Professor Dungey Political Science 350 Study Guide I.

Preliminary Thoughts To begin with, lets articulate the distinction between the activities of hiloso hy and olitics. !. "hat does hiloso hy do# "hat does it desire# Do you thin$ that everyone is ca able of being a hiloso her# Should everyone hiloso hi%e, and hiloso hi%e about olitics# &. !nd, what is the nature of olitics# "hat does olitics do for us# "hat are its goals# ' on what do our moral, social, and olitical norms ty ically rest# (. &ringing ! and & together, tell me about the ways in which hiloso hy may be hel ful to olitics. !nd, in what ways may olitics be dangerous to the city#

II. )etting The *acts Straight !. In !risto hanes+ Clouds, !risto hanes argues that Socrates and hiloso hy ,-. lead us to distort our hysical natures/ ,0. that hiloso hy ma$es one a bad citi%en ,at the very least./ ,3. and, that hiloso hy is actually dangerous to the city due to its ossession of, and willingness to teach, the un1ust s eech. 23 lain what each of these charges means, and give e3am les. &. Plato+s first res onse to !risto hanes+ accusations comes in his dialogue the Euthyphro. 4ere we see Plato trying to rehabilitate Socrates and hiloso hy. "hat is Plato, through Socrates, saying about the contribution of hiloso hy to the olitics of the city# 4ere, I 1ust want you to get the story straight. *or e3am le, where does 2uthy hro+s conce tion of iety come from# "hy is Socrates sus icious of

2uthy hro+s 5$nowledge6 and his arrogance# "hy is Socrates ironic with him# Is this acce table, or 1ust mean s irited and nasty# Does the traditional !thenian conce tion of iety contribute to olitical stability or instability# "hy does Socrates thin$ that his idea of iety may be more useful olitically# Socrates tal$s about the form or idea of iety. "hat are the characteristics of the forms# ,4ere, also, you should ta$e a few minutes to reflect on Socrates+ im ortant 7uestion8 Is it ious because the )ods love it, or do the )ods love it because it is ious. Put sim ly8 Do we love something because it is ours 9thought in terms of our city, our church, and our ethnicity...: or do we love it because it is worthy of love#.. "hat does Socrates+ 7uestioning of iety do to the traditional !thenian conce tion of iety# Does Socrates corru t, or hel , 2uthy hro# (. (ontinuing our 5(ollection of *acts,6 let+s get straight about the Apology of Socrates. Socrates claims that he is facing two sets of accusers, one old and one new. "ho are the old accusers# "hat are their accusations# "hy does Socrates fear them more than the new accusers# 4ow does Socrates defend himself# Do you thin$ this is sufficient# Do you thin$ that Socrates $nows he+s a goner# "hat about the new accusers# "hat are their charges# 4ow does Socrates defend himself# !lso, in this dialogue, we get an e3 lanation of Socrates+ life, and an e3 lanation of the activity of hiloso hy. "hy does Socrates claim that he is a benefit to the city# "hy does he claim that he avoided artici ating in the olitics of the city# "hat does this say about the tension between hiloso hy and the city# D. *inally, we must engage the Crito. "hat does the very setting and o ening of the dialogue symboli%e# "hy has (rito come to see Socrates# "hat are (rito+s reasons for doing this# "hat does this say about (rito, and his relation to Socrates# "hat does this indicate about the relationshi between hiloso hy and the city# "hat do the ;aws say to (rito# "hy does Socrates have the ;aws say what they do to (rito# III. 23am <uestions

"ith sections I and II in mind, consider the following8 !. (om are and contrast the Socrates of the Clouds, with the Socrates of the Platonic dialogues. Is he against nature, or following it# Does Socrates use the 5un1ust6 s eech# Does he invent new )ods# Does he corru t the youth# "hat is your o inion# =eali%e that a good answer will bear witness to the truth of both sides &. >n one hand, in the Euthyphro and Apology , Socrates seems to suggest that hiloso hy is good for the city. "hy does he claim that he is a benefit to the city# >n the other hand, the Apology and Crito seem to suggest that hiloso hy is unable to hel the city. "hy is hiloso hy unable to hel the city# !nd, what does this tell us about the relationshi between hiloso hy and olitics# (. (om are and (ontrast !risto hanes+ accusation that Socrates uses and teaches the 5un1ust6 s eech, with Socrates+ treatment of 2uthy hro, with his reaction to the 5un1ust6 laws of !thens in the Apology , and with Socrates+ story of the ;aws in the Crito. "hat is going on here# D. During the *ifth (entury &(2, there e3isted an intellectual and olitical struggle between the hiloso hers and the oets in !thens. "hat was at sta$e in this struggle# "hat was going on during this time# "hat does hiloso hy thin$ it is res onding to# 4ow is this struggle ortrayed in !risto hanes+ Clouds and Plato+s dialogues# )iven what we $now about the nature of olitics and hiloso hy, which ers ective seems to be more useful#