Timaeus — Plato

p. 94

The saying of Phocylides.

Republic III. Socrates, Glaucon.

The workingman has no time for tedious remedies.

The slow cure equally an impediment to the mechanical arts, to the practice of virtue.

from ignorance or inexperience of such a branch of medicine, but because he knew that in all well-ordered states every individual has an occupation to which he must attend, and has therefore no leisure to spend in continually being ill. This we remark in the case of the artisan, but, ludicrously enough, do not apply the same rule to people of the richer sort. How do you mean? he said.

I mean this : When a carpenter is ill he asks the physician for a rough and ready cure ; an emetic or a purge or a cautery or the knife, — these are his remedies.

And if some one prescribes for him a course of dietetics, and tells him that he must swathe and swaddle his head, and all that sort of thing, he replies at once that he has no time to be ill, and that he sees no good in a life which is spent in nursing his disease to the neglect of his customary employment ; and therefore bidding good-bye to this sort of physician, he resumes his ordinary habits, and either gets well and lives and does his business, or, if his constitution fails, he dies and has no more trouble.

Yes, he said, and a man in his condition of life ought to use the art of medicine thus far only. Has he not, I said, an occupation ; and what profit would 407 there be in his hfe if he were deprived of his occupation? Quite true, he said. But with the rich man this is otherwise ; of him we do not say that he has any specially appointed work which he must perform, if he would live. He is generally supposed to have nothing to do.

Then you never heard of the saying of Phocylides, that as soon as a man has a livelihood he should practise virtue? Nay, he said, I think that he had better begin somewhat sooner. Let us not have a dispute with him about this, I said ; but rather ask ourselves : Is the practice of virtue obligatory on the rich man, or can he live without it?

And if obligatory on him, then let us raise a further question, whether this dieting of disorders, which is an impediment to the application of the mind in carpentering and the mechanical arts, does not equally stand in the way of the sentiment of Phocylides?

Asclepius a states7nan. 95 Of that, he replied, there can be no doubt ; such excessive Republic in. care of the body, when carried beyond the rules of gymnastic, Socrates, is most inimical to the practice of virtue.

Glaucon. ^ Yes, indeed, I replied, and equally incompatible with the and to any r ^ a- r j kind of Study management of a house, an army, or an office of state ; and, or thought, what is most important of all, irreconcileable with any kind of study or thought or self-reflection — there is a constant suspicion that headache and giddiness are to be ascribed to philosophy, and hence all practising or making trial of virtue in the higher sense is absolutely stopped ; for a man is always fancying that he is being made ill, and is in constant anxiety about the state of his body.

Yes, likely enough.

And therefore our politic Asclepius may be supposed to Asclepius have exhibited the power of his art only to persons who, ^^o"^'^ "o^ ^ , , "^ , , cure diseased being generally of healthy constitution and habits of hfe, had constitutions a definite ailment ; such as these he cured by purges and ^^^^^^^ ^^^y , were of no use operations, and bade them live as usual, herein consulting to the State. the interests of the State ; but bodies which disease had penetrated through and through he would not have attempted to cure by gradual processes of evacuation and infusion : he did not want to lengthen out good-for-nothing lives, or to have weak fathers begetting weaker sons; — if a man was not able to live in the ordinary way he had no business to cure him ; for such a cure would have been of no use either to himself, or to the State.

Then, he said, you regard Asclepius as a statesman. Clearly ; and his character is further illustrated by his sons. The case of 408 Note that they were heroes in the days of old and practised the Meneiaus, . .,., , . who was atmedicmes of which I am speakmg at the siege of Troy : You tended by the