Tuesday 10/1
Republic, Book VI
Readings
Texts
Discussion Questions
First Question on Book VI: Lovers of Wisdom and Knowledge
Having distinguished between mere opinion and knowledge in Book V, Socrates goes on in Book VI to characterize the nature of lovers of knowledge in defense of his proposal that the city will only come about when its rulers are lovers of wisdom. What is this nature, and why is it so rare?
Second Question on Book VI: The Forms
What is the theory of the forms, and what problem is it intended to solve? How do the metaphysical distinctions Plato draws between the objects of opinion and the objects of knowledge result from the epistemic distinction between opinion and knowledge? Finally, what are the divided lines in question here?