{PLATO (428-348)} : [POLITEIA]+[THE STATE] PRODUCING SOCIAL SPACE

M1/2 design research project TU Eindhoven

"Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought."

John Rawls

This project starts from a simple premise: Politicians design laws to govern our behaviour in a community and architects design spaces to accommodate our behaviour in private and public space. What is the relationship between these two design activities?

Plato's Republic is one of the classics of world literature. It contains statements about justice, art, music, poetry, the nature of knowledge, about bringing up children and education, about the relationship between man and woman, you name it. Its influence, for better and for worse, is inconceivably great. In fact, I would happily place a bet on the chance that we all at some point in our day, do or think something which is directly or indirectly influenced by the imagery and thinking in this extraordinary book.

At the same time it is highly problematic, even controversial. Not only is it based on a conception of the role of people in their environment which is no longer tenable, but it encourages an all pervading influence of government over the daily lives of its people that we would find irksome and repressive.

The state that Plato designed to illustrate the possibility of a just community, rests on the premise, not in itself unreasonable that 'that the greater the unity of the state the better.' But how do you achieve such unity? At what cost? Plato's answer constitutes a highly disciplined Utopia that has resonated far and wide in counterparts as various as the Israeli Kibbutzim to the organisation of Communist Russia, from Charles Fourier' s Phalansteres to certain Christian communities en monastic order, from North Korea to Cambodia, from the university to the prison. Plato's Republic is a place perhaps best left unbuilt. This project throws this wisdom to the winds and intends to study the book and distil from it a rigorous program of demands so that we can accurately give shape to the community it describes. By designing it we shall show up its problems. That will give us food for thought.

The only difference between our project and the spirit guiding the book is that of density and contemporaneity. We shall be designing it within our own time, using the technology available to us now and we shall assume that the state will be built for a city of more than one million. Furthermore we shall interpret Plato's concerns from a perspective determined by our own. The result of scaling and pimping up the challenge in this way will be that we shall need institutions and buildings for activities that Plato would no doubt have pictured taking place pleasantly, or at least discretely, somewhere in the Attic countryside; in his world academia was a garden, in ours it is a campus.

The purpose of this project then is to investigate the relationship between software and hardware: between the rules and spaces determining and governing our behaviour. It is intended to find out what the nature of that relationship is. In this way it is meant to make us think about the good life, make us discuss the nature of our engagement with society as architects: What is it we want and how should we (not) go about getting it. Each student will read The Republic and another critical text about the idea of utopia, eutopia, heterotopia and other variations. In the form of a symposium (also a Platonic concept) we shall present our ideas with the help of a masterplan and then we shall go about designing one of the institutions of the Republic thereby showing it up for what it is, whatever it is.

Relationships

The relationships and problems we would like to investigate are:

How do you distil a program of demands from a vision of the good life?

How do you parcel, route and program a community?

Where should rules prevail over walls?

Where should walls prevail over rules?

What is the nature of the division between public and private space?

How do we find the appropriate atmosphere and expression for an institution?

How do you design for political unity?

How far do we go in designing activities for the ´greater good’ we find morally problematic or even repugnant?

How can we use design in the debate concerning the good life?

By the end of the design-project students will be presenting their individual designs using a model and presentation drawings including sections, plans, perspectives, views and details.

This design will be accompanied by a presentation of their research work and a reflection upon the relation between the two.

Dikaios

 δικαιος

The central question of Plato's Politeia: what is justice? What is a just person? What is a just community? And, are they comparable?

Dikaios,  δικαιος is an adjective meaning moral or just, or doing right.

The abstract cognate noun stands for justice or morality: doing right: dikaiosu/nh means rightenousness or justice

A. in Homer and other early writers,
I. of persons, observant of custom and social rule, well-ordered, civilised, a regular way of living, to woo in due form, decently
2. observant of right, righteous, Hom., etc.:—so of actions, in accordance with right, righteous.

B. later usage:
I. of things, even, well-balanced
2. right, lawful, just, right; also, a right, a lawful claim, rightly, justly,
II. of persons, as well as things, like Lat. justus, meet, right, fitting, to make a horse fit for another's use
2. real, genuine, true, really and truly
3. fair, moderate, with reason

C. you are bound to come, I have a right to punish, they have reason to be most distrustful
1 di^kai os_h_on

People taking part in the discussion

Socrates
Glaucon
Thrasymachus
Polemarchus
Adeimantus
Cephalus

Members of Plato's community

(Every member of the community does one job)

Farmers
Craftsmen
Builders
Joiners
Metalworkers
Masons
Painters (under strict conditions)
Shoemakers etc
Carpenters
Sculptors
Footsoldiers
Prostitutes
Doctors (In so far as they are necessary 464 d)
Sailors
Merchants
Poets (under strict conditions)
Actors
Musicians
Storytellers
Historians
Guardians
King
Statesmen
Officers or auxiliaries
Shopkeepers
Cooks
Nurses
Nannies
Barbers
Lawyers (In so far as they are necessary 462)
Teachers

Purpose of a community

Survival, Dikaios, Harmony, Power & Dominance, Doing what you want (not), To service the powerful (not), Increase wealth (not)

Qualities of a community

equality between men and women

Guardians & Auxiliaries: Courage, Self-Discipline, Justice (morality), Wisdom 428, Self Mastery definition (431a) Courage (429) Justice (432 ff) Needing to share each other's feelings for unity (462)

Philosopher King: Gentleness, Bravery, Love of Knowledge, Elegance and grace, Unmaterialistic, Fairness, Righteousness, Self-discipline

Artisans and Merchants have to be good at their job, self discipline, obedience to authority

Slaves: obedience to authority

Activities of the community

Public: Processions, Theatre, Games & Competitions, Market, Politics, Education & rhapsody, Exercise, Public Worship and festivals

Private: Rituals & worship, Job, Sex, Ablutions, Sleeping, Eating, Learning & practise,

Guardians specifically: Legislation, Censorship, Overseeing the work of the poets and artisans, (401), Overseeing education of children, Preventing workers becoming too rich or too poor, Safeguarding the size of the community to ensure unity, Ensuring stability and harmony, Deciding the fate of children, Eugenics, War and Diplomacy, Propagating the Golden Lie, Making sure legislation is not used to regulate the agora or manners or religious matters: siting temples, Adjudication

Artisans and Merchants: Trade, Making things,

Slaves: ...

Education of the community

Culture: Poetry and Theatre: representation, History, Rhetoric, Music, Appreciation, Artihmetic, Geometry, Solids, Astronomy, Dialects

Body: Decorum, Agility and elegance, Health and fitness, War skills

Shape of the community

A well-chosen location
Large enough to ensure unity
Small enough to ensure stability and viability
Guardians (416 ff):
Sober living quarters
No private property
Communal meals
Regular marriage ceremonies
Kindergarten (460d)
Style & Functionality
The Others:
Not too rich, not too poor
Style & Functionality

Other ideal communities

Aristophanes' Assemblywomen
The Israeli Kibbutz
Democracy & Welfare state
Charles Fourier's Phalanstere
Thomas More's Utopia
Aristotle's Polis
Augustine's City of God
Francis Bacon, New Atlantis
Samuel Butler, Erewhon
Karl Marx's Communism
Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities
The Shakers
The Quakers
Filarete's Sforzinda
Jack Vance, Rumfuddle
Robert Heinlein The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
William Morris' News from Nowhere,
Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward.
Iain Banks' Culture
Euhemerus, Panchaea
Tao Hua Yuan
Al-Farabi's Al-Madina al-Fadila
Tommaso Campanella, The City of the Sun
Johann Valentin Andreæ, Christianopolis
Haroun al Raschid's Baghdad
Anarchism

Works on Plato's Republic:

Arends, Jacob F. M.(1988) Die Einheit der Polis. Eine Studie über Platons Staat, Leiden

Blößner, Norbert (2004) "Platons 'Politeia' lesen", Information Philosophie, Heft 4/2004, S. 44-57.

Brinker, Wolfram (2008) "Platons Psychologie und Ethik. Philologische Untersuchungen über thymetisches Denken und Handeln in den platonischen Dialogen", Frankfurt u.a.

Kersting, Wolfgang (1999) Platons Staat, Darmstadt 1999

Schmitt, Arbogast (2008) "Die Moderne und Platon", Stuttgart/Weimar

Annas, Julia (1981). An Introduction to Plato's Republic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Benardete, Seth (1989). Socrates' Second Sailing: On Plato's Republic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Blackburn, Simon (2007). Plato's Republic: A Biography. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.

Bosanquet, B. (1895). A Companion to Plato's Republic. London: Rivington, Percival & Co.

Craig, Leon (1994). The War Lover: A Study of Plato's Republic. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Cross, R.C. (1964). Plato's Republic: A Philosophical Commentary. London: Macmillan.

Ferrari, ed., G.R.F. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Plato's Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Howland, Jacob (1993). The Republic: The Odyssey of Philosophy. Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books.

Kraut, ed., Richard (1997). Plato's Republic: Critical Essays. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

Levinson, Ronald (1953). In Defense of Plato. Cambridge: Harvard.

Mayhew, Robert (1997). Aristotle's Criticism of Plato's Republic. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

McNeill, David (2010). An Image of the Soul in Speech. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.

Mitchell, Basil; Lucas, J.R. (2003). An Engagement with Plato's Republic: A Companion to Plato's Republic. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Murphy, N.R. (1951). The Interpretation of Plato's Republic. Oxford: Oxford U.P.

Nettleship, Richard. (1898). Lectures on The Republic of Plato. London.

Nettleship, Richard. (1935). The Theory of Education in Plato's Republic. London: Oxford.

Ophir, Adi (1991). Plato's Invisible Cities. London: Routledge.

Pappas, Nikolas (1995). Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Plato and the Republic. London: Routledge.

Purshouse, Luke (2007). Plato's Republic. London: Continuum.
Reeve, C.D.C. (1988). Philosopher-Kings: The Argument of

Plato's Republic. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Rice, Daryl H. (1998). A Guide to Plato's Republic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Roochnik, David (2003). Beautiful City. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Rosen, Stanley (2005). Plato's Republic: A Study. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Santas, ed., Gerasimos (2006). The Blackwell Guide to Plato's Republic. Oxford: Blackwell.

Sayers, Sean (1999). Plato's Republic: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Sesonske, ed., Alexander (1966). Plato's Republic: Interpretation and Criticism. Belmont: Wadsworth.

Sinaiko, Herman (1998). Reclaiming the Canon. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Strauss, Leo (1964). The City and Man. Chicago: Rand McNally.

White, Nicholas P. (1979). A Companion to Plato's Republic. Indianapolis: Hackett.

Wild, John (1946). Plato's Theory of Man. Cambridge: Harvard.

Wild, John (1953). Plato's Modern Enemies and the Theory of Natural Law. Chicago: University of Chicago.

Ober, Josiah (1998). Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule. Princeton University Press.

Nichols Mary P. (1987). Socrates and the Political Community: An Ancient Debate. SUNY Press.

Corrigan Moreana, K. (1990) "The Function of the Ideal in Plato's 'Republic' and St. Thomas More's 'Utopia' " vol. 27, no.104, pp. 27-49

Works on education:

Locke, John (1993) Some Thoughts Concerning Education

Rousseau, J.J (1762) Emile ou de l'education

Dewey, John (1900) The School and Society

Dewey, John (1902) The Child and the Curriculum

Dewey, John (1909) Moral Principles in Education

Dewey, John (1916) Democracy and Education: An introduction to the philosophy of education

Dewey, John (1938) Experience and Education

Works on Justice:

Kant, Immanuel (1797) The metaphisics of morals (Die Metaphysik der Sitten)

Rawls,John (1972) A theory of Justice

Sandel, Michael, (2010) Justice, What's the right thing to do?

Barry, Brian, (1989) Theories of Justice