Plato’s Republic

Though Plato was of noble birth and intellectually superior to most of his contemporaries he opted out of politics due to the injustices of a tyrannical oligarchy and the unjust execution of his mentor Socrates by the Athenian jury. After the Peloponnesian wars two powerful groups, The Four Hundred and Thirty seized control of the government turning Athens into a brutal oligarchy. Plato’s eccentric teacher Socrates was seen as a threat to the status quo and was falsely accused by a 500 strong Athenian jury of inventing new deities and not recognizing the state gods. Plato decided not to be a part of this corrupt political system but to continue the good work of his mentor. He founded an Academy in 387 BC, the first modern university in the west. Here students learned all sorts of things ranging from politics and law to medicine and philosophy. It was not an ivory tower institution but prepared students to enter different professions by teaching subjects relevant to life and society. The Academy lasted for 912 years.

Plato’s Republic does not pontificate, preach or poeticize but philosophize. It pays special attention to reason, order and the association of thought. A philosopher has not only thought about different subjects deeply but also attempts to explain the connections and possibilities. All philosophy begins with being critical and often arrives at conclusions which are quite surprising, what we often call reasoned truth. Unlike the social sciences, philosophy does not have a fixed subject; it deals with all forms of human knowledge. It encompasses ideas connected to morality, truth and being and much more. Often there are no fixed terminologies to guide our understanding. We should therefore follow inquires of a philosopher before we can understand his logic. Often understanding the logic of philosophers might be difficult as they express complex ideas in a convoluted manner. But when philosophy is simple such as Plato’s or other Greek philosophers it seems hard to understand.

The Republic begins with moral philosophy by asking the fundamental question of Greek society: What is justice? Justice was one of the overarching Greek values and fundamentally connected to the cultivation of virtues. Plato was interrogation the question of how to live well which was central to human nature, to the human soul. Once we could answer this question the best form of human life is possible. How should we define justice? How should it administered? How should it be realized in a given state? Plato therefore moves from a definition of justice, to just action and then laying it down as an ideal state policy, a model for existing societies of his times and the ones yet to come. Plato realized that the best form of human life was only possible in some sort of an organized community. The civic community was closely connected to Plato’s idea of the best order of human society. In The Republic Plato provides an ideal picture of the human soul. To the Greeks there was no separation between ethical and political functions in society. Similarly for an individual the ethical and political spheres were knit together into a single entity. There was no difference between the laws, custom and religion of a given society. To understand one was to understand all.

Plato often criticizes the prevailing social institutions and practices. He challenges opinions and questions rhetoric which is false. The Republic is not just philosophy but also a book about social and political reform. Often this leads to prejudice and differs in approach from Aristotle’s works.

Plato’s speculations are dialogical in nature following the tradition of Socrates which had to do with the prevailing literary climate of the time. Greek literature was more concrete, objective and impersonal than modern literature. Greek drama was less subjective. Take the example of Thucydides whose history lacks personal details and reflection. Often fictitious speeches are given to real characters thereby compensating for general reflection. The Greeks had not yet separated the exposition of ideas from the representation of characters as we have done. Plato used known persons to present philosophical ideas and opinions, something they did posses in actual life. Though such characters possess propriety and vivacity, they lack historical truth a feature of our times. Aristophanes also does not conform to historical truth. When we come to modern philosophers such as Berkeley we find that they use characters as character in philosophy rather than as real characters. Bunyan is the best example of the Platonic presentation of ideas. The Protagoras can be seen as a great philosophical drama and Euthydemus a philosophical burlesque. Most of Plato’s works, except the Laws and the Timeaus, possess a dramatic quality which is eschewed in modern philosophical exposition. If we see the Republic we discover that the dramatic quality of the book diminishes as it progresses but Plato often revives it

In the ten books of The Republic Plato demonstrates the superiority of living a just life in a moral world where the just are rewarded and the unjust punished not only in this but also in the next. The myth of Er in the 10th book takes us beyond into an afterlife through the return of the warrior Er who details his adventures in an absolute world.

Speaking Without Alibi

We live in a world of alibis,
Of having been elsewhere,
Of retreating in the shadows,
Of dragging our feet.

But to speak out compellingly,
To produce some effect,
Is to provoke the other and
Confront ourselves without excuses.


by Mukesh Williams

Making a Classroom Presentation

From time to time all of us are asked to make presentations about our research and what we know about our subject. This may look quite natural but it requires some skill. The best way perhaps to approach a presentation is to tell your audience clearly what you want to let them know. Then repeat it one more time in the end by way of summarizing it.

1. Clarity
It is always better to tell your audience clearly and in a systematic manner. The best way to do this is to give them a brief outline of the key points, then deal with each point in depth. As you come to the conclusion summarize your arguments in a few short sentences.

2. Say it Through Pictures
There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. The visual effect is sometimes more powerful than mere words. So use photos, graphics and sketches.

3. Talk to the Audience
Never read the slides or your notes. Remember what you want to say and say it naturally. This would keep the interest of the audience alive.

4. Natural Pace of Presentation
Be easy and slow so the information sinks in, but not too slow lest the audience get bored. Finish you r presentation a few minutes before time so you allow the audience to ask you questions. Sometimes it is better to engage the audience by asking them to respond to your answers.

5. Slide Text
Do not use too much text in your slide. Remember the text accompanies your oral statements. Try using simple and short sentences. Do not use too many bullets; at most three or four in a given slide. If you are making a 10- minutes presentation you may use 7 or 8 slides maximum. Remember you can spend about a minute on one slide. Also use contrasting colors for text and background.

Some General Terms Used in Technical Research

Technical Research

The term technical research usually refers to applied research in the engineering disciplines and attempts to develop tools and procedures to measure or test equipment. Technical research also provides solutions to technical problems.

Technical Report
A technical report is a document which objectively records the procedures adopted and results obtained after a scientific or technical investigation (experiment) has been completed.

Technical Proposal
A technical proposal states clearly the requirements of a project or a contract, the plan of its completion in stages, and the approach taken.

Technical Standard
There is a technical standard set for technical research which involves a formal and concise statement of specifications and scientific observation of results.

Technical Specifications
Technical specifications involve a precise statement of the needs to be addressed or essential requirements of an instrument (materials, methods and process used; service, system and work required). The specifications are usually written in a scientific and precise manner for all parties to understand and evaluate. Specifications are usually divided into two categories:
1) Performance specifications such as conformance to a specified range such as range of room temperature
2) Technical specifications which clarifies the level of performance of each unit. This is further subdivided into: a) unit boundaries, parameters and tolerance (level of departure from its nominal value); b) quality level of each unit; c) acceptable statistical distribution ( mean deviation and standard deviation).

Academic Writing: Writing with a Purpose

Writing with a Purpose

1. A purpose invariably implies a goal or an end of an action deliberately undertaken. Human beings attempt to give meaning to their actions based on some ideal which we may be called purpose. It is built upon self-esteem and pursued with some degree of rationality. It may be stated as “will to meaning” (Viktor Frankl), “will to pleasure” (Freud) or “will to power” (Adler). A purpose signifies the self at the same time goes beyond it to give meaning to the world. Therefore purpose, self-esteem and reason are seen by some objectivist philosophers like Ayn Rand as the three dominant western values of life. The western discourse of academic writing is perhaps based on a worthy purpose, pursed rationally and based on self-esteem (my ideas are worth listening to). It is always good to ask: What is your purpose in writing this essay? Who is your audience? What are you expected to write about? Are you expected to summarize, be original or state your own views? Are you going to instruct, inform or document? Are you going to express a feeling, explore an idea, entertain the reader or mediate in an argument? It is possible to combine more than one purpose in an essay.

You may inform the reader of certain facts that you think are important and then persuade him to take a suggested course of action. But in doing so, you need a strategy to realize your purpose. Usually good writers employ various strategies to realize their goals. They define, classify, analyze, process analyze, cause/effect analyze, illustrate, compare and contrast, describe or narrate. A formal dictionary definition places the terminology you employ within an intellectual space that is easy for others to understand. When you define a term you give its meaning, place it in a genre and separate it from others. Classifying your subject into types will help you to sort out your material and argument. Deconstructing your subject by dividing it into parts will help you to both understand and explain better.

All readers have expectations and it is always better to understand the expectation of your readers before you write. Cause analysis might lead you from one cause to one effect or one cause to multiple effects. Illustrations would involve the evidence or primary sources that you collect. Compare and contrast method involves two sets of ideas, events or processes. You have an introduction, a thesis, then describe A and then B (show how A and B are similar or dissimilar?) and then draw your conclusions. Description may involve visual, auditory or tactile images to make you subject come alive. Narration helps to grip the attention of the reader and follows a logical sequence without digression. Observation is an essential component of good writing. It allows for original thinking, drawing of credible conclusions and analyzing a complex situation. Today you will look for specific, accurate and interesting information to construct short and readable pieces of academic writing.

What I Have Lived For
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950, was a British mathematician, philosopher, and social reformer. In this passage from his autobiography (The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell: 1872-1914, George Allen & Unwin Limited), he summarizes his personal philosophy.

1. Three passions, simple but overwhelming strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

2. I have sought love first, because it brings ecstacy—ecstacy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.

3. With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine… A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

4. Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

5. This has been my life, I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

Notes
1. No word is out of place. No sentence is redundant. There is no repetition, no ambiguity. There are five clear paragraphs.
2. What I believe, what I stand for. What are my values?
3. Uses one metaphor carefully and does not mix it with others—example, winds
4. Idiomatic expressions make writing interesting
5. State your ideas clearly and present them point wise in that order as stated in the introductory paragraph. The first paragraph states all the points that Russell will later develop. The sub-theme of love develops three reasons about its significance—
a) it brings ecstasy,
b) it relieves loneliness and
c) it gives a vision of heaven.
6. In paragraph three he develops the idea of seeking knowledge:
a) to understand the hearts of men and
b_ to know why starts shine ) human passion and nature and its surrounding mysteries.
7. In paragraph 4: “Love and knowledge ….back to earth.” A connection between first and second point made here
8. In the last paragraph he expresses pity for mankind:
a) cries of pain
b) children in famine
c) victims tortured by oppressors
d) helpless old people
e) loneliness
f) poverty and
g) pain
9. The last sentence completes both the point he wishes to make and the emotional drama that he has created through the metaphor of the “great winds”—“I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot and I too suffer.”
10. The last paragraph though short shows his determination to carry on with no regrets. Since it is extracted from his autobiography the fifth paragraph has a meaning too, otherwise it would have been redundant.
11. One thing you realize after reading this essay is how short it is. “Brevity is the soul of wit” says Shakespeare in Hamlet. Try not to be a chatterbox like Polonius.

Questions
1. How does Russell achieve coherence in paragraph 1 and 2?
2. Considering the writer’s purpose in paragraph 2, explain whether the paragraph is complete.
3. Comment on the unity of the essay. Where, it at all, does the writer digress.
4. How are the central ideas of paragraph 2, 3, and 4 related to the main idea of the essay?
5. What are the topic sentences of paragraphs 3 and 4?
6. What passions have governed your life? Write about one of them in a single paragraph (120 words) that is unified, orderly, coherent, and complete.