Levels of Argument: A Comparative Study of Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

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In Levels of Argument, Dominic Scott compares the Republic and Nicomachean Ethics from a methodological perspective. In the first half he argues that the Republic distinguishes between two levels of argument in the defence of justice, the 'longer' and 'shorter' routes. The longer is the ideal and aims at maximum precision, requiring knowledge of the Forms and a definition of the Good. The shorter route is less precise, employing hypotheses, analogies and empirical observation. This is the route that Socrates actually follows in the Republic, because it is appropriate to the level of his audience and can stand on its own feet as a plausible defence of justice. In the second half of the book, Scott turns to the Nicomachean Ethics. Scott argues that, even though Aristotle rejects a universal Form of the Good, he implicitly recognises the existence of longer and shorter routes, analogous to those distinguished in the Republic. The longer route would require a comprehensive theoretical worldview, incorporating elements from Aristotle's metaphysics, physics, psychology, and biology. But Aristotle steers his audience away from such an approach as being a distraction from the essentially practical goals of political science. Unnecessary for good decision-making, it is not even an ideal. In sum, Platonic and Aristotelian methodologies both converge and diverge. Both distinguish analogously similar levels of argument, and it is the shorter route that both philosophers actually follow--Plato because he thinks it will have to suffice, Aristotle because he thinks that there is no need to go beyond it. Cover Levels of Argument: A Comparative Study of Plato´s Republic and Aristotle´s Nicomachean Ethics Copyright Acknowledgements Contents Introduction Part I: Plato´s Republic 1: The Shorter Route in Republic II-IV Introduction 1. The Methods of the Shorter Route (a) The state-soul parallel and the use of hypothesis (b) The `functional method´ (c) The return to the individual in book IV [i] The Use of Hypotheses [ii] The `Vulgar Tests´ (d) The use of analogy: justice and health (444c-e) 2. The Appeal to Observation 3. Metaphysics and the Shorter Route 2: The Adequacy of the Shorter Route Introduction 1. The Metaphysical Solution: Invoking Books V-VII 2. The Psychological Solution 3. A Third Approach (a) Nurture (b) Nature (c) The provisional nature of the argument Conclusion 3: The Longer Route Introduction 1. Rep. VI-VII on the Longer and Shorter Routes (a) VI 504a-506b: a problem with the back reference to book IV (b) Further differences of context? (c) The priority of the Good (d) The longer route in book VII (e) The longer and shorter routes compared [i]Detail [ii]The Use of Hypotheses [iii]The Role of Perception [iv]Breadth [v] Dialectical Prowess 2. The Middle Route: A Hybrid? (a) Rational reconstruction (b) VI 485a-487a: the qualities of the philosopher 4: The Role of Metaphysics in Republic VIII-IX Introduction 1. The First Argument: VIII 543c to IX 580c (a) The four degenerate characters (b) Analysis of the argument (c) The empirical character of the argument 2. The Two Hedonic Arguments (a) The first hedonic argument (580d-583b) (b) The second hedonic argument (583b-588a) 3. The Concluding Argument (588b-592b) 5: The Cave Allegory and the Structure of the Republic Introduction 1. Locating the Shorter Route outside the Cave 2. Locating the Shorter Route inside the Cave (a) C2 as illustrating the shorter route (b) The problem of the cave and the line (redux) 3. Is Moral Inquiry Excluded within the Cave? Conclusion Part II: Aristotle´s Nicomachean Ethics 6: Political Science and the Longer Route Introduction 1. The Nature of the Inquiry: The NE as Political Science (a) The argument of NE I 2 (b) The NE as a species of political science: the evidence of VI 8 (c) Legislative science in NE X 9 2. Aristotle and the Longer Route 7: The Limits of Precision Introduction 1. Precision and the Fluctuation of Practical Situations 2. NE I 6 and I 13: Avoiding Theoretical Precision 3. Limiting the Pursuit of Theoretical Precision in NE X (a) NE X 8 (b) NE X 4 4. Comments Following the Initial Sketch of the Good (NE I 7) Conclusion 8: Explanation in NE I 4 and 7 Introduction 1. NE I 4: The Race Course Analogy 2. NE I 7 on the Role of Explanation (a) Limiting the role of explanation? (b) What are the principles of political science? (c) How are principles attained? (d) The nature of Aristotle´s project: definition and clarification Conclusion 9: Aristotle and the Race Course Introduction 1. Moving towards the Turning Post in the NE: Defining the Principles 2. The Downward Journey (a) The role of explanation within the NE (b) Looking beyond the NE 3. The Politics and the NE 10: The `Endoxic Method´ Introduction 1. What is `the Endoxic Method´ (TEM)? 2. NE I 4-8 3. A Further Application of TEM in NE I 8-11 4. Friendship in NE VIII-IX 5. Other Passages in the NE Conclusion Conclusion Bibliography Index Locorum General Index