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Socrates and Piano Notes-Rachael Gregson

 


While Books I and II had Socrates and his travel companions going back and forth about the definition of justice, it was a breath of fresh air to read in Books III and IV about how they wanted to permeate justice and regulations in literally everything-from sports to music. This type of society-building that Socrates presented was unheard at the time-the belief that bettering the virtue in an individual positively advanced the virtue in the community as a whole and that change needed to start in the people's everyday activities. What people find pleasure and joy in says a lot about their character; how they go about that certain activity says further. Even what's enjoyable should be taken into moderation and key, because in Socrates's eyes, the line between 'healthy' and 'excessive' could be blurred very quickly. Games, music, and the arts were luxuries that if dabbled in long enough, could degrade the integrity of the guardians. It reminded me a lot about what C.S. Lewis wrote on sin. He compared it to piano notes. He writes, "Strictly speaking, there are no such thing as good and bad impulses. Think once again of a piano. It has not got two kinds on it, the 'right' notes and the 'wrong' ones. Every single note is right at one time and wrong at another". Sin isn't always 'bad' things. Sometimes, sin can be things intended for good done for the wrong reasons or at the wrong time. So is the case with the common things that Socrates is trying to moralize in his society. He's not being a nay-sayer about games, music, and arts. He just doesn't want something good to become something bad, and he urges his companions to keep tabs on their excess. Now I do NOT believe in censorship most cases, but that's a whole other post to itself, I believe. I'm mainly just focusing on the positives of Books III and IV. 

What do you think? 

I commented on posts by Jacob Clabo and Lily Caswell.

Comments

  1. ClaboSeptember 28, 2020 at 11:26 PM

    I definitely agree with your post in that the intentions of the republic would be truly remarkable if they were able to pull it all off. However, I just feel as if the life in the "just city" would be very oppressive and dreadful after a bit of time. I feel as if it would only be a life of restraint.

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    Replies
    1. Haley RiddleSeptember 29, 2020 at 11:07 PM

      I agree that it would become oppressive. I do like your attempt to highlight the good, however, because it really does seem like a good idea that if acted on correctly could produce good results.

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