Diadectic Speculative Physical Logical Practical Ethical Political
Inquisitive Gymnastic Maieutic Peirastic Agonistic Endeietic Anatreptic
The learned reader will observe the latter half of the dialogues, according
to this scheme, to be described by metaphors taken from the gymnastic art:
the dialogues, here termed gymnastic, being imagined to bear a similitude
to that exercise; the agonistic, to the combat. In the lowest subdivision,
indeed, the word maieutic is a metaphor of another kind, fully explained in
Plato's Theaetetus: the maieutic dialogues, however, were supposed to
resemble giving the rudiments of the art; as the peirastic were, to
represent a skirmish, or trial of proficiency; the endeietic were, it
seems, likened to the exhibiting a specimen of skill; and the anatreptic,
to presenting the spectacle of a thorough defeat, or sound drubbing. The
principal reason why we contented not ourselves with this account of the
difference between the dialogues of Plato, was the capital error there
committed in the first subdivision, of course extending itself through the
latter. This error consists in dividing the Didactic dialogues with regard
to their subject-matter; while those of the Inquisitive sort are divided
with respect to the manner of their composition. So that the subdivisions
fall not, with any propriety, under one and the same general head. Besides,
a novice in the works of Plato might hence be led naturally to suppose,
that the dogmatical or didactic dialogues are, all of them, written in the
same manner; and that the others, those of the inquisitive kind, by us
termed sceptical, have no particular subjects at all; or, if they have,
that their subjects are different from those of the didactic dialogues,
and are consequently unphilosophical. Now every one of the suppositions
here mentioned is far from being true.
----------------
The philosopher, in thus varying his manner, and diversifying his
writings into these several kinds, means not merely to entertain with
their variety; not to teach, on different occasions, with more or less
plainness and perspicuity; not yet to insinuate different degrees of
certainty in the doctrines themselves: but he takes this method, as a
consummate master of the art of composition in the dialogue-way of
writing, from the different characters of the speakers, as from different
elements in the frame of these dramatic dialogues, or different
ingredients in their mixture, producing some peculiar genius and turn of
temper, as it were, in each.
Socrates indeed is in almost all of them the principal speaker: but when
he falls into the company of some arrogant sophist; when the modest
wisdom, and clear science of the one, are contrasted with the confident
ignorance and blind opinionativeness of the other; dispute and
controversy must of course arise: where the false pretender cannot fail
of being either puzzled or confuted. To puzzle him only is sufficient,
if there be no other persons present; because such a man can never be
confuted in his own opinion: but when there is an audience round them,
in danger of being misled by sophistry into error, then is the true
philosopher to exert his utmost, and the vain sophist to be convicted
and exposed.
In some dialogues Plato represents his great master mixing in
conversation with young men of the best families in the commonwealth.
When these happen to have docile dispositions and fair minds, then is
occasion given to the philosopher to call forth[25] the latent seeds of
wisdom, and to cultivate the noble plants with true doctrine, in the
affable and familiar way of joint inquiry. To this is owing the
inquisitive genius of such dialogues: where, by a seeming equality in the
conversation, the curiosity or zeal of the mere stranger is excited; that
of the disciple is encouraged; and, by proper questions, the mind is
aided and forwarded in the search of truth.
-----------------
[25] We require exhortation, that we may be led to true good; dissuasion,
that we may be turned from things truly evil; obstetrication, that we may
draw forth our unperverted conceptions; and confutation, that we may be
purified from two-fold ignorance.
-----------------
At other times, the philosophic hero of these dialogues is introduced
in a higher character, engaged in discourse with men of more improved
understandings and enlightened minds. At such seasons he has an
opportunity of teaching in a more explicit manner, and of discovering
the reasons of things: for to such an audience truth is due, and all
demonstrations[26] possible in the teaching it. Hence, in the dialogues
composed of these persons, naturally arises the justly argumentative or
demonstrative genius; and this, as we have before observed, according to
all the dialectic methods.
-----------------
[26] The Platonists rightly observe, that Socrates, in these cases, makes
use of demonstrative and just reasoning, ([Greek: apodeiktikou]); whereas
to the novice he is contented with arguments only probable, ([Greek:
pithanois]); and against the litigious sophist often employs such as are
[Greek: eristikoi]; puzzling and contentious.
-----------------
But when the doctrine to be taught admits not of demonstration; of which
kind is the doctrine of antiquities, being only traditional, and a matter
of belief; and the doctrine of laws, being injunctional, and the matter of
obedience; the air of authority is then assumed: in the former cases, the
doctrine is traditionally handed down to others from the authority of
ancient sages; in the latter, is magisterially pronounced with the
authority of a legislator.[27]
-----------------
[27] It is necessary to observe, that in those dialogues in which Socrates
is indeed introduced, but sustains an inferior part, he is presented to
our view as a learner, and not as a teacher; and this is the case in the
Parmenides and Timaeus. For by the former of these philosophers he is
instructed in the most abtruse theological dogmas, and by the latter in
the whole of physiology.
-----------------
Thus much for the manner in which the dialogues of Plato are severally
composed, and the cast of genius given them in their composition. The
form under which they appear, or the external character that marks them,
is of three sorts: either purely dramatic, like the dialogue of tragedy
or comedy; or purely narrative, where a former conversation is supposed
to be committed to writing, and communicated to some absent friend; or of
the mixed kind, like a narration in dramatic poems, where is recited, to
some person present, the story of things past.
Having thus divided the dialogues of Plato, in respect of that inward
form or composition, which creates their genius; and again, with
reference to that outward form, which marks them, like flowers and other
vegetables, with a certain character; we are further to make a division
of them, with regard to their subject and their design; beginning with
their design, or end, because for the sake of this are all the subjects
chosen. The end of all the writings of Plato is that, which is the end of
all true philosophy or wisdom, the perfection and the happiness of man.
Man therefore is the general subject; and the first business of philosophy
must be to inquire what is that being called man, who is to be made happy;
and what is his nature, in the perfection of which is placed his happiness.
As however, in the preceding part of this Introduction, we have endeavored
to give the outlines of Plato's doctrine concerning man, it is unnecessary
in this place to say any thing further on that subject.
The dialogues of Plato, therefore, with respect to their subjects, may be
divided into the speculative, the practical, and such as are of a mixed
nature. The subjects of these last are either general, comprehending both
the others; or differential, distinguishing them. The general subject are
either fundamental, or final: those of the fundamental kind are philosophy,
human nature, the soul of man; of the final kind are love, beauty, good.
The differential regard knowledge, as it stands related to practice; in
which are considered two questions: one of which is, whether virtue is to
he taught; the other is, whether error in the will depends on error in
the judgment. The subjects of the speculative dialogues relate either to
words, or to things. Of the former sort are etymology, sophistry, rhetoric,
poetry; of the latter sort are science, true being, the principles of
mind, outward nature. The practical subjects relate either to private
conduct, and the government of the mind over the whole man; or to his
duty towards others in his several relations; or to the government of a
civil state, and the public conduct of a whole people. Under these three
heads rank in order the particular subjects practical; virtue in general,
sanctity, temperance, fortitude, justice, friendship, patriotism, piety;
the ruling mind in a civil government, the frame and order of a state,
law in general, and lastly, those rules of government and of public
conduct, the civil laws.
Thus, for the sake of giving the reader a scientific, that is a
comprehensive, and at the same time a distinct view of Plato's writings,
we have attempted to exhibit to him, their just and natural distinctions;
whether he chooses to consider them with regard to their inward form or
essence, their outward form or appearance, their matter; or their end:
that is, in those more familiar terms, we have used in this Synopsis,
their genius, their character, their subject, and their design.
And here it is requisite to observe, that as it is the characteristic of
the highest good to be universally beneficial, though some things are
benefitted by it more and others less, in consequence of their greater or
less aptitude to receive it; in like manner the dialogues of Plato are
so largely stamped with the characters of sovereign good, that they are
calculated to benefit in a certain degree even those who are incapable
of penetrating their profundity. They can tame a savage sophist, like
Thrasymachus in the Republic; humble the arrogance even of those who
are ignorant of their ignorance; make those to become proficients in
political, who will never arrive at theoretic virtue; and, in short, like
the illuminations of deity, wherever there is any portion of aptitude in
their recipients, they purify, irradiate, and exalt.
After this general view of the dialogues of Plato, let us in the next
place consider their preambles, the digressions with which they abound,
and the character of the style in which they are written. With respect to
the first of these, the preambles, however superfluous they may at first
sight appear, they will be found on a closer inspection necessary to the
design of the dialogues which they accompany. Thus the prefatory part of
the Timaeus unfolds, in images agreeably to the Pythagoric custom, the
theory of the world; and the first part of the Parmenides, or the
discussion of ideas, is in fact merely a preamble to the second part,
or the speculation of the one; to which however it is essentially
preparatory. Hence, as Plutarch says, when he speaks of Plato's dialogue
on the Atlantic island: These preambles are superb gates and magnificent
courts with which he purposely embellishes his great edifices, that
nothing may be wanting to their beauty, and that all may be equally
splendid. He acts, as Dacier well observes, like a great prince, who,
when he builds a sumptuous palace, adorns (in the language of Pindar) the
vestibule with golden pillars. For it is fit that what is first seen
should be splendid and magnificent, and should as it were perspicuously
announce all that grandeur which afterwards presents itself to the view.
With respect to the frequent digressions in his dialogues, these also,
when accurately examined, will be found to be no less subservient to the
leading design of the dialogues in which they are introduced; at the same
time that they afford a pleasing relaxation to the mind from the labor of
severe investigation. Hence Plato, by the most happy and enchanting art,
contrives to lead the reader to the temple of Truth through the delightful
groves and valleys of the Graces. In short, this circuitous course, when
attentively considered, will be found to be the shortest road by which he
could conduct the reader to the desired end: for in accomplishing this it
is necessary to regard not that road, which is most straight in the
nature of things, or abstractedly considered, but that which is most
direct in the progressions of human understanding.
With respect to the style of Plato, though it forms in reality the
most inconsiderable part of the merit of his writings, style in all
philosophical works being the last thing that should be attended to, yet
even in this Plato may contend for the palm of excellence with the most
renowned masters of diction. Hence we find that his style was the
admiration of the finest writers of antiquity. According to Ammianus,
Jupiter himself would not speak otherwise, if he were to converse in the
Attic tongue. Aristotle considered his style as a medium between poetry
and prose. Cicero no less praises him for the excellence of his diction
than the profundity of his conceptions; and Longinus calls him with
respect to his language, the rival of Homer. Hence he is considered by
this prince of critics, as deriving into himself abundant streams from
the Homeric fountain, and is compared by him, in his rivalship of Homer,
to a new antagonist who enters the lists against one that is already the
object of universal admiration.
Notwithstanding this praise, however, Plato has been accused, as Longinus
informs us, of being frequently hurried away as by a certain Bacchic fury
of words to immoderate and unpleasant metaphors, and an allegoric
magnificence of diction. Longinus excuses this by saying that whatever
naturally excels in magnitude possesses very little of purity. For that,
says he, which is in every respect accurate is in danger of littleness.
He adds, "and may not this also be necessary, that those of an abject and
moderate genius, because they never encounter danger, nor aspire after
the summit of excellence, are for the most part without error and remain
in security; but that great things become insecure through their magnitude?"
Indeed it appears to me, that whenever this exuberance, this Bacchic
fury, occurs in the diction of Plato, it is owing to the magnitude of the
inspiring influence of deity with which he is then replete. For that he
sometimes wrote from divine inspiration is evident from his own confession
in the Phaedrus, a great part of which is not so much like an orderly
discourse as a dithyrambic poem. Such a style therefore, as it is the
progeny of divine mania, which, as Plato justly observes, is better than
all human prudence, spontaneously adapts itself to its producing cause,
imitates a supernatural power as far as this can be effected by words,
and thus necessarily becomes magnificent, vehement, and exuberant; for
such are the characteristics of its source. All judges of composition
however, both ancient and modern, are agreed that his style is in general
graceful and pure; and that it is sublime without being impetuous and
rapid. It is indeed no less harmonious than elevated, no less accurate[27]
than magnificent. It combines the force of the greatest orators with the
graces of the first of poets; and in short; is a river to which those
justly celebrated lines of Denham may be most pertinently applied:
Tho' deep, yet clear; tho' gentle, yet not dull;
Strong without rage, without o'erfowing full.
-----------------
[27] The reader will see, from the notes on Plato's dialogues, and
particularly from the notes on the Parmenides and Timaeus, that the style
of that philosopher possesses an accuracy which is not to be found in any
modern writer; an accuracy of such a wonderful nature, that the words are
exactly commensurate with the sense. Hence the reader who has happily
penetrated his profundity finds, with astonishment, that another word
could not have been added without being superfluous, nor one word taken
away without injuring the sense. The same observation may also be applied
to the style of Aristotle.
-----------------
Having thus considered the philosophy of Plato, given a general view of
his writings, and made some observations on his style, it only now
remains to speak of the following arrangement of his dialogues and
translation of his works, and then, with a few appropriate observations,
to close this Introduction.
As no accurate and scientific arrangement then of these dialogues has
been transmitted to us from the ancients, I was under the necessity of
adopting an arrangement of my own, which I trust is not unscientific,
however inferior it may be to that which was doubtless made, though
unfortunately lost, by the latter interpreters of Plato. In my
arrangement, therefore, I have imitated the order of the universe in
which, as I have already observed, wholes precede parts, and universals
particulars. Hence I have placed those dialogues first which rank as
wholes, or have the relation of a system, and afterwards those in which
these systems are branch out into particulars. Thus, after the First
Alcibiades, which may be called, and appears to have been generally
considered by the ancients an introduction to the whole of Plato's
philosophy, I have placed the Republic and the Laws, which may be said to
comprehend systematically the morals and politics of Plato. After these I
have ranked the Timaeus, which contains the whole of his physiology, and
together with it the Critias, because of its connection with the Timaeus.
The next in order is the Parmenides, which contains a system of his
theology. Thus far this arrangement is conformable to the natural progress
of the human mind in the acquisition of the sublimest knowledge; the
subsequent arrangement principally regards the order of things. After the
Parmenides then, the Sophista, Phaedrus, Greater Hippias, and Banquet,
follow, which may be considered as so many lesser wholes subordinate to
and comprehended in the Parmenides, which, like the universe itself, is a
whole of wholes. For in the Sophista being itself is investigated, in the
Banquet love itself, and in the Phaedrus beauty itself; all which are
intelligible forms, and are consequently contained in the Parmenides, in
which the whole extent of the intelligible is unfolded. The Greater
Hippias is classed with the Phaedrus, because in the latter the whole
series of the beautiful is discussed, and in the former that which
subsists in soul. After these follows the Theaetetus, in which science
considered as subsisting in soul is investigated; science itself,
according to its first subsistence, having been previously celebrated by
Socrates in one part of the Phaedrus. The Politicus and Minos, which
follow next, may be considered as ramifications from the Laws; and, in
short, all the following dialogues either consider more particularly the
dogmas which are systematically comprehended in those already enumerated,
or naturally flow from them as their original source. As it did not
however appear possible to arrange these dialogues which rank as parts in
the same accurate order as those which we considered as whole, it was
thought better to class them either according to their agreement in one
particular circumstance, as the Phaedo, Apology, and Crito, all which
relate to the death of Socrates, and as the Meno and Protagoras, which
relate to the question whether virtue can be taught; or according to
their agreement in character, as the Lesser Hippias and Euthydemus, which
are anatreptic, and the Theages, Laches, and Lysis, which are maieutic
dialogues. The Cratylus is ranked in the last place, not so much because
the subject of it is etymology, as because a great part of it is deeply
theological; for by this arrangement, after having ascended to all the
divine orders and their ineffable principle in the Parmenides, and thence
descended in a regular series to the human soul in the subsequent
dialogues, the reader is again led back to deity in this dialogue, and
thus imitates the order which all beings observe, that of incessantly
returning to the principles whence they flew.
After the dialogues[28] follow the Epistles of Plato, which are in every
respect worthy that prince of all true philosophers. They are not only
written with great elegance, and occasionally with magnificence of
diction, but with all the becoming dignity of a mind conscious of its
superior endowments, and all the authority of a master in philosophy.
They are likewise replete with many admirable political observations,
and contain some of his most abstruse dogmas, which though delivered
enigmatically, yet the manner in which they are delivered, elucidates at
the same time that it is elucidated by what is said of these dogmas in
his more theological dialogues.
-----------------
[28] As I profess to give the reader a translation of the genuine works
of Plato only, I have not translated the Axiochus, Demodoeus, Sisyphus,
&c. as these are evidently spurious dialogues.
-----------------
With respect, to the following translation, it is necessary to observe, in
the first place, than the numbers of legitimate dialogues of Plato is
fifty-five; for though the Republic forms but one treatise, and the Laws
another, yet the former consists of ten, and the latter of twelve books,
and each of these books is a dialogue. Hence, as there are thirty-three
dialogues, besides the Laws and the Republic, fifty-five will, as we have
said, be the amount of the whole. Of these fifty-five, the nine following
have been translated by Mr. Sydenham; viz. the First and Second Alcibiades,
the Greater and Lesser Hippias, the Banquet (except the speech of
Alcibiades), the Philebus, the Meno, the Io, and the Rivals.[29] I have
already observed, and with deep regret, that this excellent though
unfortunate scholar died before he had made that proficiency in the
philosophy of Plato which might have been reasonably expected from so fair
a beginning. I personally knew him only in the decline of life, when his
mental powers were not only considerably impaired by age, but greatly
injured by calamity. His life had been very stormy; his circumstances, for
many years preceding his death, were indigent; his patrons were by no means
liberal; and his real friends were neither numerous nor affluent. He began
the study of Plato, as he himself informed me, when he had considerably
passed the meridian of life, and with most unfortunate prejudices against
his best disciples, which I attempted to remove during my acquaintance with
him, and partly succeeded in the attempt; but infirmity and death prevented
its completion. Under such circumstances it was not to be expected that he
would fathom the profundity of Plato's conceptions, and arrive at the
summit of philosophic attainments. I saw, however, that his talents and his
natural disposition were such as might have ranked him among the best of
Plato's interpreters, if he had not yielded to the pressure of calamity, if
he had not nourished such baneful prejudices, and if he had not neglected
philosophy in the early part of life. Had this happened, my labors would
have been considerably lessened, or perhaps rendered entirely unnecessary,
and his name would have been transmitted to posterity with undecaying
renown. As this unfortunately did not happen, I have been under the
necessity of diligently examining and comparing with the original all
those parts of the dialogues which he translated, that are more deeply
philosophical, or that contain any thing of the theology of Plato. In
these, as might be expected, I found him greatly deficient; I found him
sometimes mistaking the meaning through ignorance of Plato's more sublime
tenets, and at other times perverting it, in order to favor some opinions
of his own. His translation however of other parts which are not so
abstruse is excellent. In these he not only presents the reader faithfully
with the matter, but likewise with the genuine manner of Plato. The notes
too which accompany the translation of these parts generally exhibit just
criticism and extensive learning, an elegant taste, and a genius naturally
philosophic. Of these notes I have preserved as much as was consistent with
the limits and design of the following work.
-----------------
[29] In the notes on the above-mentioned nine dialogues, those written
by Mr. Sydenham are signed S., and those by myself T.
-----------------
Of the translation of the Republic by Dr. Spens, it is necessary to observe
that a considerable part of it is very faithfully executed; but that in the
more abstruse parts it is inaccurate; and that it every where abounds with
Scotticisms which offend an English ear, and vulgarisms which are no less
disgraceful to the translator than disgusting to the reader. Suffice it
therefore to say of this version, that I have adopted it wherever I found
it could with propriety be adopted, and given my own translation where it
was otherwise.
Of the ten dialogues translated by Dacier, I can say nothing with
accuracy, because I have no knowledge whatever of the French language;
but if any judgment may be formed of this work, from a translation of it
into English, I will be bold to say that it is by no means literal, and
that he very frequently mistakes the sense of the original. From this
translation therefore I could derive but little assistance; some however
I have derived, and that little I willingly acknowledge. In translating
the rest of Plato's works, and this, as the reader may easily see, form
by far the greatest part of them, I have had no assistance from any
translation except that of Ficinus, the general excellency of which is
well known to every student of Plato, arising not only from his
possessing a knowledge of Platonism superior to that of any translators
that have followed him, but likewise from his having made this
translation from a very valuable manuscript in the Medicean library,
which is now no longer to be found. I have, however, availed myself of
the learned labors of the editors of various dialogues of Plato; such as
the edition of the Rivals, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo, by
Forster; of the First and Second Alcibiades and Hipparchus, by Etwall; of
the Meno, First Alcibiades, Phaedo and Phaedrus, printed at Vienna, 1784;
of the Cratylus and Theaetetus, by Fischer; of the Republic, by Massey;
and of the Euthydemus and Gorgias, by Dr. Routh, president of Magdalen
College, Oxford. This last editor has enriched his edition of these two
dialogues with very valuable and copious philological and critical notes,
in which he has displayed no less learning than judgment, no less
acuteness than taste. He appears indeed to me to be one of the best and
most modest of philologists; and it is to be hoped that he will be
imitated in what he has done by succeeding editors of Plato's text.
If my translation had been made with an eye to the judgment of the many,
it would have been necessary to apologize for its literal exactness.
Had I been anxious to gratify false taste with respect to composition, I
should doubtless have attended less to the precise meaning of the original,
have omitted almost all connective Particles, have divided long periods
into a number of short ones, and branched out the strong and deep river of
Plato's language into smooth-gliding, shallow, and feeble streams; but as
the present work was composed with the hope indeed of benefitting all, but
with an eye to the criticism solely of men of elevated souls, I have
endeavored not to lose a word of the original; and yet at the same time
have attempted to give the translation as much elegance as such verbal
accuracy can be supposed capable of admitting. I have also endeavored to
preserve the manner as well as the matter of my author, being fully
persuaded that no translation deserves applause, in which both these are
not as much as possible preserved.
My principal object in this arduous undertaking has been to unfold all
the abstruse and sublime dogmas of Plato, as they are found dispersed in
his works. Minutely to unravel the art which he employs in the
composition of all his dialogues, and to do full justice to his meaning
in every particular, must be the task of some one who has more leisure,
and who is able to give the works of Plato to the public on a more
extensive plan. In accomplishing this great object, I have presented the
reader in my notes with nearly the substance in English of all the
following manuscript Greek Commentaries and Scholia on Plato; viz. of the
Commentaries of Proclus on the Parmenides and First Alcibiades; and of
his Scholia on the Cratylus; of the Scholia of Olympiodorus on the
Phaedo, Gorgias, and Philebus; and of Hermeas on the Phoedrus. To these
are added very copious extracts from the manuscript of Damascius,[30]
Peri Archon, and from the published works of Proclus on the Timeus,
Republic, and Theology of Plato. Of the four first of these manuscripts,
three of which are folio volumes, I have complete copies taken with my
own hand; and of the copious extracts from the others, those from
Olympiodorus on the Gorgias were taken by me from the copy preserved in
the British Museum; those from the same philosopher on the Philebus, and
those from Hermeas on the Phaedrus, and Damascius Peri Archon, from the
copies in the Bodleian library.
-----------------
[30] Patricius was one of the very few in modern times who have been
sensible of the great merit of these writings, as is evident from the
extract from the preface to his translation of Proclus's Theological
Elements. (Ferrar. 4to. 1583.) Patricius, prior to this, enumerates the
writings of Proclus, and they are included in his wish that all the
manuscript Greek commentaries on Plato were made public.
-----------------
And here gratitude demands that I should publicly acknowledge the very
handsome and liberal manner in which I was received by the University of
Oxford, and by the principal librarian and sub-librarians of the Bodleian
library, during the time that I made the above mentioned extracts. In the
first place I have to acknowledge the very polite attention which was paid
to me by Dr. Jackson,[31] dean of Christ-church. In the second place, the
liberty of attendance at the Bodleian library, and the accommodation which
was there afforded me, by the librarians of that excellent collection,
demand from me no small tribute of praise. And, above all, the very liberal
manner in which I was received by the fellows of New College, with whom I
resided for three weeks, and from whom I experienced even Grecian
hospitality, will, I trust, be as difficult a task for time to obliterate
from my memory, as it would be for me to express it as it deserves.
-----------------
[31] I was much pleased to find that this very respectable prelate is a
great admirer of Aristotle, and that extracts from the Commentaries of
Simplicius and Ammonius on the Categories of that philosopher, are read
by his orders in the college of which he is the head.
-----------------
With respect to the faults which I may have committed in this translation
(for I am not vain enough to suppose it is without fault), I might plead
as an excuse, that the whole of it has been executed amidst severe
endurance from bodily infirmity and indigent circumstances; and that a
very considerable part of it was accomplished amidst other ills of no
common magnitude, and other labors inimical to such an undertaking. But
whatever may be my errors, I will not fly to calamity for an apology. Let
it be my excuse that the mistakes I may have committed in lesser
particulars, have arisen from my eagerness to seize and promulgate those
great truths in the philosophy and theology of Plato, which though they
have been concealed for ages in oblivion, have a subsistence coeval with
the universe, and will again be restored, and flourish for very extended
periods, through all the infinite revolutions of time.
In the next place, it is necessary to speak concerning the qualifications
requisite in a legitimate student of the philosophy of Plato, previous to
which I shall just notice the absurdity of supposing that a mere knowledge
of the Greek tongue, however great that knowledge may be, is alone
sufficient to the understanding the sublime doctrines of Plato; for a man
might as well think that he can understand Archimedes without a knowledge
of the elements of geometry, merely because he can read him in the
original. Those who entertain such an idle opinion, would do well to
meditate on the profound observation of Heraclitus, "that polymathy does
not teach intellect," ([Greek: Polymathic noon ou didaskei]).
By a legitimate student, then, of the Platonic philosophy, I mean one
who, both from nature and education, is properly qualified for such
an arduous undertaking; that is one who possesses a naturally good
disposition; is sagacious and acute, and is inflamed with an ardent
desire for the acquisition of wisdom and truth; who from his childhood
has been well instructed in the mathematical disciplines; who, besides
this, has spent whole days, and frequently the greater part of the night,
in profound meditation; and, like one triumphantly sailing over a raging
sea, or skillfully piercing through an army of foes, has successfully
encountered an hostile multitude of doubts;--in short, who has never
considered wisdom as a thing of trifling estimation and easy access, but
as that which cannot be obtained without the most generous and severe
endurance, and the intrinsic worth of which surpasses all corporeal good,
far more than the ocean the fleeting bubble which floats on its surface.
To such as are destitute of these requisites, who make the study of words
their sole employment, and the pursuit of wisdom but at best a secondary
thing, who expect to be wise by desultory application for an hour or two
in a day, after the fatigues of business, after mixing with the base
multitude of mankind, laughing with the gay affecting airs of gravity
with the serious, tacitly assenting to every man's opinion, however
absurd, and winking at folly however shameful and base--to such as
these--and, alas! the world is full of such--the sublimest truths must
appear to be nothing more than jargon and reverie, the dreams of a
distempered imagination, or the ebullitions of fanatical faith.
But all this is by no means wonderful, if we consider that two-fold
ignorance is the disease of the many. For they are not only ignorant with
respect to the sublimest knowledge, but they are even ignorant of their
ignorance. Hence they never suspect their want of understanding, but
immediately reject a doctrine which appears at first sight absurd,
because it is too splendid for their bat-like eyes to behold. Or if they
even yield their assent to its truth, their very assent is the result of
the same most dreadful disease of the soul. For they will fancy, says
Plato, that they understand the highest truths, when the very contrary is
really the case. I earnestly therefore entreat men of this description,
not to meddle with any of the profound speculations of the Platonic
philosophy, for it is more dangerous to urge them to such an employment,
than to advise them to follow their sordid avocations with unwearied
assiduity, and toil for wealth with increasing alacrity and vigor; as
they will by this means give free scope to the base habits of their soul,
and sooner suffer that punishment which in such as these must always
precede mental illumination, and be the inevitable consequence of guilt.
It is well said indeed by Lysis, the Pythagorean, that to inculcate
liberal speculations and discourses to those whose morals are turbid and
confused, is just as absurd as to pour pure and transparent water into a
deep well full of mire and clay; for he who does this will only disturb
the mud, and cause the pure water to become defiled. The woods of such,
as the same author beautifully observes, (that is the irrational or
corporeal life), in which these dire passions are nourished, must first
be purified with fire and sword, and every kind of instrument (that is,
through preparatory disciplines, and the political virtues), and reason
must be freed from its slavery to the affections, before any thing useful
can be planted in these savage haunts.
Let not such then presume to explore the regions of Platonic philosophy.
The land is too pure to admit the sordid and the base. The road which
conducts to it is too intricate to be discovered by the unskillful and
stupid, and the journey is too long and laborious to be accomplished by
the effeminate and the timid, by the slave of passion and the dupe of
opinion, by the lover of sense and the despiser of truth. The dangers and
difficulties in the undertaking are such as can be sustained by none but
the most hardy and accomplished adventurers; and he who begins the journey
without the strength of Hercules, or the wisdom and patience of Ulysses,
must be destroyed by the wild beasts of the forest, or perish in the storms
of the ocean; must suffer transmutation into a beast through the magic
power of Circe, or be exiled for life by the detaining charm of Calypso;
and in short must descend into Hades, and wander in its darkness, without
emerging from thence to the bright regions of the morning, or be ruined
by the deadly melody of the Syren's song. To the most skillful traveler,
who pursues the right road with an ardor which no toils can abate, with
a vigilance which no weariness can surprise into negligence, and with
virtue which no temptations can seduce, it exhibits for many years the
appearance of the Ithaca of Ulysses, or the flying Italy of AEneas; for
we no sooner gain a glimpse of the pleasing land which is to be the end
of our journey, than it is suddenly ravished from our view, and we still
find ourselves at a distance from the beloved coast, exposed to the fury
of a stormy sea of doubts.
Abandon then, ye groveling souls, the fruitless design! Pursue with
avidity the beaten road which leads to popular honors and sordid gain,
but relinquish all thoughts of a voyage for which you are totally
unprepared. Do you not perceive what a length of sea separates you from
the royal coast? A sea,
Huge, horrid, vast, where scarce in safety sails
The best built ship, though Jove inspire the gales.
And may we not very justly ask you, similar to the interrogation of
Calypso,
What ships have you, what sailors to convey,
What oars to cut the long laborious way?
I shall only observe further, that the life of Plato, by Olympiodorus, was
prefixed to this translation, in preference to that by Diogenes Laertius,
because the former is the production of a most eminent Platonist, and the
latter of a mere historian, who indiscriminately gave to the public whatever
anecdotes he found in other authors. If the reader combines this short
sketch of the life of Plato with what that philosopher says of himself in
his 7th Epistle, he will be in possession of the most important particulars
about him that can be obtained at present.