Plato and the choice of life

Plato and the choice of life

From one point of view philosophy is centred on the human challenge of the choice of life: put simply, what are we to do?

Plato asks his readers to look at that question in the widest possible frame, and the deepest possible depth. The Republic is an examination run in parallel: how an individual should arrange him or herself, and to what end; and how should a society arrange itself and to what end? After ten books of searching for goodness and justice, Plato choses to close his dialogue with a myth in which souls are depicted choosing an entire life before the throne of Necessity and her daughters, the Fates.

This evening having briefly explored the structure and fundamental questions posed in the Republic, we will focus on that myth in an attempt to clarify our understanding of our relation to the great cosmic order, our own interior order, and the extent and limitations of human choice.

The Trust has run these evenings since 2014 but this is the first we have planned since the winter of 2020: we will resume our usual approach – a short talk of around 15 minutes, and then a discussion between those attending guided by some extracts from a Platonic text (in this case, passages from the Republic’s closing myth). The evening will be presented by Tim Addey.

All are welcome – entrance is free, although donations are welcome.

Venue: Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, London, NW1 7A (5 to 10 minutes walk from Camden Town Tube).

26th September, 6.30 – 8pm