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The Symphony of Temperance in Republic 4

Bibliographic Data

ID23207431
AuthorsTosca A C Lynch (0000-0002-7530-4020, University of Oxford, corresponding author), Tosca Lynch (Jesus College, University of OxfordTurl Street, Oxford, OX1 3DW)
Year2017
Volume5
Issue1
Pages18-34
Publication date2017-02-23
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGreek and Roman Musical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2212-974X • E-ISSN: 2212-9758
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/22129758-12341287
OpenAlexW2594053303
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited7

This paper calls into question a long-lasting but ill-founded tenet of Platonic scholarship, namely that Plato was not interested in, or aware of, the technical implications of the musical concepts he employed in the dialogues. Conversely, I will show how Plato exploited the technical and practical features of the concept of symphōnía dià pasôn , and of choral singing more generally, to highlight the unique role played by temperance ( sōphrosýnē ) in the ideal city. More precisely I contend that Plato’s musical images, far from being decorative or purely metaphoric devices, enrich our understanding of this ethical notion precisely by means of their technical and performative implications, which were very familiar to the original readers of the Republic . Hence musical theory and practice, in addition to being central elements of the cultural context in which Plato’s reflections must be interpreted, represent also a repertoire of concepts that significantly informed his philosophical theories.

Aesthetics · Art · Choir · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Ideal (ethics) · Literature · Musical · Pedagogy · Performative utterance · Political science · Repertoire · Scholarship · Singing · Sociology · Symphony · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

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Citations per year0.57
Citation span2019 - 2026 (8)
Highly citedNo

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