Epistemological Relativism

Well, I finally started Plato’s Republic this week. Tonight I finished Book One. It was short dialogue that introduced a variety of characters that I won’t bore you with, but did have some very timely (as always) ideas. Rather than bore you a lengthy monologue and mostly because I’m too tired, I’ll leave you with a few quotes for you to ponder and further solidify your opinions about my being crazy.

328C – “You are not a very frequent vistor, Socrates. You don’t often come down to the Periaeus to see us. That is not right. For if I were still able to make the journey up to town easily there would be no need of your resorting hither, but we would go visit you.”

Okay, maybe a brief commentary. I promise I’ll keep it short. Plato may be alluding to the role and purpose of a philosopher. That the Socratic archetype should be “down” among the poeple communicating and educating, because they may be unable, for a variety of reasons (see the other dialogues), to come up on their own. We see the Socrates has not been down recently so maybe he hasn’t been doing what he knows he should.

328E (I think) – .”.and I enjoy talking with the very aged. For to my thinking we have to learn of them as it were from wayfarers who have preceded us on a road which we too, it may be, must some time fare..”

Too much to say about this one, but how far have we come from this type of thinking?

331D – “Nay, but it is, Socrates”, said Polemarchus breaking in, “if indeed we are to put any faith in Simonides”

Classic bash at the poets. Polemarchus took what Simonides said as fact or truth even though later on in this dialogue we find that Simonides gave no real and valid reasons for his assertions. Again. very timely.

353D – ” And do we not also say that there is an excellence or virtue of the soul?”

Socrates briefly touches on the telos of humankind. Telos is the greek word for pupose or goal. We don’t really learn completely in this dialogue, but I can imagine what is in store. Of course, this question has been raised by people almost everywhere. Some have received or discovered satisfactory answers and others..

Thoughts

Yes, you may have noticed (or maybe you haven’t) that the entry on patience is mysteriously absent. After reading it again tonight, I realized it didn’t pass the coherency filter. I know. I’m not sure how it got through the first time and I won’t let it happen again. Let that be a lesson to me to think before I rant. For those of you that missed the entry, and I’m sure there are many, it will reappear again soon.

General

Strange title? I know, you’re thinking I read a bit too much Plato for my own good. But this time, actually like all other times, Plato has some timely advice and attitudes. I will, however, spare you the excerpts this time around. Now, unless you don’t have a working television you probably know that the Academy Awards was on tonight. What I have been thinking about lately are the claims to truth that many of these films are making. They attempt to project an image of the way the world is or has been in some not too distant past. Now, there’s nothing at all wrong with this, in theory. The danger and, in my opinion a very extreme one at that, is when we watch movies that attempt to tell a story based in truth we seldom critically evaluate the claims explicitly or implicitly asserted by the film. What’s more is that the claims in the movie are, and here’s the danger, accepted as truth or fact, or what the world is really like or what it really was. This is especially dangerous with respect to history. Even slight distortations in films based on events in the past recast the issues, the groups and, of course, the ideas that created the history. The filmmakers, like the poets in Plato’s time, have great power, but also have a great responsibility. Plato knew all to well the irresponsibility of the writers and their distortion of the truth in an attempt to subvert minds of the people. It worked then, but is it working now? I hear discussions amonst strangers, friends and family that tell me, unfortunately, that it may be working better than ever. These films are fabulous artistic expressions, but when we use them as the means of obtaining and the method of measuring truth we are in serious trouble. Yes, yes, the truth of the matter (no pun intended) is that truth is difficult to come by in matters of history, but with some moderate mental exertion we can at least have confidence in the claims asserted in the films we enjoy. Again, are we becoming like the people of Athens being led around by the writers and poets or are we different?

General, Thoughts