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BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 2I5
to Blondell's themes that I cannot understand its non-appearance in the
indices.
Instead we get an account of the implications of Republic II-Ill's
criticisms of Horner's mixed style, involving direct speech as well as
narration. for Book I itself (228-245. especially 238). Consciousness of
the need for a performer to mimic bad characters in a drama seemed at
first to be answered by the detached vehicle of a controlling narration.
but in Book X we move beyond this to appreciate the detrimental effect
that any portrayal of bad character can have on a non-performing audience.
No more Platonic characters would behave badly: and soon even
the individualized quirks of personality will go. making the dramatic
rendering of a dialogue unnecessary. Slaves can do the reading. Idealized
teachers are matched with idealized interlocutors, beginning with
"the benign elenctic Sokrates" and Theaetetus. his "perfect interlocutor"
(260), and leading on to the striking use of an unnamed protagonist in
the Sophist (well discussed at 3 r8-32o). The two idealized interlocutors
in the Sophist-Statesman sequence both resemble Socrates in interesting
ways while displaying some differences (330: d. the young Socrates of
Parmenides). Blondell thinks that Theaetetus is an ideal to which Young
Socrates only approaches (331). but I see the former as an ideal type for
abstract theory. and the latter for social philosophy: Plato never has
Theaetetus discuss personal, political, or debating ethics.
The other development that is taking place is the move away from a
naturally elenctic teacher (however idealized) to an authoritarian one.
who nevertheless engages in question and answer debate that is responsive
"to the specific needs of the listener." The authoritarian stance goes
along with the transcendence of the particular point of view that Plato's
earlier speakers had been characterized by. "The visitor's world-view
transcends other cultural divisions as well [as racel. including class and
gender" (362). Thus the Visitor can never have the particularities that
we always associate with Socrates. who "literally embodies individuality
in mind. physique, personality, mode of inquiry and pedagogy"
(392). Nevertheless Socrates "is retained in order to give his tacit approval
of the visitor and what he stands for. including Plato's decision
to broaden the range of dominant speakers" (394).
This book is extremely usefuL and needs to be pursued further. It
begins to explain, in more plausible ways than metaphysical deve1opmentalism.
some key changes that we associate with the putative "late"
period. Let me conclude with a table of my own.