most constructive position of Wang Keping in the dialogue of East and West is his arguments to refute (1) the cultural and geographi- cal division by Kipling:
“East is East, West is West, And never the twain shall meet",
and (2) to advocate the importance and necessity of mutual under- standing, intercultural communication and complementary interac- tion between East and West, by making use of the new Philosophi-
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1 Plato, Phaedrus, 6b; Republic, 521c. 2 Phaedrus, 276a.
cal Poiesis, that is, the rediscovery of the Confucianist ideal har- mony, which transforms and modifies the previous positions, ex- pressed, as he puts it:
“East is not All East, West is not all West, And why not the twain shall meet.
Let the world be in order with diversity.3
or be in harmony without uniformity."4
Wang's “Multicultural Strategy", further on, has recently been taken “flesh and bones" in the publication of Transcultural Views which, as he points out, is intended to evoke a depth reexamination of and reflection on the diversity of value systems in humanities and traditions from different cultures in the context of globalization and its challenges. It is also intended to expose the readers to dis- tinct observations and ponderings chiefly in such domains as inter- cultural philosophy, aesthetics, poetics, and eco-ethics.
There is no doubt that behind Wang's intercultural communica-
tion and complementary interaction between East and West as well as his Transcultural Views, is Plato's deep concern with the human
psyche (fyx0) as it is explored in the structure of the whole dialo- gue of Republic and characterized with a chain of thought-provoca- tive allegories. According to his analysis and interpretation, the dia- logue commences with the magic ring that is deployed to expose the vulnerable psyche within which there lies a demonic will to self-benefits at the cost of others' interests; then it introduces the tripartite formation that is to illustrate the interactive psyche within which the rational, the spirited and the appetite compete for its own dominance; and it ends up with the wandering soul that is intended to illuminate the interchangeable psyche in accord with the law of karma relating to the Orphist convention. All this shows the fact that the education of the complex psyche is not merely a critical necessity, but also a difficult enterprise.
Wang is particularly interested in Plato's education of the psy-
che and its moralistic scheme as well as its wandering. In his own
words, “the Republic involves a dialectical discussion of such inter- woven themes as politics, ethics, and paideia altogether. But all this involves the remolding of the human soul owing to the fact that po- litics is grounded on ethics, and ethics on paideia, and accordingly,
paideia is pointed to morality, and morality to the soul in the final
3 Cf. F. S. C. Northrop, The Meeting of East and West, New York: Macmil- lan co., 1960, 1946, p. 454.
anatomy of the city-soul analogy".5 It also involves religious pre-
aching, psychological analysis, philosophical reasoning, mystical in- ference, and some sort of threatening advice for self-responsibility when making a choice of lifetime Necessity. However, Wang adds, that the Platonic conception of morality depends on the nurture of the inward aspects of the psyche that usually take their root in the soil of such cardinal virtues as wisdom, courage, temperance and jus- tice."6 If every citizen is aware of all this, it is certain to be a bliss
for himself, for others, and for the city-state or polis as a whole. However, according to the same author, Plato's depiction of the
psyche through allegories is not merely morally symbolic, but also
philosophically inspiring. In practice, the Platonic way of story-tel- ling and philosophizing seems to be interwoven in a close, sophisti- cated and dramatic knot. It is all intended for a metaphorical reveal of philosophical speculation with the help of poetic tradition in its original sense. As a matter of fact Wang utilizes Plato's philosophi- zing features and poetic wisdom because they make possible to in- vent relevant analogies to make his philosophical discourse more engaging and appealing, better, to create a discourse shift from cross-questioning to mythos-telling, leading the audience to take in conventional beliefs and even agreeable opinions. The philosopher of Beijing succinctly points out that Plato takes into due considera- tion the educational legacy and background of the ancient Greeks as his intended readers, and deliberately adopts a principle of commu- nicative ethics by adapting his speech style and rhetorical expertise into the cultural environment. Actually, this serves Wang's double purpose: to produce an involving ambiance for efficient communi- cation and to evoke rethinking because the allegorical descriptions as such are, semantically speaking, almost always open to organic polysemy.
Keping Wang is both sincere and bold thinker in accepting Pla- to's efficient communication and the polysemy of allegorical des- criptions in the New Movement that took place in China since 1920. As he puts it in his paper: “Plato's Allegorical Descriptions of the Psyche", “most of Chinese thinkers tend to reflect on the possibility of reconstructing the indigenous culture upon the model of its occidental counterpart. They have been preoccupied with this ambition to rebuild the country and national identity as well. In this
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5 “Plato's Allegorical Exposition of the Psyche", Skepsis XVIII/i—ii, 2007, p. 257.
regard what has turned out to be most influential is the fruit of labor by the modern Confucianists".
But there is the other part of the story too. The allegory of the magic ring has already brought into full play the inner drive to “do whatever he pleases". In this case the inner drive is definitely the de- terminant factor so vulnerable and subject to the temptation. Under such circumstances neither the just man nor the unjust man could pull himself through the test and, therefore, one is liable to fall at the encounter with a great temptation. Hence it appears naturally hard to do justice, but easy to do injustice. Hesiod's Works and
Days is quoted to this effect.
“There is much evil-doing; it is never hard to make that choice. The way is smooth, the goal lies near at hand. Virtue is out of reach
without much toil. That is the god's decree."7
Obviously the will to do injustice is to set off along a smooth and easy path, but its counterpart to do justice is to tread on a long and uphill road. The former is highly inviting whereas the latter is hugely expensive or costly. It is therefore easy for the just man to become unjust while formidable for the unjust man to become just. In addition, one also finds it easy to praise justice in public, but finds it hard to appreciate it in private. All this is due to the vulnerability of the human psyche or the human weakness by nature because most of humans are liable to get corrupted in face of fame and profit. This is applicant to the Chinese conception of shidao
renxin, meaning the interrelationship between the worldly ways and
the human soul. The worldly ways are consisted in social norms, moral codes, value systems, and among others. But they are all per- formed by human beings, and primarily determined by the human soul. So the degeneration of the worldly ways can be plausibly tra- ced back to that of the human soul. This to some extent, Wang points out, resembles the Western notion that law is made to break [because of humankind as its maker and breaker]. If one is without a moralized psyche to do justice, the law and its like are nothing but show pieces, subject to the deployment for wrong purposes or brutal distortion in the name of liberty or whatsoever.
Seeing this, Plato tries to link the cause of either justice or injustice with the complexity of the human psyche, and offers a more specific anatomy of its tripartite formation. Nevertheless, what
Plato is more concerned about is how to harmonize the three com- ponents of the psyche into a beautiful order (kosm0santa) or in- corporated whole (synarmÃsanta). With respect to the three parts, it is in principle that the rational leads to intelligible understanding, the appetitive to sensual perception, and the spirited to situational selection. In the case of a moral being, the rational takes the lead, accommodates the spirited and the appetitive as its allied subjects or supporters, and thus nourishes the virtue of temperance or self-dis- cipline. Accordingly he is apt to live a happy life, and become a qualified guardian of the city as he grows more and more interested in the community good rather than his self-advantage. This is of course no easy job. It expects the person to face all the hardships and embrace the Geist of self-sacrifice, always ready to dedicate him- self to justice and make light of being deprived of personal gains. Right in the process of rearing such virtues, he must manage to:
“first attain to self-mastery and beautiful order within himself, harmo- nize these three principles [of the rational, the appetitive and the spi- rited], the notes or intervals of three terms quite literally the lowest, the highest, and the mean, and all others there may be between them, and link and bind all three together and make of himself a unit, self-controlled and in unison, then he should turn to practice if he finds aught to do either in the getting of wealth or the tendance of the body or it may be in political action or private business" (Rep. IV, 443d-e).
It is evident of what has been said so far that Professor Wang utilizes Plato's two basic aspects of his philosophy, the theoretical wisdom and the practical wisdom. Both are crucial for the Chinese philosophy and culture, for they can both “guide people in the journey of life".8 Plato's allegories, as we have seen, are not merely
morally symbolic, but also philosophically inspiring. More than that, story-telling and philosophizing are thought to be interwoven “in a close, sophisticated and dramatic knot". As a good Platonist Wang can easily discern the importance of the analogy of the in- ternal principles of the soul with the intervals of the musical scale, their lings and their bounding together, and also the importance of the shift from cross-questioning to mythos-telling, thus taking into due consideration the long and rich pre-Socratic philosophical and cultural tradition as well as the deep and wide background of the ancient Greeks, particularly that of Platonism — very appropriate
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8 K. Wang, Spirit of Chinese Poetics, Foreign Language Press, Beijing, China 2008, p. 129.
mediators indeed for the approximation and harmonious coexistence of East and West.
2. John P. Anton, our second paradigm case, intends to show his contribution to the Platonic Tradition in the West, its reception and evaluation by western scholars, particularly, the mediation of Plato to the conflicts of western cultures and movements.
John Anton, a distinguished scholar of Plato, of Platonism and of Neoplatonism, is mainly known for his originality in relevant is- sues as well as for his critical approach to the Western platonic tra- dition.9 An example of his originality in the understanding and in-
terpreting Plato is his argument for Socrates' statement in Phaedrus (277e), that we should not call a man “philosopher" when all he of- fers is what he has put down in literary form. In his article, “Drama and Irony in the Phaedrus", Professor Anton argues that the state- ment contains a note of deep irony. Plato as a dramatist does not make direct statements in the manner of a philosopher-writer. His dramatic Socrates, however, makes philosophical statements, but they are of the persona, not the writer. The historical Socrates, also, wrote nothing. So, what are we to do with the criteria the dramatic Socrates propounded in the Phaedrus and elsewhere? Anton sugge- sted to take the second route and move away from the literary dis- course whether Plato's or anyone else's, and go to the dramatic sce- ne of the Phaedo and the dramatic Socrates where the literary and the oral meet in the convergence of the historical and the dramatic Socrates. This would be the ultimate theme of the Phaedo: Socra- tes' way of life, confirmed in the virtuous conduct of the andreios. The doctrine of the unity of the virtues is now secured as an ethical and political principle. The conduct of Socrates holds the key to the mysterious “unwritten doctrine" Plato never disclosed. We may find it once we are prepared to think that we are dealing with a doctrine that cannot be written, if only because no literary device can con- tain it and articulate it fully. It can only be lived. How and why, was the record of the life of Socrates, real or dramatic. This interpe- netration is one feature Plato would find impossible to deny.10
9 See his recent book on American Naturalism & Greek Philosophy, Huma- nity Books 2005.
10 See also, Science and the Sciences in Plato. Papers contributed by G. Vlas- tos, A. P. D. Mourelatos, R. G. Turnbull and I. Mueller. Edited and with an Intro- duction by John P. Anton. New York: Eidos Publications, Caravan Press, 1980. pp. 127.
Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy: Studies in Plato's Philosophy. Volume
III. Edited and with an Introduction by John P. Anton and Anthony Preus. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989. Pp. vi, 358.
In regard to Anton's reference to Plato's Influence to the West- ern world and to his critical approach to the Platonic tradition in ge- neral it will suffice for our purpose to confine to two of his contri- butions, namely, (i) “We and the Ancients: the Timeliness of the Geek Political Wisdom",11 and (ii) “Naturalism and the Platonic
Tradition".
(i) Anton's paper, to begin with, on “We and the Ancients" is mainly concerned with the phases of Western culture, their encoun- ters with Hellenism and the effects of the exchange on the evalua- tion and interpretation of the selected features that transformed the encounters into a confrontation. During those phases the “receiving" cultures, Roman, Christian, and modern European, each took what it needed while rejecting the remainder although the latter contained what was regarded essential to Hellenism and constituted the body of its political wisdom. Thus, each encounter ended as a confronta- tion which carried with it a loss of opportunity to incorporate the vital elements of political experience that had given the classical culture its perennial significance. This has led John Anton to take a closer look to the cultural heritage of Greece, which, according to his terminology, became one of the pillars that supported what emerged as Western Civilization, formulated a different set of insti- tutional values, especially in education and political conduct. His inquiry found its utmost expression in the works of Plato and Ari- stotle.
The classical politÊs, however, and the modern-contemporary citizen are worlds apart. The classical view has lost its standing in education and political life, taking with it in its downfall the Plato- nic and Aristotelian theories of virtue. John Anton outlines the crea- tive and reflective activities of the classical mind in their relation to the current views on human nature by pointing out the fundamental idea of virtue as the attainable excellence for each “potency" (dyna-
mis) of human nature. The impressive contrast between the current
variety of views on human nature and the singularity of the classical conception brings to mind the cohesion the ancients attained in their creative and reflective activities. There was an impressive “meeting of minds" — the Greeks called it homonoia — among the philo- sophers, the tragic poets, the historians, and the artists. They all had their sights focused on the same entity: human beings, their works and actions, the great variety of desired preferences notwithstand- ing. It was this homonoia that formed the basis for the unity of their
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11 Published in Philosophical Inquiry, Vol. XXVII/1—2 (Winter-Spring 2005): 3—23, issue in Honor of Constantine Despotopoulos.
culture. Anton sees that the only spectator able to maintain safe dis- tance from the steady flow of pathÊmata, is dispassionate logos, usually arriving late, just as it does in the course of human develop- ment, to direct the drama of history. It remains to see the reception and development of Plato and the Platonic tradition during the first part of the twentieth century as they are presented and evaluated by Anton's first hand information. His evaluative comments include Santayana, Woodbridge, John Dewey, Randal and Irwin Edman.12
(a) Santayana, who taught courses on Plato and Aristotle at Harvard, was the first to present a defense and espouse advocacy of Greek philosophy as a rational mode of life in the five volumes of his The Life of Reason (1905—1906). The work was inspired by a blending Hegelian phenomenology and Plato with Aristotelian ethics and aimed to project the full story of the progress of the hu- man mind. It was the closest any American thinker had ever come to understanding the naturalism of the Greeks, especially at a time, as he stated, when “the philosophical and political departments at Harvard had not yet discovered Plato and Aristotle". His defense of Plato against Lotze's position that Plato's ideas were abstractions, Santayana thought it a distortion of Plato: “His (Plato's) ideas were not abstractions but types, goals of thought, things we mean to speak of when we have thoughts… something transcendent that our thoughts aim at."13 The canvas on which Santayana draws his tri-
bute to Socrates' contribution is on Reason in Common Sense: “Ha- ving developed in the spirit the consciousness of its meanings and purposes, Socrates rescued logic and ethics for ever from autho- rity…". Santayana's intuitive approach to Plato's “sublimest expres- sion" of the Socratic ethics is similar to the Eastern aesthetic ap- proach to Plato (see Keping Wang above). Plato, as a true Greek lo- ver of beauty wished it to flourish in the real world. This, for San- tayana, is Reason as Art. According to Anton, Santayana is viewing Plato as a thinker who has accepted the flux of the immediate and
12 On Santayana, see Anton's essay on “Naturalism and the Platonic Tradi- tion" in American Naturalism & Greek Philosophy, Chapter 10, pp. 287—301, which also includes “Woodbridge and Plato's Philosophy", “John Dewey and Pla- tonism", “Randal on Plato and Plotinus" and “Irwin Edman on Plato and Plotinus" and which are of utmost importance for our research. All wrote provocative inter-