SCHOLE (Jan 2014)
TAKING THE STRICT ACCOUNT OF TECHNE SERIOUSLY: AN INTERPRETIVE DIRECTION IN PLATO’S REPUBLIC
Abstract
I argue that the strict account of techne agreed to by Socrates and Thrasymachus in Republic I provides a useful framework for addressing a central question of the dialogue as a whole: how philosophy might belong to the polis. This view depends upon three positions: 1) that Plato invites us to interpret the relationship between techne and polis outside the terms of the city-soul analogy, 2) that the strict account contributes to a compelling description of vocational work, and 3) that this description determines what Socrates means by a true polis, and thus frames the problem of philosophy’s political inclusion.
