Page - 258 - in The Complete Plato
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Now man, having a share of the divine attributes, was at first the only one
of the animals who had any gods, because he alone was of their kindred; and
he would raise altars and images of them. He was not long in inventing
articulate speech and names; and he also constructed houses and clothes and
shoes and beds, and drew sustenance from the earth. Thus provided, mankind
at first lived dispersed, and there were no cities. But the consequence was that
they were destroyed by the wild beasts, for they were utterly weak in
comparison of them, and their art was only sufficient to provide them with the
means of life, and did not enable them to carry on war against the animals:
food they had, but not as yet the art of government, of which the art of war is
a part. After a while the desire of self-preservation gathered them into cities;
but when they were gathered together, having no art of government, they evil
intreated one another, and were again in process of dispersion and destruction.
Zeus feared that the entire race would be exterminated, and so he sent Hermes
to them, bearing reverence and justice to be the ordering principles of cities
and the bonds of friendship and conciliation. Hermes asked Zeus how he
should impart justice and reverence among men:—Should he distribute them
as the arts are distributed; that is to say, to a favoured few only, one skilled
individual having enough of medicine or of any other art for many unskilled
ones? ‘Shall this be the manner in which I am to distribute justice and
reverence among men, or shall I give them to all?’ ‘To all,’ said Zeus; ‘I
should like them all to have a share; for cities cannot exist, if a few only share
in the virtues, as in the arts. And further, make a law by my order, that he who
has no part in reverence and justice shall be put to death, for he is a plague of
the state.’
And this is the reason, Socrates, why the Athenians and mankind in
general, when the question relates to carpentering or any other mechanical art,
allow but a few to share in their deliberations; and when any one else
interferes, then, as you say, they object, if he be not of the favoured few;
which, as I reply, is very natural. But when they meet to deliberate about
political virtue, which proceeds only by way of justice and wisdom, they are
patient enough of any man who speaks of them, as is also natural, because
they think that every man ought to share in this sort of virtue, and that states
could not exist if this were otherwise. I have explained to you, Socrates, the
reason of this phenomenon.
And that you may not suppose yourself to be deceived in thinking that all
men regard every man as having a share of justice or honesty and of every
other political virtue, let me give you a further proof, which is this. In other
cases, as you are aware, if a man says that he is a good flute- player, or skilful
in any other art in which he has no skill, people either laugh at him or are
angry with him, and his relations think that he is mad and go and admonish
258
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book The Complete Plato"
The Complete Plato
- Title
- The Complete Plato
- Author
- Plato
- Date
- ~347 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 1612
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International