WAYS OF DISCOURSE AND WAYS OF LIFE PLATO ON THE CONFLICT BETWEEN POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY
Journal
METAPHILOSOPHY
Journal Volume
51
Journal Issue
2-3
Pages
318-334
Date Issued
2020
Author(s)
Abstract
In book X of the Republic, Plato famously reports “a quarrel between poetry and philosophy.” The present essay examines this quarrel in book X, along with other relevant parts of the Republic, by understanding “philosophy” and “poetry” as rival ways of life and rival ways of discourse. The essay first explains why, in Plato’s view, poetic discourse weakens one’s power to reason and is at odds with philosophic discourse. Then it shows how poetic discourse is bound up with a way of life that champions the value of freedom. Such a life forms a contrast with the philosophic life, which is marked more by stability and unity than by freedom. The quarrel, however, is not a simple antagonism. The essay hence concludes by discussing why, despite the opposition between the two, philosophy cannot do without poetry.
SDGs
Type
journal article