Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T23:01:14.885Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Piety of Thought in Plato's Republic, Book 1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Darrell Dobbs
Darrell Dobbs
Affiliation:
Marquette University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the opening sentence of the Republic, Socrates recounts his intention to combine the operations of piety and theoretical speculation. Nevertheless, many readers regard Cephalus' subsequent abandonment of rational inquiry to perform certain sacred rites as a definitive indication of Plato's opinion that piety and philosophy are fundamentally incompatible. I find this interpretation untenable inasmuch as it depends upon the misidentification of Cephalus as the dialogue's representative of piety. I suggest that the true nature and philosophical significance of piety are indicated instead in Socrates' conversation with Cephalus' son, Polemarchus. As this conversation unfolds, Polemarchus' pious inclinations culminate in a perception of the dearness of the unknown good. Inspired by this piety, Socrates and Polemarchus defend the conventional paragon Simonides and, at the same time, launch a truly philosophical inquiry into justice.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , September 1994 , pp. 668 - 683
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam, James, ed. 1902. The Republic of Plato. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Benardete, Seth. 1989. Socrates' Second Sailing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bloom, Allan. 1991. “Interpretive Essay.” In The Republic of Plato. 2d ed.New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Brann, Eva. 1967. “The Music of the Republic.” Agon 1:1–117.Google Scholar
Burkert, Walter. 1985. Greek Religion. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Dobbs, Darrell. 1985. “The Justice of Socrates' Philosopher Kings.” American Journal of Political Science 29:809–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dobbs, Darrell. 1987. “Reckless Rationalism and Heroic Reverence in Homer's Odyssey.” American Political Science Review 81:491–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dobbs, Darrell. 1994. “Choosing Justice: Socrates' Model City and the Practice of Dialectic.” American Political Science Review 88:263–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Euben, J. Peter. 1990. The Tragedy of Political Theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, Darrell. 1971. “The Prayers of Socrates.” Phronēsis 16:14–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Jacob. 1965. A Commentary on Plato's Meno. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Lloyd-Jones, Hugh. 1983. The Justice of Zeus. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Morgan, Michael. 1990. Platonic Piety. New Haven: Yale University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pascal, Blaise. 1986. Pensées. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Pauly, August F. 1937. Real-Encyclopaedie der Klassischen Alterumswissenschaft, ed. Wissowa, Georg. Stuttgart: Mettzlersche Verlag.Google Scholar
Saxonhouse, Arlene. 1988. “The Tyranny of Reason in the World of the Polis.” American Political Science Review 82:1261–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanford, William B., ed. 1958. The Odyssey of Homer. 2 vols. Macmillan: London.Google Scholar
Strauss, Leo. 1958. Thoughts on Machiavelli. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Strauss, Leo. 1965. Spinoza's Critique of Religion. Schocken Books: New York.Google Scholar
Strauss, Leo. 1979. “The Mutual Influence of Theology and Philosophy.” Independent Journal of Philosophy 3:111–18.Google Scholar
Strauss, Leo. 1989. The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Zuckert, Catherine. 1988. “On the Role of Spiritedness in Politics.” In Understanding the Political Spirit, ed. Zuckert, Catherine. New Haven: Yale University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.