The Disappearance of the Body and The Problem of Abstraction in Platonic Thought

Abstract

One of the most important aspects of Plato’s Republic is the formulation of an abstract and transcendent idea of the “Good.” Distinguishing himself from older, more esthetically oriented concepts of goodness and nobility, Plato’s Socrates consistently insists that an abstract and purely rational idea of goodness both exists, and that knowledge of it is fundamental to the right ordering of all human action. While scholarly disagreement exists about the extent to which the arguments of Plato’s Socrates should be taken at face value, few scholars deny that the mind (the realm of abstraction) is presented as essentially superior to the body. The consequence of Socrates’ turn toward the abstract in the Republic—though perhaps not the intention of his argument—is a subsequent movement away from the body, and thus, also away from an emphasis on the particulars of human life. This in turn, I argue necessarily undermines the city’s existence as a multitude of distinct parts working toward a common goal. We can see the effects of the move toward abstraction most clearly by examining the consequences of the argument for sexual equality in Book V of the Republic, which I argue exemplifies the problems associated with a politics of pure abstraction. Specifically, I contend that the turn toward abstraction present in the argument for sexual equality undermines the vitally important role of mothers in establishing a sense of self, which in turn undermines the basic ground of the city as a composition of distinct parts.