacy,  107. 
Cephalus,  I,  10,  100,  108. 
Charmides,  14,  20. 
Chatham,  123. 
Christianity,  102,  105. 
Cicero,  12. 
Citizenship,  75. 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  147. 
Clotho,  154,  157. 
Cobden,  57. 
Cocytus,  150. 
Coleridge,  159;  Dream-poem,  91. 


180 


INDEX 


Comedy,  94. 
Commercial  classes,  101. 
Commonwealth,   24,    25,    50,    54, 

59,  73,  99,  i°9»  "X,  129,  134, 

139,  164,  169. 
Communism,  6. 
Community  of  goods,  108. 
Composition  of  Republic,  5. 
Contiguity,  147. 
Coriolanus,  136. 
Courage,  21,  23,  27,  69,  73,  117, 

120,  128,  175. 
Cratylus,  15,  37- 
Crito,  10,  164. 
Culture,  77,  80,  83,  112,  171,  172; 

Culture  and  Anarchy,  170. 

Dante,  159. 

Darwin,  173. 

Delphic  influences,  18. 

Demiurgi,  144. 

Democracy,  6,  17,  25,   128,   131, 

132,  170- 
Democritus,  36. 
Destiny,  15 1,  155,  157,  176. 
Dialectic,  13,  15,  36,  79,  82,  144. 
Dionysiac  influence,  87. 
Division  of  labour,  50. 
Dorian  influence,  39 ;   mood,  72, 

96  ;  constitution,  128. 
Drama,  71,  94. 
Drones,  130,  133,  135,  x36. 

Education,  6,  21,  25,  53,  66, 
77,  80,  83,  89,  103,  112,  120, 
123,  144,  168,  170,  172. 

Eleatic  teaching,  33,  34- 

Eleusinian  influences,  18. 

Emotion,  28,  88,  90,  166. 


Entail,  III. 

Equality  of  sexes,  6,  133. 

Er,  son  of  Armenius,  6,  142,  147, 

149,  150,  151. 
Ethical  Speculation,   17,   19,  23, 

49. 
Euthydemus,  15,  49. 
Euthyphro,  21,  68. 
Evil,  46,  50,  69,  72,  139,  168. 
Ezekiel,  153. 

Faction,  17,  99. 

Family,  the,  103. 

Fates,  the,  152,  153,  I$5,  157- 

Ferrier,  Professor,  167. 

Fiction,  168. 

Fletcher  of  Saltoun,  95. 

Florentine  Academy,  159. 

Free-will,  151,  155. 

French  Revolution,  165. 

Friendship s  Garland,  169. 

GARDNER,  Mr  Percy,  Exploratio 

Evangelica,  41. 
Generalization,  35,  36,  39,  79. 
Geometry,  81,  82,  125. 
Gilbert,  36. 
Gladstone,  Mr,  117. 
Glaucon,  1,  2,  5,  50,  95,  113,.  120, 

123,  133,  151. 
Godwin,  102. 
Goethe,  116. 
Gomperz,  9,  24,  28,  44. 
Good,  the  idea  of,  6,  27,  32,  39, 

50,  65,  83,  128,  123,  127    142, 

144,  145,  166. 
Gorgias,  33. 
Gorgias,  10,  14,   20,   24,  49,  69, 

89,  125,  126,  142,  149,  150. 


INDEX 


181 


Grote,  Mr,  29,  101. 

.Gymnastic  training,  25,  73,  74. 

Hades,  44. 

Hampden,  134. 

Hamlet,  176. 

Happiness,  52,  126,  166. 

Harmon)',  82,  146,  173. 

Hellenic  world,  I,  76,  102,  164. 

Heraclitus,  19,  33,  34,  36,  68. 

Hermes  Trismegistus,  159. 

Hesiod,  67,  93. 

Hippocrates,  36. 

Homer,  67,  87,  92,  93,  147. 

Hutchinson,  Miss,  1 13. 

Huxley,  Evolution  and  Ethics,  174. 

Iago,  92. 

Idealism,  9,  54,  90,  125,  146,  159, 

174. 
Ideas,  doctrine  of,  36,  38,  41,  142, 

163,  168. 
Idola,  the,  142,  146. 
Iliad,  92. 
Imogen,  92. 

Immortality,  6,  8,  25,  37,  44. 
Individualism,  112,  169. 
Industrial  classes,  54,  58,  62,  65, 

101,  167. 
Investments,  III. 
Islands  of  the  Blest,  150. 
Italian  Renaissance,  97. 

Joel,  173. 

Joubert,  160,  168. 

Jowett,  3,  II,  100,  109,  112,  162, 

163,  164,  168,  170  ;    Essay  on 

Natural  Religion,  41. 
Judge,  61. 


Judgment,  147,  149. 
Jupiter,  154,  155. 
Justice,  5,  18,  21,  24,  50,  63,  73, 
88,  117,  120,  145,  166. 

Kant,  43. 

Karma,  155. 

Kepler,  81. 

Kings,  22,  no,  120,  122,  148. 

Knowledge,  26,  80,  83,  121,  124. 

Laced^mon,  28,  100. 

Laches,  20. 

Lachesis,  154,  155,  157. 

Laws,  1,  15,  43,  46,  49,  52,  55,  58, 
61,  62,  73,  79,  89,  95,  100,  109, 
118,  122,  125,  126,  156,  161. 

Leucippus,  36. 

Logic,  42. 

Logomachy,  83. 

Lots,  151,  157. 

Lycurgus,  59,  164. 

Lysis,  14,  20. 

Lysis,  100. 

Macbeth,  92,  139. 
Mackintosh,  Sir  James,  59. 
Maeterlinck,  Maurice,  176. 
Mantinean  prophetess,  107. 
Marina,  92. 

Marriage,  99,  101,  106,  1 14. 
Mars,  154. 
"Marseillaise,"  95. 
Mathematics,    40,   81,    145,    148, 

173. 
Medicine,  73. 
Meliorism,  161. 
Melos,  17. 
Meno,  26,  37,  75. 


182 


INDEX 


Meno,  23. 

Mercury,  154,  155. 

Metaphysics,  15,  32,  43,  86,  93. 

Milton,  56,  88,  96,  159. 

Minos,  149. 

Moderates  in  French  Revolution, 

165. 
Momus,  97. 
Monarchy,  122,  161. 
Moon,  the,  145,  154. 
Moral  ideal,  26,  32,  158. 
Morality,  9,  19,  21,  167. 
Moses,  56. 
Muses,  the,  148. 
Music,  68,  71,  74,  88,  90,  91,  95, 

146. 
Mythology,  141,  147. 
Mytilene,  17. 

Necessity,     151,     155,      157  j 

Spindle  of,  152,  154. 
Neo-Platonists,  159. 
Nestor,  161. 
Nettleship,  156. 
Niebuhr,  164. 
Numbers,  148,  149. 
Noyes,  John  Humphreys,  103. 

"  Odyssey,"  the,  92. 

Oligarchs,  134. 

Oligarchy,  6,  25,  129,  161,  168. 

Oneida,  103. 

Optimism,  122. 

Orphic  influences,  37,  147. 

Painter,  the,  90. 

Paradoxes,  5,  60,  112,  117,  123, 

125,  166. 
Parmenides,  8,  12,  41. 


Parmenides,  13,  19,  34. 

Patriotism,  17,  99,  124,  167,  160, 

Peel,  57,  123. 

"  Perfectionist  "  Community,  103. 

Pericles,  28,  53,  54,  170. 

Phcedo,  2,   8,   13,   14,  19,  20,  38, 

44,69,  86,  143,  149,  150,  151, 

152. 
Phcedrus,  2,  8,  12,  14,  20,  27,  38. 

40,   44,    88,   89,  90,   141,   156, 

170. 
Philebus,  15,  46,  83,  93,  124,  127. 
Philolaus,  2. 
Philosopher  kings,  12,  22,  26,  46, 

60,  116,  117,  122,  139. 
Philosopher,  the,   6,    21,   26,  42, 

90,  104,  127,  142,  163,  166,  171. 
Philosophy,  56,  82,  92,  117,  122, 

146,  156. 
Phlegethon,  150. 
Physical  culture,  67,  73,  120. 
Physician,  61. 
Pillar  of  light,  152,  153. 
Pindar,  37. 
Piraeus,  2. 

Platonists,  Cambridge,  159. 
Pleasure,  124,  125,  126,  166. 
Plotinus,  159. 
Plutocracy,  129. 
Poetics,  the,  94. 
Poetry,  87,  89,  90,  92. 
Polemarchus,  2. 
Political  Speculation,  9,  23. 
Politicians,  II,  123. 
Po/ittcus,  9,  15,  43,  122. 
Polus,  10. 
Population,  58. 
Poverty,  52,  101,  in. 
Predestination,  156. 


INDEX 


183 


Pre-existence,  43. 
Proclus,  159. 
Prodicus,  76. 
Promethean  Trilogy,  165. 
Protagoras,  10,  II,  20,  21,  26,  68, 

124. 
Protagoras,  13,  23,  33,  76. 
Psychology,  42,  44,  46,  126. 
Pythagorean  doctrine,  2,  27,  145, 

147,    153,    173  5     brotherhood, 

27,  101. 

Quietism,  12,  30. 

Reason,  10,  11,  25,  26,  27,  30, 
44,  46,  75,  n6,  119,  137,  165, 
166,  172. 

Reminiscence,  38. 

Renan,  81. 

"  Resentment,"  piinciple  of,  46. 

Rhadamanthys,  149. 

Ricardo,  57. 

Rossetti,  Christina,  153. 

"  Rule  Britannia,"  96. 

Rulers,  66,  122,  123,  128,  130, 
132,  148,  171. 

Salamis,  Bay  of,  143. 
Saturn,  154. 
Scepticism,  18,  83,  93. 
Schleiermacher,  11. 
Scotus  Erigena,  159. 
Selden,  John,  134. 
Sensationalism,  99,  146. 
Sentiment,  27,  102. 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  3. 
Shadows,  84,  144,  145,  147. 
Shakespeare,  92. 
Shelley,  102,  114. 


Sicilian  expedition,  17. 

Simmias,  2,  9. 

Simultaneity,  147. 

Sirens,  the,  153. 

Slavery,  62,  63,  80,  95,  III,  133. 

Smith,  Adam,  57  ;  Henry  Stephen, 

78. 
Socrates,  I,  2,  3,  5,  IX,  13,  23,49. 

120,  136,  141. 
Soldier,  the,  51,  66,  73,  104,  120. 
Solon,  59,  164. 
Sophist,  15. 
Sophists,  14,  76,  122. 
Soul,  the,  24^25,  44,  45,  46,  69, 

151,  155,  157,  165,  170,  176. 
Sparta,  1,  28,  67,  70,  87,  100, 131, 

136. 
Stagyrite,  the,  94,  109. 
State,  the,  24,  25,  49,  52,  75,  88, 

101,   109,   in,    119,   128,   131 

145,  148,  163,  169,  171. 
Statesman,  118. 

Statesman,  the,  9,  57,  166,  170. 
Stoics,  the,  122. 
Style  of  Plato,  II. 
Succession,  147. 
Sun,  the,  144,  154. 
Superstition,  87. 
Symposium,  8,  12,  13,  15,  39,  40, 

88,  89,  94. 

Tartarus,  150. 

Temperance,   21,   23,   24,  71,  88, 

117,  120,  162. 
Theaetetus,  41,  46,  78,  118,  125. 
Theocracy,  122. 
Theodoras,  118. 
Theophrastus,  135. 
Thrasyllus,  13. 


\ 


184 


INDEX 


Thrasymachus,  10,  24,  49. 
7V»m?«j,43,  45,  74,  144,  152,  153, 

155,  156. 
Timocracy,  6,  128,  129,  136. 
Tolstoi,  3. 

Tragedy,  71,  92,  95,  139. 
Transmigration,  43. 
Troy,  161. 

Trust  and  Corner  system,  III. 
Truth,  32,  37,  70. 
Tycho  Brahe,  81. 
Tyrannical  man,  122,  138,  139. 
Tyranny,  6,  25,  128,  135,  148. 

University  Education,  82. 
Utilitarianism,    23,    29,    80,    83, 
166. 

Vaccination  Act,  170. 


Valetudinarianism,  74. 

Venus,  154,  155. 

Virtues,  5,  21,  26,  49,  70,  120,  126, 

156. 
Volition,  29,  45,  153,  166. 
Voting,  58. 


War,  62,  101,  131. 
Water,  144. 
Wilhelm  Meister,  170. 
Women,  112,  114. 


Xenophanes,  68. 
Xenophon,  12,  49;    CEconomicus 
100. 

Zend-Avesta,  147. 
Zeno,  8,  12,  34. 
Zoroastrianism,  147. 


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Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  the  speeches  of  Lord  Beaconsiield.     It  contains  a  literary 
introduction,  and  the  name  of  the  author,  who  is  a    contributor  to    the 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  carries  assurance  that  the  editorial  work 
is  well  done. 

Mr  P.  A.  Barnett  (H.M.  Inspector  of  Training  Colleges).—"  I  congratulate 
you  on  the  production  of  a  very  excellent  piece  of  work.  I  hope  the  schools 
will  use  it ;  but  it  is  almost  too  good  for  them." 

COMMERCIAL  FRENCH.  In  Two  Parts.  By  W.  Mansfield 
POOLE,  M.A.,  Magdalen  College,  Oxford  ;  Secretary  to  the 
Modern  Language  Association,  and  formerly  Assistant-Master 
at  Merchant  Taylors'  School,  and  Michel  BECKER,  Professor 
at  the  Ecole  Alsacienne,  Paris  ;  Author  of  L'Allemand  Com- 
mercial, and  Lectures  Pratiques  d'Allemand  Moderne.  With 
two  Maps.     Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d.  each  part. 

Part  I. — Consisting  of  Simple  Sentences   and  Passages  in 
French,  with  occasional  Business  Letters,  and  containing  in  an 
Appendix   a   clear   system   of   French   Grammar,  with   special 
reference  to  the  Verb.     Crown  8vo.     2  s.  6d. 
" .    .    .    a  most  careful  piece  of  work    ...    an  excellent  book    .    .    . 
we  warmly  recommend  to  all  who  have  to  teach  Commercial  French."— Educa- 
tional Times. 

Part  II. — Comprising  an   Advanced   Commercial    Reader. 

Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d. 

"The  good  opinion  formed  by  us  on  seeing  Part  I.  is  confirmed  by  the 

second  instalment — really  an  admirable  piece  of  work.    We  know  of  no  better 

book  to  serve  as  an  introduction  to  the  more  strictly  technical  study  of 

Commercial  French." — School  World. 

COMMERCIAL  KNOWLEDGE :  A  Manual  of  Business 
Methods  and  Transactions.  By  Algernon  Warren. 
Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d. 

This  text-book  of  Handelswissenschaft  is  designed  for  the  use  of  students  who 
intend  to  enter  the  higher  branches  of  commercial  life.  It  includes  chapters 
on  Supply  and  Demand  ;  Free  Trade  and  Protection  ;  Partnership ;  Companies, 
Syndicates,  and  Trusts  ;  Principal  and  Agent ;  Contracts  ;  Banking ;  Transit ; 
Insurance  ;  Tariffs  ;  Employers'  Liability ;  Commercial  Travellers ;  Consuls,  etc. 

"  The  book  should  be  used  in  every  senior  class  both  of  our  board  and 
private  schools,  and  as  an  introduction  to  business  life  it  should  prove  of  great 
value."— Statist. 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION  TEXT-BOOKS— Continued 


COMMERCIAL  GERMAN.  In  Two  Parts.  By  Gustav  Hein, 
University  of  Berlin,  and  Lecturer  in  German  (Honours)  to 
the  University  of  Aberdeen,  and  Michael  Becker,  Professor 
of  Modern  Languages  in  the  Ecole  Alsacienne,  Paris.  Part  I.. 
with  a  Map.  [In  the  Press 

This  manual  is  uniform  with  the  first  part  of  Commercial  French  by  Poole 
and  Becker,  and  is  specially  adapted  for  the  use  of  students  in  commercial 
classes  and  continuation  schools. 

FRENCH  COMMERCIAL  CORRESPONDENCE.  By  Pro- 
fessor Charles  Glauser  and  W.  Mansfield  Poole,  M.A., 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  Secretary  to  the  Modern  Language 
Association,  and  formerly  Assistant-Master  at  Merchant  Taylors' 
School.     Crown  8vo.  [In  t/ie  Press 

INTERMEDIATE  FRENCH  ACCIDENCE  AND  OUT- 
LINES OF  SYNTAX,  with  Historical  Notes.  By  G.  H. 
Clarke,  M.A.,  of  Hymers  College,  Hull,  and  L.  R.  Tan- 
gUEREY,  B.es.L.  [/«  the  Press 

ARITHMETIC  MADE  EASY.  Lectures  on  Method,  with 
Illustrations,  for  Teachers  and  Pupils.    By  Mabel  A.  Marsh. 

[/«  the  Press 

THE  SOIL.  By  A.  D.  Hall,  M.A.,  Principal  of  the  South- 
Eastern  Agricultural  College. 

This  volume,  by  the  Principal  of  the  County  Council  College  at  Wye, 
is  the  first  of  a  group  of  text-books  intended  for  the  use  of  students  in 
Agriculture.  Other  volumes,  which  will  be  duly  announced,  will  deal  with 
"  Plant  Physiology,"  "  Manures,"  etc.  [In  active  preparation 

Other  Volumes  to  follow 


New  Testament  Teachings  for  Secondary  Schools 

THE  SUNRISE  OF  REVELATION.     A  Sequel  to  The  Dazvn 

of  Revelation.       By    Miss    M.    Bramston,   Author    of    The 

Dawn  of  Revelation,  Judea  and  her  Rulers,  etc.      Crown  8vo. 

5s.  net. 

"  We  do  not  know  of  any  book  likely  to  be  more  useful  to  the  teachers  of 
secondary  schools  in  the  preparation  of  their  Scripture  lessons  than  this. 
It  is  clear,  accurate,  and  full  of  instruction  and  suggestiveness."—  The 
Guardian. 


SOME    VOLUMES    OF 

MURRAY'S   STUDENT'S   MANUALS 


THE  STUDENT'S  HUME  :  A  History  of  England,  from  the  Earliest 
Times  to  the  Revolution  in  1688.  By  David  Hume.  Revised,  cor- 
rected, and  continued  to  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  in  1878,  by  J.  8.  Brewer, 
M.A.    Crown  8vo.    7s.  Gd. 

STUDENT'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  OP  ENGLAND.  From 
the  Accession  of  Henry  VII.  to  the  Death  of  George  II.  By  Henry 
Hallam,  LL.D.    Crown  8vo.    7s.  6d. 

STUDENT'S  MANUAL  OP  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  A  History 
of  English  Literature  of  the  chief  English  Writers,  founded  upon  the 
Manual  of  Thomas  B.  Shaw.  A  New  Edition,  thoroughly  revised.  By  A. 
Hamilton  Thomson,  B.A.,  of  St  John's  College,  Cambridge,  and  University 
Extension  Lecturer  in  English  Literature.  With  Notes,  etc.  Crown  Svo. 
7s.  6d. 

STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OP  GREECE.  From  the  Earliest  Times  to 
the  Roman  Conquest.  With  Chapters  on  the  History  of  Literature  and 
Art.  By  Sir  Wm.  Smith,  D.C.L.  Thoroughly  revised  by  G.  E.  Marindin, 
M.A.     With  Maps  and  Illustrations.    Crown  Svo.     7s.  6d. 

STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OP  ROME.  From  the  Earliest  Times  to  the 
Establishment  of  the  Empire.  With  Chapters  on  the  History  of 
Literature  and  Art.  By  Dean  Liddell.  New  and  Revised  Edition, 
incorporating  the  results  of  Modern  Research,  by  B.  V.  M.  Benecke,  M.A., 
Fellow  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  With  Coloured  and  other  Maps  and 
numerous  Illustrations.    Crown  8vo.    7s.  6d. 

STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  From  the 
Establishment  of  the  Empire  to  the  Accession  of  Commodus,  a.d.  180. 
With  Coloured  Maps  and  numerous  Illustrations.  By  J.  B.  Bury,  Fellow 
and  Tutor  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.    Crown  Svo.    7s.  Gd. 

STUDENT'S  GIBBON.  A  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Abridged  from  the  Original  Work  by  Sir  Wm.  Smith, 
D.C.L.,  LL.D.  A  New  and  Revised  Edition  in  Two  Parts.  Crown  Svo. 
5s.  each. 

Part  I. — From  the  Accession  of  Commodus  to  the  Death  of 
Justinian.  By  A.  H.  J.  Greenidge,  M.A.,  Lecturer  and  late  Fellow  of 
Hertford  College,  Lecturer  in  Ancient  History  at  Brasenose  College, 
Oxford. 

Part  II.— From  a.d.  565  to  the  Capture  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Turks.  By  J.  G.  C.  Anderson,  M.A.,  late  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College, 
Student  and  Tutor  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.   With  Maps  and  Illustrations. 

STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OP  PRANCE.  From  the  Earliest  Times  to 
the  Fall  of  the  Second  Empire.  By  W.  H.  Jervis,  M.A.  A  New 
Edition,  thoroughly  revised,  and  in  great  part  rewritten,  by  Arthur 
Hassall,  M.A.,  Censor  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  With  a  Chapter  on 
Ancient  Gaul  by  F.  Haverfield,  M.A.,  Student  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 
Coloured  Maps,  and  many  new  Woodcuts.    Crown  Svo.    7s.  6d. 

STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OP  MODERN  EUROPE.  From  the  Capture 
of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  1453,  to  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  1878. 
By  Richard  Lodge,  M.A.,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Brasenose  College,  Oxford 
4th  Edition,  thoroughly  revised.    Crown  Svo.    7s.  Gd. 

STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OF  EUROPE  DURING  THE  MIDDLE 
AGES.     By  Henry  Hallam,  LL.D.    Crown  8vo.     7s.  Gd. 

London:  JOHN  MURRAY,  Albemarle  Street,  W. 


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