Paper Topics | Fall 2006 | Paper 4
Due Saturday, December 2rd, 5 p.m., in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox.
Maximum Length 1500 words
Please write on ONE of the following topics:
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How do Plato's Republic and Euripides' Bacchae conceive of and respond to the irrational?
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Plato's Republic, Xenophon's Oeconomicus, and Aristophanes' Lysistrata appear to embrace views of the relation between the sexes that are more egalitarian than the views found in the earlier works of Homer and, especially, Hesiod. Focussing on two of the later works, describe the ways in which they suggest a more egalitarian view, and the limits of their egalitarianism.
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Characterize Plato's theory of the structure of the soul, as given in the second half of Book Four of the Republic. What are Plato's arguments for this theory? Are they good? (In considering this question, try to focus on considerations that do not appeal to modern science.) Turn the page for a suggested framework for evaluating an argument.
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In books three (esp. 392c5-398b5) and ten (esp. 595-608c) of the Republic, Socrates offers a critique and rather negative assessment of mimesis (imitation). Yet, in various ways, Plato as author, and Socrates as character, make use of images and imitation. An important example is the "line" analogy in book 6 (509d and following), which can plausibly be considered an image in the Platonic sense of the term. How do you reconcile the apparent internal inconsistencies between Socrates' view about mimesis, and his own (and Plato's) uses of it to make arguments? Focus on one or two specific instances, and in each case make clear the specific relationship between Plato's theoretical statement on mimesis and his practice.
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In consultation with your conference leader, write on a topic of your own devising.