Philosophy...
I've been renewing my interest in philosophy, starting with the philosopher I first fell in love with, Plato. At the moment I'm reading "The Laws," which is either a more realistic version of his Republic, or a pessimistic, bitter version. Or both. In any case, it seems to be a case of "this seems to be the best we mere humans would be able to manage." (not a direct qoute)
Some points of interest: he favors drinking parties as supporting the education of virtue, as long as those parties are properly managed. The idea is that with a sober host, the parties can be used to foster the young person's sense of shame for gross depravity, indecency, and excesses of emotion and pleasure. He may have a point on this one.
He disapproves of homosexuality (surprising for an ancient Greek), adultery, promiscuity, and sex outside of lawful marriage, and feels that the only natural prupose of sex is procreation.
He is fully in favor of censorship, feeling that the arts and entertainments should always foster and encourage the good man, while discouraging the bad (he's big on the issue of virtue). Anything in the arts (he stresses music) that doesn't do this should be outlawed. More than that, he phrases it more as requiring art to be educational towards virtue ("Thou shalt not do this" vs. "Thou must do that"). I imagine he would have approved greatly of the Comics Code from a few decades back. This is the part I'm currently reading.
I haven't gotten to the part on his theory of punishment, but apparently it's based in the concept of reform, instead of punishment for punishment's sake, or vengeance. This stems from his belief that virtue is a matter of knowledge, and that people do wrong only through ignorance of what is truly moral.
I can't say that this is the best Platonic dialogue, as it is not so much a dialogue as it is a lecture from an Athenian to a Spartan and a man of Crete. Earlier dialogues were much better at genuine exploration of an idea, even when they didn't actually read a conclusion. It is still an interesting read, and I can definately see how it can be concluded that the Apostle Paul was greatly influenced by such philosophy. I can also see where much of the Founding Fathers' influence on government checks and balances came from. Ironic, since Plato severly dislikes democracy, considering only Tyranny of the non-benevolent sort to be a worse form of government.
It feels good to explore philosophy again, really good. Maybe now the fog in my brain will start to lift.
Some points of interest: he favors drinking parties as supporting the education of virtue, as long as those parties are properly managed. The idea is that with a sober host, the parties can be used to foster the young person's sense of shame for gross depravity, indecency, and excesses of emotion and pleasure. He may have a point on this one.
He disapproves of homosexuality (surprising for an ancient Greek), adultery, promiscuity, and sex outside of lawful marriage, and feels that the only natural prupose of sex is procreation.
He is fully in favor of censorship, feeling that the arts and entertainments should always foster and encourage the good man, while discouraging the bad (he's big on the issue of virtue). Anything in the arts (he stresses music) that doesn't do this should be outlawed. More than that, he phrases it more as requiring art to be educational towards virtue ("Thou shalt not do this" vs. "Thou must do that"). I imagine he would have approved greatly of the Comics Code from a few decades back. This is the part I'm currently reading.
I haven't gotten to the part on his theory of punishment, but apparently it's based in the concept of reform, instead of punishment for punishment's sake, or vengeance. This stems from his belief that virtue is a matter of knowledge, and that people do wrong only through ignorance of what is truly moral.
I can't say that this is the best Platonic dialogue, as it is not so much a dialogue as it is a lecture from an Athenian to a Spartan and a man of Crete. Earlier dialogues were much better at genuine exploration of an idea, even when they didn't actually read a conclusion. It is still an interesting read, and I can definately see how it can be concluded that the Apostle Paul was greatly influenced by such philosophy. I can also see where much of the Founding Fathers' influence on government checks and balances came from. Ironic, since Plato severly dislikes democracy, considering only Tyranny of the non-benevolent sort to be a worse form of government.
It feels good to explore philosophy again, really good. Maybe now the fog in my brain will start to lift.