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Short Paper #1 Prompt File

Plato lecture File

Short Paper #1 1500 words minimum/maximum (approximately 4 ½ pages) Due 9/24/14 Your task is to compare the views – and the reasons explicitly given or implied or suggested for these views – presented in at least two of the following texts by at least two different authors: Plato's (1) Euthyphro, (2) Apology, (3) Crito; (4) King's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”; and (5) Lao Tzu's “Living as Water” on one of the following issues: (a) the basis for judgments of good and bad conduct; (b) the good life; or (c) the obligations of the citizen. Formatting instructions and deductions • Name, student ID, class hour in the header • 1 inch margins on all sides • Page numbers in the header • Text double spaced • 12 point, standard font 10 point deduction for each violation of the above Grammar deductions 1 point for each grammatical error Word count 10 point deduction for word count violation Quotations 10 point deduction per quote exceeding ten words. I prefer that you not quote at all but put the text into your own words. If you do quote be sure to cite the quote in the manner appropriate to your discipline. If you don't have a discipline yet, select a citation style of your choice (APA, MLA, Turabian, Chicago). Footnotes, endnotes, or a works cited page (if you include one) do not apply to your word count. The word count only applies to the essay itself.

3. Plato (427-347 C.E.)

3.1 Biographical Information

Plato came from a well to do Athenian family that had important political connections. Socrates

became a major influence in his life. Plato's uncle Charmides knew Socrates well and Plato may

have been introduced to Socrates through him. But more importantly, Plato observed Socrates in

action. It was a risky thing to hang around Socrates because Socrates more often than not

offended those in power or those who wanted to become part of the elite. He stepped on toes and

crushed egos. Lots of the young men of Athens loved going to the agora (downtown

marketplace) and watching Socrates rip apart the arguments of the elders, the businessmen, the

politicians and military brass.

What we know about Socrates comes mainly from Plato's treatment of his in the numerous

dialogues Plato wrote. The dialogues are a bit like plays except they have no stage directions and

they were to be read not performed. Plato attended the trial of Socrates, which is recounted in

Plato's Apology (or "defense"). Not only does Plato put himself in the courtroom while Socrates

is on trial for corrupting the youth, we have evidence from other sources that puts Plato there.

Yet I have always found it curious that Plato is nowhere to be found when Socrates is about to be

executed. In the Phaedo ("fee-dough"), Plato has one of the characters state explicitly that Plato

was absent: "Plato, I believe, was ill." How could you not be there when someone you cared so

deeply about was about to die? Plato was "sick that day"? Yeah, right. Personally, I think he just

couldn't handle it and chickened out. We know that Plato did have political aspirations, but he

quickly gives them up after Socrates' execution.

After Socrates' execution Plato traveled to Sicily, in southern Italy where he studied with the

followers of Pythagoras. As we shall see, this association with the Pythagoreans formed another

important aspect in the development of Plato's philosophy. He also traveled to Egypt. Another

philosopher, Cratylus, who was a follower of Heraclitus (see Lecture 1), was another influence in

Plato's development. We will see as well that Plato adopts a Heraclitean view of the world being

in a state of constant change or flux. The most genuinely biographical bit writing is found in

Plato's Letters. (Whether Plato is the author of the Letters is uncertain. Whoever wrote them did

know a lot about Plato's life, however.) In the Seventh Letter there is a description of Plato's

attempt to shape the views of the tyrant Dion, the ruler of the Greek city of Syracuse. It was a

disaster, to put it mildly!

3.2 The dialogues. [You can read the dialogues and other works of Plato here.]

Nearly everything Plato wrote has Socrates as the main character: Socrates discussing Justice

(and much more) (Republic), Socrates at a dinner party (Symposium) drinking everyone else

under the table, Socrates talking to generals about Courage (Laches) "lay-keys", Socrates

discussing with Meno whether virtue can be taught (Meno) "me-know", Socrates discussing love

(Phaedrus) "fee-druh-s" - some folks pronounce 'phae' as "fay (as in Fay Wray of "King Kong"