Article ID: CBB142199590

Theodicy and Moral Responsibility in the Myth of Er (2018)

unapi

This paper focuses on Plato’s compressed theodicy in the Republic’s Myth of Er, which stems from the famous αἰτία ἑλομένου· θεὸς ἀναίτιος verdict, found at 617e4–5. Its direct implication is the understanding that the souls of the Myth are autonomous in making their choices, and therefore morally responsible for their decisions and actions. God is thus exonerated of all blame for the disappointments and sufferings they are going through, and his beneficent nature is defended, at least within the confines of the Myth’s rudimentary theodicy. It is my opinion that Plato is indeed justified in upholding such views. In order to demonstrate that, I shall try to argue that the claim of individual responsibility – upon which Plato’s theodicy in the Myth of Er is exclusively founded – withstands the charges of determinism and infinite regress of accountability, leveled against it by Annas, Halliwell, et al., and McPherran, Inwood, et al., respectively. I shall also try to make a case against Annas’ and Thayer’s allegations that the memory loss, which is one of the consequences of the reincarnation process, absolves the agent from culpability for the mistakes committed in his/her previous lives, because such loss implicates discontinuity of personal identity. Before engaging with this issues, however, I shall attempt to provide a possible Platonic account of the concept of freedom of choice – the basic precondition for moral responsibility – as employed in the Myth of Er.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB142199590/

Similar Citations

Book Fine, Gail; (1999)
Plato 2: Ethics, politics, religion and the soul (/isis/citation/CBB000110607/)

Book Theokritos Kouremenos; (2019)
Plato's Forms, Mathematics and Astronomy (/isis/citation/CBB619986511/)

Article Nicholas R. Baima; (2018)
Playing with Intoxication: On the Cultivation of Shame and Virtue in Plato’s Laws (/isis/citation/CBB840474327/)

Article Meyer, Martin F.; (2004)
Platon und das Sokratische Pragma (/isis/citation/CBB000933642/)

Article Wolfsdorf, David; (2011-12)
Plato's Conception of Knowledge (/isis/citation/CBB001231746/)

Book Carone, Gabriela Roxana; (2005)
Plato's Cosmology and Its Ethical Dimensions (/isis/citation/CBB000772065/)

Book Thumiger Chiara; (2018)
Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine (/isis/citation/CBB513291278/)

Book Graham, Angus Charles; Mo, Di; (2003)
Later Mohist Logic, Ethics, and Science (/isis/citation/CBB000470777/)

Article Pakaluk, Michael; (2010)
The Great Question of Practical Truth, and a Diminutive Answer (/isis/citation/CBB000933357/)

Article Saul Rosenthal; (2018)
Self-Predication and Productive Metonymy (/isis/citation/CBB070332823/)

Article Emily Austin; (2019)
Piety and Annihilation in Plato’s Phaedo (/isis/citation/CBB939004533/)

Article Prince, Brian David; (2014)
Physical Change in Plato's Timaeus (/isis/citation/CBB001214195/)

Article Sagias, G.; (2004)
Place and Dream in Timaeus (/isis/citation/CBB000931337/)

Article Gregory, Andrew; (2012)
Kennedy and Stichometry---Some Methodological Considerations (/isis/citation/CBB001251229/)

Article Price, A. W.; (2009)
Are Plato's Soul-Parts Psychological Subjects? (/isis/citation/CBB001211437/)

Article Moore, Christopher; (2014)
How to “Know Thyself” in Plato's Phaedrus (/isis/citation/CBB001420146/)

Book McCabe, Mary Margaret; (1999)
Plato's individuals (/isis/citation/CBB000111287/)

Book Patocka, Jan; (2002)
Plato and Europe (/isis/citation/CBB000201913/)

Authors & Contributors
Saul Rosenthal
Thumiger, Chiara
Baima, Nicholas
Austin, Emily A.
Zaborowski, Robert
Wolfsdorf, David
Concepts
Philosophy
Ethics
Soul (philosophy)
Physics
Mathematics
Logic
Time Periods
Ancient
Zhou dynasty (China, 1122-221 B.C.)
20th century
Places
Greece
Europe
Rome (Italy)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment