First Year Seminar – 2013
Plato’s Republic: Elenchos Essay
TYPE: Analytic
LENGTH: 1200 words
DATES: DUE
1) Monday, December 2
2) nd
- 300 word abstract due posted to Turnitin (5pm).
Thursday, December 5 th – 700 word rough draft due in class and posted on
Turnitin (5pm).
3) Monday, December 9 th - essay due in class and posted to Turnitin. NO LATE
ESSAYS ACCEPTED.
For the past few weeks, we have examined different forms of argument Plato uses in his
Republic . In this essay you will examine a ‘bone’ of The Republic that employs elenchos as its form of argumentation. First, to contextualize, you will make clear the trajectory of the broader argument Plato is pursuing in the surrounding text. You will then make explicit any implicit premises or leaps in logic Plato makes by distinguishing: 1) the trajectory of the elenchos , and 2) the points of transition that delineate the discrete units of evidence and reasoning that constitute the argument.
Make use of the following outline in developing your essay:
1.
Analysis of the argument contained within your passage will include: a.
The scope of your passage b.
c.
Its relation to the larger argument in which it finds itself
A point-by-point examination of the actual elenchos
1.
Beginning
2.
Establish the successive points of the evidentiary process a.
How each leads to the next, and ultimately to the....
3.
Conclusion
Intellectual virtue : charitable interpretation
Intellectual skill : capacity to make explicit the essence of an argument
2.
Offer a counter-argument, of your own design, that counters the weakest link of this argument. Possible strategies include: a.
Provide counterexamples to premises that generalize
Cast doubt on the premises b.
c.
d.
e.
Break the connection between if-then
Since Plato generally argues by analogy, focus your efforts on critiquing the alleged similarities within the analogy premises
Draw attention to further implications of a premise that are doubtful
Intellectual virtue : skepticism
Intellectual skill : capacity to critique an argument
3.
Finally, assume the stance of an objective judge and determine which of the two competing positions is most convincing. Be sure to detail the strengths and weaknesses of each respective position.
Intellectual virtues : intellectual honesty
Intellectual skill : capacity to consider an issue from a plurality of standpoints
Remember to use the ‘Boot Camp’ text on informal logic, which we considered earlier in the semester. Good luck.