Plato's Pod: The Republic – Philosopher Rulers (470(a)-502(d))


Details
Our fourth session on Plato’s Republic features passages 470(a)-502(d) in which Socrates, Adeimantus, and Glaucon proceed - after discussion of the nature of the good, simile of the sun, divided line, and allegory of the cave (examined in our first session) - to consider Socrates’ assertion that their constitution would only be possible if philosophers were rulers, or rulers were philosophers. In such a case, Socrates says, political power and philosophy would converge to the good and the beautiful.
Uncertainty is brought into their dialogue, several times, on the feasibility of the constitution that they are constructing in their thought experiment, while they search in the city’s social structure for evidence of justice and to integrate justice to the individual level.
“Let’s agree that philosophic natures always love the sort of learning that makes clear to them some feature of the being that always is and does not wander around between coming to be and decaying,” Socrates declares after the three have examined the nature of philosophers and their opposites.
What are our opinions on their definition of philosophy, and of ruling? How best to maintain a healthy state of being in the city, and in the soul as a community of three parts in philosophers and others?
And how does Socrates’ discussion of the forms and of time figure into the conversation? In our own dialogue, a proposition will be made that the distinction between the forms and their particulars is the difference between the continuity of a thing and its discontinuities, both in a philosophical sense and, if anyone wishes, also in a mathematical and geometric sense. But our discussion can go anywhere the group wishes, for which some suggested themes will be offered.
We will explore these and other aspects of Plato’s text and wherever our discussion leads Plato, without a doubt, would have imagined no better way than in dialogue for knowledge – the account of the reasons why – to multiply its connections. We welcome the sharing of all perspectives, whether you are new to or experienced with Plato. Recordings of our previous episodes are at https://open.spotify.com/show/53Zvjr7avMylQgNqfqBxlk?si=ksA1Hp7TQn6BwghRqI26GA&dl_branch=1 and other popular podcast platforms.
This episode will be recorded in voice only without video, using first name as it appears on your screen profile, and podcast for those who would like to share in our knowledge. After the recording ends, participants are welcome to remain for a half hour of “Plato’s Café”, a casual discussion of your choice of themes from any of Plato’s works, or philosophy in general.
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APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK BEFORE THE MEETUP: Please visit https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqvPwkIofv4UaFldrPpbva3VSXI?e=3Y7PjP for questions and themes that we might address, as well as those explored in our previous meetups. We will also post the reading list for our next meeting which will generally be scheduled every two weeks on Sunday at 10 a.m. eastern. During our dialogue, participants are encouraged to relate their comments to Plato's text, referring to the Stephanus number for the passage so others can follow in the reading. Participants are also encouraged to read the text aloud for the meaning of the written word to resonate.
There are many translations of Plato's works available, of varying quality. Your public library will have multiple editions. A free translation of The Republic is available at https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/150, although lacking in explanatory notes and passage reference numbers that would be useful for our discussion. Participants in our entire series might be interested in purchasing Plato: Complete Works (https://www.amazon.ca/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492/).
The Meetup will take place on Zoom. Please RSVP to access the Zoom link at your Meetup account.

Plato's Pod: The Republic – Philosopher Rulers (470(a)-502(d))