Intellectual History, Weekly Assignment 12
Start date: 11/28/2006

Tuesday, 11/28
Discuss in class: Republic.

Wednesday, 11/29
□ Finish discussing Republic. Discuss his proposed solution (in the Legend of Er) to the problem of free will vs. sin: Souls choose freely between virtue and vice before incarnation, then drink “Lethe” (forgetfulness) before being born to act out their choice. Wisdom is helpful for the next time around, the next choice before reincarnation. The Christian solutions to the problem try to reconcile God’s foreknowledge and man’s moral corruption with man’s moral responsibility.

Thursday, 11/30
Discuss in class: Chesterton.

Friday & Monday, 12/1 – 12/4
□ (Deferred; not assigned yet) Writing Assignment: “Accusing the Artists”. Write a paper that covers the following points:

What are the objections that Socrates has against Homer (and other poets)? If you were to argue his case against Homer, what specific examples from Homer (or other poets, such as Virgil) would you use to prove that Homer misleads his readers? Be sure to take into account the purpose of art, according to Plato, which serves the community (the city).

Artists sometimes feel a sense of power in the sense that their art allows them a universal power to depict all subjects. In a sense, their art contains everything. For example, movie makers have depicted every kind of human situation, and all parts of the world, and many worlds of the imagination. Would Plato agree with this sense of power? How would he account for it, and how would he describe the reality of the artist’s work?

Artists also have great power to move peoples’ sense of what is glorious or despicable. Think of modern examples of art influencing people’s sense of what is good and bad. Do they match Plato’s account of how art works?

Christians believe that the world was created by the speaking of an eternal Word. Plato believed in an eternal world of Forms (or Logoi) which are the most real things. Compare and contrast these two systems. Moreover, the Judaeo-Christian Creation is echoed (or imaged) by human artists who create little worlds by their words (and thoughts). The word “poet” means “maker” or “creator”. Compare and contrast this sense of art with Plato’s philosophy of art and artists.