GENERAL INTRODUCTION know that he was ignorant. The earliest Dialogues such as the Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, Charmides, Laches and Lysis, show the manner in which he performed his ministry. In rousing men, especially those whose minds were fresh, to the need of knowing themselves, he promoted the authority of the intellect, the law of definite individual knowledge, above all reason of state or tie of party; and it is not surprising that his city, in the effort of recovering her political strength decided to hush such an inconvenient voice. He must have foreseen his fate, but he continued his work undeterred Though he seems, in his usual talk, to have professed no positive doctrine, there were one or two beliefs which he frequently declared. Virtue, he said, is knowledge; for each mans good is his happiness, and once he knows it clearly, he needs must choose to ensue it. Further, this knowledge is innate in our minds, and we only need to have it awakened and exercised by dialectic, "or a system- atic course of question and answer. He also be lieved his mission to be divinely ordained, and asserted that his own actions were guided at times by the prohibitions of a "spiritual sign. He wa capable, as we find in the Symposium, of standing in rapt meditation at any moment for some time, an once for as long as twenty-four hours It is clear that, if he claimed no comprehensive theory of existence, and although his ethical reliance on knowledge, if he never analysed it, leaves him in Digitized by Microsoft (B
GENERAL INTRODUCTION know that he was ignorant. The earliest Dialogues, such as the Apology, Crilo, Euthyphro, Charmides, Laches and Lysis, show the manner in which he performed his ministry. In rousing men, especially those whose minds were fresh, to the need of knowing themselves, lie promoted the authority of the intellect, the law of definite individual knowledge, above all reason of state or tie of party ; and it is not surprising that his city, in the effort of recovering her political strength, decided to hush such an inconvenient voice. He must have foreseen his fate, but he continued his work undeterred. Though he seems, in his usual talk, to have professed no positive doctrine, there were one or two beliefs which he frequently declared. Virtue, he said, is knowledge ; for each man's good is his happiness, and once he knows it clearly, he needs must choose to ensue it. Further, this knowledge is innate in our minds, and we only need to have it awakened and exercised by " dialectic," or a systematic course of question and answer. He also believed his mission to be divinely ordained, and asserted that his own actions were guided at tunes by the prohibitions of a " spiritual sign." He was capable, as we find in the Symposium, of standing in rapt meditation at any moment for some time, and once for as long as twenty-four hours. It is clear that, if he claimed no comprehensive theory of existence, and although his ethical reliance on knowledge, if he never analysed it, leaves him hi xii
GENERAL INTRODUCTION a very mystical suggestions must have led his favourit pupils a good way towards a new system of meta physics. These intimates learnt, as they steeped their minds in his, and felt the growth of a unique affection amid the glow of enlightenment, that happiness may be elsewhere than in our dealin with the material world, and that the mind has prerogatives and duties far above the sphere of civic ife After the death of Socrates in 399, Plato spent some twelve years in study and travel. For the irst part of this time he was perhaps at Megara, where Eucleides, his fellow-student and friend, was forming a school of dialectic. Here he may have mposed some of the six Dialogues already men tioned as recording Socrates activity in Athens Towards and probably beyond the end of this period in order to present the Socratic method in bolder confict with sophistic education, he wrote the Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, and Gorgias. These works show a much greater command of dramatic and literary art, and a deeper interest in logic. The last of them may well be later than 387, the year in which, after an all but disastrous attempt to better the mind of Dionysius of Syracuse, he returned to Athens, and, now forty years of age, founded the Academy; where the memory of his master was to s perpetuated by continuing and expanding the ocratic discussions among the elect of the new Digitized by Microsoft(B
GENERAL INTRODUCTION a very crude stage of psychology, his logical and mystical suggestions must have led his favourite pupils a good way towards a new system of metaphysics. These intimates learnt, as they steeped their minds in his, and felt the growth of a unique affection amid the glow of enlightenment, that happiness may be elsewhere than in our dealings with the material world, and that the mind has prerogatives and duties far above the sphere of civic life.After the death of Socrates in 399, Plato spent some twelve years in study and travel. For the first part of this time he was perhaps at Megara, where Eucleides, his fellow-student and friend, was forming a school of dialectic. Here he may have composed some of the six Dialogues already mentioned as recording Socrates' activity in Athens. Towards and probably beyond the end of this period, in order to present the Socratic method in bolder conflict with sophistic education, he wrote the Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, and Gorgias. These works show a much greater command of dramatic and literary art, and a deeper interest in logic. The last of them may well be later than 387, the year in which, after an all but disastrous attempt to better the mind of Dionysius of Syracuse, he returned to Athens, and, now forty years of age, founded the Academy ; where the memory of his master was to be perpetuated by continuing and expanding the Socratic discussions among the elect of the new xiii
GENERAL INTRODUCTION generation. The rivalry of this private college with the professional school of Isocrates is discernibl in the subject and tone of the gorgias. Plato carried on the direction of the Academy till his ty-one, in 346; save that half-way through this period (367) he accepted the invitation of his friend Dion to undertake the instruction of th younger Dionysius at Syracuse. The elder tyrant had been annoyed by the Socratic freedom of Plato's talk: now it was a wayward you th who refused the roke of a systematic training. What that training was like we see in the Republic, where true political dom is approached by an arduous ascent through mathematics, logic, and metaphysics. Plato returned with less hopes of obtaining the ideal ruler, to make wonderful conquests in the realm of thought. The Meno and Gorgias set forth the doctrine that knowledge of right is latent in our minds: dialectic, not the rhetoric of the schools, is the means of eliciting it. The method, as Plato soon perceived must be long and difficult: but he felt a mystical rapture over its certainty, which led him to picture the immutable“ forms” as existing in a world of their own. This feeling, and the conviction whence it springs-that knowledge is somehow possible, had come to the front of his mind when he began to know Socrates. Two brilliant compositions, the gth of th onviction, and then, the noble fervour of the feeling. In the latter of these works, the highest Digitized by Microsoft (B
GENERAL INTRODUCTION generation. The rivalry of this private college with the professional school of Isocrates is discernible in the subject and tone of the Gorgias. Plato carried on the direction of the Academy till his death, at eighty-one, in 346 ; save that half-way through this period (367) he accepted the invitation of his friend Dion to undertake the instruction of the younger Dionysius at Syracuse. The elder tyrant had been annoyed by the Socratic freedom of Plato's talk : now it was a wayward youth who refused the yoke of a systematic training. What that training was like we see in the Republic, where true political wisdom is approached by an arduous ascent through mathematics, logic, and metaphysics. Plato returned, with less hopes of obtaining the ideal ruler, to make wonderful conquests in the realm of thought. The Meno and Gorgias set forth the doctrine that knowledge of right is latent in our minds : dialectic, not the rhetoric of the schools, is the means of eliciting it. The method, as Plato soon perceived, must be long and difficult : but he felt a mystical rapture over its certainty, which led him to picture the immutable " forms ' as existing in a world of their own. This feeling, and the conviction whence it springs that knowledge is somehow possible, had come to the front of his mind when he began to know Socrates. Two brilliant compositions, the Cratylus and Symposium, display the strength of the conviction, and then, the noble fervour of the feeling. In the latter of these works, the highest xiv
GENERAL INTRODUCTION powers of ginative sympathy and eloquence are summoned to unveil the sacred vision of absolute beauty. The Phaedo turns the logical theory upon the soul, which is seen to enjoy, when freed from the body familiar cognition of the eternal types of being. Here Orphic dogma lends its aid to the Socratic search for knowledge, while we behold an inspiring picture of the philosopher in his hour of death With increasing confidence in himself as the successor of Socrates, Plato next undertook, in the Republic, to show the master meeting his own un- satisfied queries on education and politics. We read ow of a"form"of good to which all thought and action aspire, and which, contemplated in itself, will explain not merely why justice is better than injus tice,but the meaning and aim of everything. In order that man may be fully understood, we are to view him "f writ large"in the organisation of an ideal state. The scheme of description opens out into many subsidiary topics, including three great proposals already known to Greece,the abolition of private property, the community of women and hildren, and the civic equality of the sexes. But the central subject is the preparation of the philo sopher, through a series of ancillary sciences, for dia- lectic; so that, once possessed of the supreme truth, he may have light for directing his fellow-men. As in the Phaedo, the spell of mythical revelation is brought to enhance the discourse of reason. The Digitized by Microsoft⑥
GENERAL INTRODUCTION powers of imaginative sympathy and eloquence are summoned to unveil the sacred vision of absolute beauty. The Phaedo turns the logical theory upon the soul, which is seen to enjoy, when freed from the body, familiar cognition of the eternal types of being. Here Orphic dogma lends its aid to the Socratic search for knowledge, while we behold an inspiring picture of the philosopher in his hour of death. With increasing confidence in himself as the successor of Socrates, Plato next undertook, in the Republic, to show the master meeting his own unsatisfied queries on education and politics. We read now of a " form " of good to which all thought and action aspire, and which, contemplated in itself, will explain not merely why justice is better than injustice, but the meaning and aim of everything. In order that man may be fully understood, we are to view him " writ large " in the organisation of an ideal state. The scheme of description opens out into many subsidiary topics, including three great proposals already known to Greece, the abolition of private property, the community of women and children, and the civic equality of the sexes. But the central subject is the preparation of the philosopher, through a series of ancillary sciences, for dialectic ; so that, once possessed of the supreme truth, he may have light for directing his fellow-men. As in the Phaedo, the spell of mythical revelation is brought to enhance the discourse of reason. The xv
GENERAL INTRODUCTION Phaedrus takes up the subject of rhetoric, to lead us allegorically into the realm of "ideas, "and thence to point out a new rhetoric, worthy of the well-trained dialectician. We get also a glimpse of the philo- sopher's duty of investigating the mutual relations of the"forms"to which his study of particular things has led him A closer interest in logical method, appearing hrough his delight in imaginative construction, is one distinctive mark of this middle stage in Plato teaching. As he passes to the next two dialogues the Theaetetus and Parmenides, he puts off the aesthetic rapture, and considers the ideas as cate gories of thought which require co-ordination. The discussion of knowledge in the former makes it evident that the Academy was now the meeting place of vigorous minds, some of which were eager to urge or hear refuted the doctrines they had learnt from other schools of thought; while the arguments are conducted with a critical caution very different from the brilliant and often hasty zeal of Socrates. The Parmenides corrects an actual or possible misconception of the theory of ideas in the domain of logic, showing perhaps how Aristotle Bw a youthful disciple of Plato, found fault with theory as he understood it. The forms are viewed in the light of the necessities of thought g is to be attained by a careful practice which will raise our minds to the vision of all particulars in their rightly distinguished and connected classes. Digitized by Microsoft(
GENERAL INTRODUCTION Phaedrus takes up the subject of rhetoric, to lead us allegorically into the realm of " ideas," and thence to point out a new rhetoric, worthy of the well-trained dialectician. We get also a glimpse of the philosopher's duty of investigating the mutual relations of the t( forms " to which his study of particular things has led him. A closer interest in logical method, appearing through his delight in imaginative construction, is one distinctive mark of this middle stage in Plato's teaching. As he passes to the next two Dialogues, the Theaetelus and Parmenides, he puts off the aesthetic rapture, and considers the ideas as cate- gories of thought which require co-ordination. The discussion of knowledge in the former makes it evident that the Academy was now the meetingplace of vigorous minds, some of which were eager to urge or hear refuted the doctrines they had learnt from other schools of thought ; while the arguments are conducted with a critical caution very different from the brilliant and often hasty zeal of Socrates. The Parmenides corrects an actual or possible misconception of the theory of ideas in the domain of logic, showing perhaps how Aristotle, now a youthful disciple of Plato, found fault with the theory as he understood it. The forms are viewed in the light of the necessities of thought : knowledge is to be attained by a careful practice which will raise our minds to the vision of all particulars in their rightly distinguished and connected classes, xvi