Although Socrates never wrote anything, his ideas were captured and communicated by his student, Plato. You have already read a selection from Plato’s Republic. Also consider the document “The Defense of Socrates,” (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13726/13726-h/13726-h.htm) in which Socrates defends himself when he is on trial for his life before the Athenian assembly. How do these documents trace out a vision of Socratic philosophy? What is the goal? What is the method? In what ways might the philosophical approach still be of value today?
Tag: Plato’s Republic
Plato’s Republic
Paper details:
In Plato’s Republic, Socrates advocates for the censorship of stories and the banishment of poets. Taking up a few key passages for your argument (you can
focus more on the stories argument of Books II/III or the danger of the poets or problems with representation in Book X, or some combination as suits your
thesis) what do you take Plato to be claiming about the nature and significance of philosophy in relation to the works of Homer and Hesiod? Why can poetry
be dangerous for the balance of justice?