The Republic's Two Alternatives

lfT IS CLEAR that Plato thinks that philosophy is the best way of life. He does not, however, give us a direct account of the meaning of philosophy, its starting point, its methods, or its goals. For the most part, we must understand what Plato means by philosophy only indirectly-through his dramatization of the life and activities of Socrates.' In the Republic, Socrates does give an account of the philosophers who are to rule in the city he is founding in speech (see 484a and 485a).2 There he describes the philosophers' nature (485a), the objects that they pursue (509c ff.), and the studies that comprise their education (521c ff.). The Republic thus provides us with two ways of understanding the meaning of philosophy: Like the other Platonic dialogues in which Socrates appears, it presents the activities of Socrates, but it also contains an account of philosophers. Oddly enough, however, Socrates' description of philosophers in the Republic does not apply to himself. In that dialogue Plato offers two different ways of engaging in philosophy-one exemplified by Socrates and one by the philosophers who rule the city in the Republic. I shall contrast the philosophy pursued by the philosopher-kings with the more familiar philosophy that Socrates practices. Philosophy in the city founded in the Republic, like everything else in that city, I shall argue, is made to conform to the city's needs. It derives its force from an element of the soul Plato calls spiritedness, a passion that craves the security of absolute knowledge and control, and attacks whatever threatens that security. It even blinds men to what they cannot know and manipulate. Mathematics is at the heart of the city's philosophy, for mathematics promises the intelligibility and power that men seek through politics. Socrates' philosophy, in contrast, is erotic.3 It depends on his love for particular human beings, whose passions and opinions illustrate the problems and tensions that his political philosophy