Sublime

Platon suggère que la vie politique, la vie de la pólis (« la cité »), concerne celle-ci d'une manière beaucoup plus englobante : elle est à l'œuvre non seulement dans les lieux officiels et leur pompe partisane, mais aussi dans ses rues, ses faubourgs, ses gymnases, ses places du marché et ses maisons particulières. Tels sont les lieux où Socrate,

Plato, as we’ve just seen, had set out his ethical system whereby such ethical notions as goodness, virtue and justice were identified as far-off, objective concepts, known to us only by their pale imitations that we are able to perceive here on Earth. No amount of human introspection could bring us closer to these eternal truths; instead, it was t

Ce dernier doit admettre que l'homme politique est moins savant que lui puisque, si l'un comme l'autre ne savent pas grand-chose, du moins Socrate reconnaît son ignorance. Il possède donc ce savoir minimal qui consiste à ne pas s'imaginer savoir ce que l'on ne sait pas. Socrate réitère l'expérience avec d'autres hommes réputés plus savants encore.

It has always been correct to praise Plato, but not to understand him. This is the common fate of great men. My object is the opposite. I wish to understand him, but to treat him with as little reverence as if he were a contemporary English or American advocate of totalitarianism.

It is in Book 10 of Plato’s classic, The Republic, that we find a remarkable narrative which suggests that the near-death experience has been with us throughout history. Here the

Fidèle à l'intuition centrale de son maître Socrate, Platon ne séparait pas l'engagement théorique pour la vérité de l'engagement éthico-politique pour la justice. Ces deux engagements sont essentiellement corrélatifs. La vérité que le philosophe cherche est sens et source de justice.

And here, O men of Athens, I must beg you not to interrupt me, even if I seem to say something extravagant. For the word which I will speak is not mine. I will refer you to a witness who is worthy of credit; that witness shall be the God of Delphi—he

One of the defects of all philosophers since Plato is that their inquiries into ethics proceed on the assumption that they already know the conclusions to be reached.

Plato’s truth is identical not only with the beautiful, but with the good and the just.