Response to 9-14-11 Prompt

First and foremost, as we discussed in class, Plato was probably not entirely serious in his belief that music neither should be filtered or really could be filtered; Plato (through Socrates) really just gives another one of his “in a perfect world” instances. That being said, since we can all agree that Socrates, Adeimantus, and Glaucon have all accepted this as being irrational, we’re still left with this fact: music is good for the soul. And since there is no way to filter music or promote the perfect harmony of word, rhythm, and melody given the emotional tendencies of man, all music must be good music.

In Book VII, Plato introduces the Allegory of the Cave. The basic concept is that those who know truth and have possessed more virtuosity than others are not necessarily obliged to teach the rest of his kin about this knowledge. Likewise, those who have attained some sort of knowledge are not always obliged to continue doing so. This means, that those who live in ignorance, in the dark, are sometimes meant to be there, to stay and indulge in their appetites. This concludes, in part, Plato’s philosophy of the tripartite system. Essentially, every soul should have harmony of rationality, spirit, and appetite. Likewise, society should have a harmony of those who are more rational (guardians, those outside the cave), those who have more spirit (warriors, those at the neck and mouth of the cave), and those who live in appetite (workers, those at the bottom of the cage). It seems Plato is saying all music is good music because at times it can express not only a range of emotions, but that it also has elements of the tripartite system.