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Reducing Desires on 27 March 2021

City of Pigs

In graduate school many years ago, my approach to the history of Philosophy was shaped by the demands of our exams.  Thankfully my job as a community college teacher provides opportunities to return with fresh eyes and fill in the gaps.  Thanks, again, for your podcast, which I think does an excellent job providing a general overview and challenging us to examine key details. 

 

I especially appreciated this episode.  As always, my Greek is limited to my knowledge of an occasional key term.  But, when I read The Republic, I'm left wondering about the implications of the exchange over the "City of Pigs."  On your reading, does Socrates accept Glaucon's criticism of this city and provide the second city as an improvement?  Or, is there room to view Socrates's second city, the "Feverish City," as a hypothetical account, a dialectical response to Glaucon's criticism?  Admittedly, this second reading would seem more plausible if Socrates didn't just drop the City of Pigs.  And, from what I can tell, he does. 

 

Thanks again! 

 

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