Teaching Plato in Translation
by Susan Gorman, Boston University
Original text © 2004 Susan Gorman
The Apology
Public vs. Private
The relationship of the public to the private recurs throughout all of Plato's texts. How are public good and private interest related? How does private knowledge and philosophy contribute to the public good?
Education enters into these reconsiderations of the public and private. What is education for? Is education meant to transmit social mores intact or to examine and reevaluate social norms? Think about Aristophanes’ Clouds here. In that text, Socrates' intellectual teachings pervert the public good and manipulate it for private gain. Explore the presentation of Socrates in that play and this text. Are they similar in any way?
In the Apology, Socrates seems to think that his life (i.e. his private well-being) is good for the public. He is the gadfly who prompts the conscience of the community. Harming him harms the Athenian community.
I think that it is worthwhile to bring up early in discussions of Plato the tension between public and private. To help the students further put this tension in context, we discuss whether they think that their personal education that they are working on is in fact good for their state or nation-wide community. Why is it or isn't it? The students are generally quick to acknowledge that education of individuals is good for a general community. However, when pressed to discuss how their own education is good for their communities, they have more difficulty. I love this question, though, and enjoy hearing students discuss the implications of their own educations.
