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Real Imaginary // Abigale Bell

 

I find it interesting that The Republic is concluded with a discussion on reality. The entire story, thus far, has been made up of different ideas and opinions which combine to form the ideal imaginary city. Emphasis on imaginary here.

In book ten, Socrates engages his listeners with an analogy for determining what is real and true rather than a copy of truth. He begins by speaking of beds and tables. Socrates states that the physical bed that one might lie on is only a copy of the original idea, therefore, only the idea is the real thing or essence of it. He then goes into speaking of painters and craftsmen as only imitators of an original idea which is the essense of the thing itself. Without getting lost in the complicatedness of it all, we can gather his meaning to be that only ideas are the true forms of things. 

But how do we know what good ideas look like? Socrates gives an analogy which explains how only musicians know what a good flute sounds like. The flute-maker will rely on the flute-player to create the best sounding flute. The musician knows what a good flute should sound like. This idea is similar in Socrates' creation of utopia. Socrates must know what the perfect city should look like in order to represent the idea of a perfect city. 

I could infer from this passage of reading that Socrates had all the answers to building the perfect city from the ground up. However, I don't think his goal in saying this was to assume all knowledge for himself. Maybe this was an allusion to the fact that he did not have all the answers. Maybe Socrates saw that his vision for the perfect city could never actually work.

We live in a fallen society. It is "a crooked and twisted generation," to quote the words of Paul in Philippians 2:15. How can we, according to Socrates' theory, create any kind of perfect world? We can't do it. The perfect city will remain a fantasy until the day that Jesus returns and establishes His perfect kingdom.


Commented on Caroline's and Lily's posts.

Comments

  1. ClaboOctober 15, 2020 at 2:22 AM

    I completely agree with your ending statements. I feel like even if Socrates was able to start from the ground up and raise the first generation from birth, there is still no way that the just city could be pulled off. Humanity is flawed by default.

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