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[592a]
He will gladly take part in and enjoy those which he
thinks will make him a better man, but in public and private life he will
shun those that may overthrow the established habit1 of his soul.” “Then, if
that is his chief concern,” he said, “he will not
willingly take part in politics.2” “Yes, by
the dog,3” said I,
“in his own city he certainly will, yet perhaps not in the city of
his birth, except in some providential conjuncture.4” “I
understand,” he said; “you mean the city whose
establishment we have described, the city whose home is in the ideal;5
[592b]
for I think that it can be found nowhere
on earth.6”
“Well,” said I, “perhaps there is a
pattern7
of it laid up in heaven for him who wishes to contemplate it and so
beholding to constitute himself its citizen.8 But it makes no difference
whether it exists now or ever will come into being.9 The politics of this city only will be his and of none
other.” “That seems probable,” he said.
1 Almost Aristotle's use of ἕξις.
2 Cf. pp. 52-55 on 496 D-E. The later schools debated the question whether the “sage” would take part in politics. Cf. Seneca, De otio. xxx. 2 f. and Von Arnim, Stoic Vet. Frag. i. p. 62. 22 f.: “Zenon ait: accedet ad rempublicam (sapiens), nisi si quid impedierit;”ibid. iii. p. 158. 31 ff.: “consentaneum est huic naturae, ut sapiens velit gerere et administrare rempublicam atque, ut e natura vivat, uxorem adiungere et velle ex ea liberos;”ibid. p. 174. 32: “negant nostri sapientem ad quamlibet rempublicam accessurum;”ibid. 37 ff.: “praeterea, cum sapienti rempublicam ipso dignam dedimus, id est mundum, non est extra rempublicam, etiamsi recesserit;ibid. iii. p. 157. 40 ff.ἑπόμενον δὲ τούτοις ὑπάρχειν καὶ τὸ πολιτεύεσθαι τὸν σοφὸν καὶ μάλιστ᾽ ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις πολιτείαις ταῖς ἐμφαινούσαις τινὰ προκοπὴν πρὸς τὰς τελείας πολιτείας ibid. p. 172. 18 f.δεύτερον δὲ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς πολιτείας, πολιτεύεσθαι γὰρ κατὰ τὸν προηγούμενον λόγον. . . ;ibid. 173. 19 ff.ἔφαμεν δ᾽ ὅτι καὶ πολιτεύεσθαι κατὰ τὸν προηγούμενον λόγον οἷον ἐστι. μὴ πολιτεύεσθαι δὲ ἐάν τι <κωλύῃ> καὶ μάλιστ᾽ <ἂν> μηδὲν ὠφφελεῖν μέλλη τὴν πατρίδα, κινδύνους δὲ παρακολουθεῖν ὑπολαμβάνῃ μεγάλους καὶ χαλεποὺς ἐκ τῆς πολιτείας; ibid. p. 175. 3 f.πολιτεύεσθαι φασὶ τὸν σοφὸν ἂν μή τι κωλύη, ὥς φησι Χρύσιππος ἐν πρώτῳ περὶ βίων; ibid. 6 ff.Χρύσιππος δὲ πάλιν ἐν τῷ Περὶ Ῥητορικῆς γράφων, οὕτω ῥντορεύσειν καὶ πολιτεύεσθαι τὸν σοφόν, ὡς καὶ τοῦ πλούτου ὄντος ἀγαθοῦ, καὶ τῆς δόξης καὶ τῆς ὑγείας
3 Cf. on 399 E, Phaedr. 228 B, Gorg. 466 C, 461 A, 482 B, Phaedo 98 E, 567 E.
4 θεία . . . τύχη. So θεῖα μοῖρα is often used to account for an exception, e.g.493 A, Laws 875 C, 642 C, Meno 99 E, etc. Cf.θεῖον . . . ἐξαιρῶμεν λόγου492 E.
5 Lit. “in words.” This is one of the most famous passages in Plato, and a source of the idea of the City of God among both Stoics and Christians. Cf. Marc. Aurel. ix. 29μηδὲ τὴν Πλάτωνος πολιτείαν ἔλπιζε, Justin Martyr's επὶ γῆς διατρίβουσιν ἀλλ᾽ ἐν οὐρανῷ πολιτεύονται, which recalls Philippians iii. 20ἡμῶν δὲ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει and also Heb. xii. 22, xi. 10 and 16, xiii. 14, Eph. ii. 19, Gal. iv. 26, Rev. iii. 12 and xxi. 2 ff. Ackermann, Das Christliche bei Platon, p. 24, compares Luke xvii. 21 “the kingdom of God is within you.” Cf. also John xviii. 36. Havet, Le Christianisme et ses origines, p. 207, says, “Platon dit de sa République précisément ce qu'on a dit plus tard du royaume de Dieu, qu'elle n'est pas de ce monde.” Cf. also Caird, Evolution of Theology in Greek Philosophy, ii. p. 170, Harnack, Hist. of Dogma(tr. Buchanan), vol. i. p. 332, ii. pp. 73-74 and 338, Proclus, Comm. 352 (Kroll i. 16); Pater, Marius the Epicurean, p. 212 “Marcus Aurelius speaks often of that City on high, of which all other cities are but single habitations . . . ,” p. 213 “ . . . the vision of a reasonable, a divine order, not in nature, but in the condition of human affairs, that unseen Celestial City, Uranopolis, Callipolis . . . “;ibid. p. 158 “thou hast been a citizen in this wide city,” and pp. 192-193. Cf. further Inge, Christian Ethics, pp. 104=105, “let us fly hence to our dear country, as the disciples of Plato have repeated one after another. There are a few people who are so well adjusted to their environment that they do not feel, or rarely feel, this nostalgia for the infinite . . . “ Somewhat different is the Stoic idea of a world state and of the sage as citizen of the world, e.g. Marc. Aurel. iv. 4, Sen.De otio 31, Cic.Nat. deor. ii. 62 (154). Cf. Newman, Aristot. Pol. i. p. 92; also ibid. pp. 87-88. For the identification of the πόλις with philosophy cf. Diog. Laert. vi. 15 and vii. 40, Lucian, Hermotim. 22, Sale of Lives 17, Ver. Hist. 17, Proclus i. 16 (Kroll). Diogenes Laertius, ii. 7, reports that, when Anaxagoras was reproached for not concerning himself with the affairs of his country, he replied, “Indeed, I am greatly concerned with my country,” and pointed to heaven.
6 Cf. 499 C-D.
7 Cf. Theaet. 176 E, which Wilamowitz, Platon, ii. p. 179 says must refer to the Republic, Laws 739 D-E, 746 B, and What Plato Said, p. 458 on Euthyphro 6 E.
8 ἑαυτὸν κατοικίζειν: Adam “found a city in himself.” See his note ad loc. Cf. Jebb on Soph.Oed. Col. 1004.
9 Cf. 499 C-D, 472 B-E, and What Plato Said, p. 564.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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