Constraints/Procedures:
election side boogie
day after election day 8:21pm
and no body wears wholesale
victory ye grand ole parody
buy a cell phone it’s my job
to indulge oversight mandate
privacy tracking personhood
mending progressives issue
ballot measures lopsided fashion
decline anti-extreme proof
super deficit committee leave
the parade is the key foreclosure
scary like full price two happy
meals reflect this protest wall
of the election side boogie
sweet money redactors clumsy
incumbent vote for the scene
of zombies and pink slips
contraceptive run for your
office wear the costume
of job creator vampire sponsor
be my decisive ledge extra
with the ice cream of the future
royalty in some pipeline
desultory partial bird motion
how participating gleans
trademark parallel
crowd sleep
Book seven of Aristotle explains to us the “Allegory of the Cave”. Socrates portrays to the reader a group of men who are chained inside a cave, where all they can see are the shadows of fake animals and other worldly things. The point of this book is to promote the use of education to get far in life. Socrates says that the men locked in the cave were ignorant to the outside world, but when one man was released and saw the true images of the world, he understood that there was more to life than a mere cave with shadows of what he has truly seen. The point of this book is of course, the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit relates to the cave because the men who were inside the cave thought they were as happy as they could be, but they were not. The men were ignorant in believing this because the cave is all they knew. Socrates tries explaining to Glaucon that to live a happy life, it must be through being virtuous. The question I thought when reading this is how does one become virtuous? Socrates answers my question by telling Glaucon that being virtuous comes from being educated but perfecting these virtues comes from habit of doing it. “are formed in it in the course of time by habit and exercise, the virtue of wisdom.” (Aristotle, Book Seven)
Even though Socrates answered my question, I still believe that the overall object of this book is to depict the way a perfect city state should be run, and who should be in charge of such a tough task. Socrates tells us that the man in charge should be the man who is educated, in school and in life. The man for the job is the man who can study the important courses which are subjects like math. Numbers and geometry, Socrates states, are important to a man who must calculate a strategy in war and also be able to hold together a state. “Hence it would appear that the science of numbers must be one of the studies which we are in quest. For the military man finds a knowledge of it indispensable in drawing up his troops, and the philosopher must study it because he is bound to rise above the changing and cling to the real, on pain of never becoming a skillful reasoner.” (Aristotle, Book Seven) The point being, is that for a single man to be happy, he must live in a society where education is promoted and people want to get rid of their ignorance. Before this can happen, the ruling party of the city must be led by a philosopher but also a military leader. So the man who can lead the people to being truly happy must have all the qualities of a philosopher who seeks to reason and find virtue while he must also have the qualities of a military leader who can lead the people into battle to protect their happiness. This leader would be something of a philosopher king.
I’ve been thinking a lot about class yesterday and the general frustration/confusion that many of you expressed about reading The Republic. Here is a link to a different translation of the text–it is electronic and differentiates who is speaking to whom in the dialogues much clearer (although I personally do not think the translation is as good). Also the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a terrific resource.
Instead of responding to Book 7 and the great “allegory of the cave,” I think that for my response, I am going to share some of my questions and thoughts regarding Book One. As mentioned in class, Book One concludes with the lingering questions of What is justice? What is injustice? Is it always better to be just than unjust? And, as some of you pointed out, this is not a question that gets answered in Book One.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “justice” (as a noun) is defined as “The quality of being (morally) just or righteous; the principle of just dealing; the exhibition of this quality or principle in action; just conduct; integrity, rectitude. (One of the four cardinal virtues.)” When used as a verb, “justice” means “to rule or govern.” In Plato, the word “just” is also frequently used, which has connotations of “righteousness.” So, what are these guys really trying to figure out?
It always helps me to grapple with complicated ideas like these by looking at the world now–in particular, The New York Times. A quick glance at today’s paper showed many many headlines that seem incredibly unjust–for example, in an article about NYC and gentrification: “At $837,668, the average household income (a 2009 figure) of those Manhattanites in the top 5 percent is 81 times as much as the average income of those in the bottom 20 percent ($10,328).” How did we allow this to happen? And, why on the same page of headlines is there an article about a cat who was lost in Colorado and somehow made its way to NYC? Is that just–that these two articles are on the same page? Is it even possible to define or measure justice–isn’t part of defining terms with political connotations like these personal opinion?
No wonder Socrates asks so many questions, and no wonder Plato writes them out for us.
Group One:
Good can be found in all sciences and happiness is perfect and self-sufficient.
When we are able to perform the functions of a man we will be able to reach happiness. It is also something that takes time.
To be happy you must perform virtuous acts in whatever you encounter in life.
Happiness is virtue because an activity in accordance with virtue implies virtue.
How can one achieve happiness? One who has a “capacity for goodness”?
Group Two:
Happiness stems from completing the virtuous goals willfully set by the individual, and keeping these virtues until death. Any occurrence would be seen as positive to a man who is truly happy. The dead cannot be affected much by their descendents. Pleasure is fulfilling virtuous behavior. Pleasure is human good only through self-control.
Group Three:
Pleasure is moderation.
What pleases me may not be acceptable by others.
Pleasure is a short, instantaneous feeling.
To perform an activity well is to gain pleasure.
Group Four:
Life is an activity in which we are involved and perform this activity with pleasure.
Pleasure differs both intellectually and sensually, depending on the activity at hand.
That a man who is truly virtuous and good-hearted has moralistic pressures. Happiness must be distinguished from amusement.
This section means that it is harmful to purely derive your happiness from activities or objects that supply instant gratification. Once that gratification is gone, the happiness vanishes as well.
Happy is a sole activity chosen for its own sake and it is self-sufficient. A happy life is a life according to virtue.
The most moral activities lead to happiness.
Your job should make you happy.
Group Five:
Act as the best possible person within yourself.
When we assist others we begin to feel happy because a person with good morals wants to help others feel good about whatever is causing them harm. Therefore, when you resolve someone’s problems, you feel good about doing so.
The state needs to teach ethics to everyone from an early age in order to create morally aware people.
Goodness cannot be taught or forced upon anyone. The quality can only be brought out in someone who is noble or prone to becoming noble.
Happiness is contemplation. For example, lower animals are not capable of this kind of activity, since it only exists in the virtue of human contemplation. Only those who exercise the intellect would be in the highest state of mind and therefore be the happiest.