Chaiyaporn, Chaiyan
(1992)
Plato's theory of man in relation to his political philosophy.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
It can be said that for Plato theory of man and political philosophy are tautologous. This study of Plato's theory of man points to the fact that a key concept in understanding Plato's political philosophy and man comes from the same source, that is , the concept of metaxy. The idea of metaxy is derived from the appreciation of the dialectic movement of arguments, speeches in the dialogues. The oscillation is argued to have been designed by the author of the dialogues in order to guide the reader to experience the existential moment with regard to the nature of the soul. The investigation of the Statesman, the Republic, the Phaedrus, the Symposium, and the Lysis, shows that the nature of man lies in the soul whose nature is metaxy. As regards the Platonic theory of the tripartite soul in the Republic, self-knowledge and the art of statesmanship are inseparable in the same way that the study of the soul and the city are intertwined. The philosopher must become king or statesman. As regards the idea of the pleasurable perception of rhythm and harmony in human nature in the Laws, dialectic and language of the philosopher-king are educational and political at the same time. The interplay of Dionysiac and Apollonian effects play an important role in understanding the metaxy of human nature and politics, or man and the city. However, the metaxy of politics entails the politics of metaxy, which renders a hermeneutic freedom to the reader, that is, he is free to choose or decide what kind of interpretation he is about to take or leave. Besides, the thesis claims a solution, which results from its study of human nature in the dialogues, to the enigmatic geometric riddles in the Statesman and the Republic.
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