matters -- like the story of cind.erellal Oedipus, Hamlet, jAntigoner Romeo and. Juriet, Antho4y and. creopatral ilad.amei,Butterfly, Don Juan, tle demonstration of the existenceof God,r or of the non-$itence of motion, the found.ationof virtue in self intefest (tfre fatfe of the bees), thecreation of the universe, the eternity of the universe, ithe period.ical destruction of the univef$9r and the exienjsion of those tbemes fron the telling tffitSBnt situat- iAions or futuee proJeots.

And I was interet \

;

the kind.s or genres of litera- Iture in which t !

epicl lyr ic, novol jrdeveloped. - tragpdy, comed;r, i.6cnnlr iao' l ormrmar{ a^. i^- . | . :3: ^ |hical argument, scienti-fic j

invetigltion. anatrlob thai to the irr""iio" "i-"r,"irr.Jthere were d.ifferent gpnres or whether they were arti- |there were d.ifferent genres or whether they were arti-ficial d.istinctions constfantly changing. hht u, first Iinterest in olassif ication from Aristotlefs poetics iBut the gBnres in whioh his interest center"ffiG- ithose which used as means of imitation, d.ictj-on, jrhglt\.and. hqnrnoqy - verse, song and d.ance - fcomeSrrt trag$$, epic, and d.ithyramb. He remarks thet Ithere are fef literary works that emply onfy language, Iprose or verser and can give only two exarnples the mimdard the Sooratic oonversation or dialogue. But that Iis to leave out almost the whole of literature as we Inow know it, the prose story and. t|l novel, d.rama with.{out music, the sscay, Iyrical poetry, the fable. Thesdhad their_beginning in the Hellenistlc age after 1f[ristotlefs d.eath. I

Moreover ln the Renaissance the liberal arts ceased. to r Iconoeived as d.istiflines to be used in interpretine lettedhunan and. d.ivinel as they had been treaded. in the Mid.dleAges and were conceived. ae subjeot matters. The liberalartsr as they becene the bases of liberaL arts collegesin tbe mod.ern period., were Literature, Philosophy, Histand Science.

If one raises the question, What were they before thisresurgFnoe, the answer is a thene. rrPhilosopb;rrr isnot sonething which ie the sane with ohanges orfrom antiquity to the present - it und.erwent atagpsin which i-t was totally a1tered.. In the Hellenio periof Democritusr. Plato, Aristotle and the Sophists itwae the whole'of knowledge - it was scien@1 inteltual investigation; in the treUenistio periocl with thefowtd.ation of great librariesl like those at Alerandrand. Pergamon, it becane a schol-arly pr.rrsuitl based

Themes of Li terature, Hietory, and Phi losophy. 1.Works of the Mind. Downtown Col lege. May U, 1073.

Whell I have been asked. to talk on the Works of the Mind-Series, i t has been my custom to l -ook at the l ists of boo.that are being read in the various g?oups and choose a su'ject for the talk which wj.ll touch on the various booksbeing read. I have therefore talked on the liberal arts,how they are used in read.ing booksr and. how they are ac-quired. from reading books, the relation of books to lifeand of reading to living, the relation of philosophy tolitsrature, history and science.

Tonight I should. lihe to talk about how it all hangstogether - how reading contributes to living, howlife is a kind- of read.ing and. interpretati.onr andread.ing iu { a kind. of f.iving and. acting2 how thelines of connecting and. living are themeg that we dev-elop, applXr vilJr and establish. I do not want totalk about interests and how they are pursued, becausethe pursuit of interests may be oonstructive or de-struotiver but rather to iiLentify some of t$e recogni-zabte which map off possible pursuits and the sign-posts that identify vl1ues to be attached to theeta6es of the pursuit and so animate new interests.

Attention first d.irected. to the question of ttremes bythe book of Polti, Les 35 Sttuations D{matit'ts Based onGoethefg Conversations with Eckermann - the'poet ancl crjtic Gozzi hacl naintained. that there a"re exactly 36 tragiceituations. SchilLer had. tried. to find. ad.ditional sltua-tions without sucoess. Polti extend.s the analysis fromtragic to clramatic - 2O0 examples taken from dramalepicr noueLs, history and Irealityrt to which he added inlater atltlitions. Argr:es that no more than 36 oan befound - a.ncL further that &trere are 36, no more or lessemotioas or passions.

The olassifieation of the situations did not follow aFchematie-m that fitted the interest I had developed. irthenes: J. disasterl B. revolt, 11 enigma. Il. Hate o:relativest L4. rivalry of relatives, 11. ad.ulterousmurdery 16. f0.ly, L7. fatal imprudence, 18. involun-orindEf love, 19. kill ing of unknown relativet 2Q.pacrifioing oneslf to an id,eal t 2I. Sacrifing oneself

. .f,pr"ua1eti*g, 22. sactificing every for passion...I nas, interestecl in themes as stories or argunents which

are toLd. again a^rrd. again or applied' to d-ifferent subject

Platonists, was equifpa in a critical ed.ition and. learnedoommentaries in the 19th centurtrr, and. in the 20bh Whiteh=cpulcL say that the whole history of philosoplqr has beena series of footnotes to Plato.

Aristotlere Lyceum used. Aristotle Method., extend.ed.his sciences, and. d.eparted. from this positions borrow-ing from the pythagoreans, .the atomists and. plato;his works were ed,ited. by Aridronicus of n\odes in thelst centr:ry B.C. alad. arlstotelianism was ihen based. ion the studlr of tk,ffi* - paraphrased, outlines,introd"uctions in m0"ly a few sections of theOrganon were trani}ffi.i.nto Latin by Boethdrus, and theLatin Aristotelir+im'of the eaaly Ir{A was based. on thethe Categories and.0n interpretation with a platoninn id.ialeotical oontinuation, until the translation of ihiE works in the fgth-l3$h centuriesl when they provid.qa n€w subject natter and. nethod., bu-t were the subjeot iof oontroversy due ia part to the non Cbristian implitions of soan Arabic interpretations -- Latin Ari

Themes of Literature, History and Philosop\r 2.

on knowledger interpretationr comneptary of textsl inRome it became the counterpart of rfiitoriol eloquencewas the art of speeching and writingt the ratio disserencrand Cicerors ambition was to reunite eloguence rf philo-sophy; philosop\r became a practical art rather than:rr inquiry or learning, and. its proper stu{r would. removethe impractical arlomoly of an education that prepared twokinds of erperts - those who could. speak byt had nothirrl"to say, and those who had knoilrlred.ge but could not expressit effectivbly. In the Middle Agesr Philosoplqlr became par'of or a handrnaiden to theolory. Ii the Renaissance itbecarne a separate subject matter and. the ooncer4 Was tgrelate it to science, historyl and. literatr.rre.j[fl e4qfr -"

rf one raises a similar qo"utiJr,*;;;;;;;;"iffi;H#;, for which the Greeks went back to the Greek t"flf,#'lolassios, the answBr is found. in a similar theme inwhioh sonething new emergecL in the process. The caseof hietory is similar - it is not true that the MiddeAges had no sense of hietory and no hietoriesr andthe hunanists whnt back to Oreek and Roman historians*yet in the thenatic squence history emerged as something new. Much the sarne in the more d.ramatic abruptbeginning of modern science.

This energ€noe of themes has a d.irect bearing on yourread.ing and on the books in which you have become intereeted. You have been reading Plato and Aristotle. Haveyou been learni.ng what Plato and Aristotle said or meant- apart from the annoying problem of the d.ifferences anclinad.equacies of the translations?

The reacling of Plato and Aristotle has been a longthene stretohing through history. The PlatonicAcadenSr whioh institutionalized. the studlr of Platowent through an evolution in which it taught skepti-c-ion (aoademio) probabilism) stlrred up the revolt ofthe Stoics who clained. to be the true interpreteiaof Plator then returned to the oltl academic d.ialectic,nq\red with Plotinus to Neoplatonism whioh was the sour

, oO gf mroh of Western mysticismr in Augustine laidtlorn the frarnework of Christian doctriner becarnua. basio philosoptry in the Platonic Acaderqy of Glorenct

;l ((rnth strong neo-platonic coloring -- Marsiglio'Fi.oins translated. both Plato and Plotinus into Latin)

ian iemr Averroist ic aristoiel ianlsm r, ant iparietotelinisn. I{ew eciitions and. translation in}he.Ranaissanoe,and critioal reaotion againgt Aristotle (ens3.aved. nenlmind.s, fixed. dootrinb inhibiting researoh and noveltyforiticaL eclitions a:rd. translationin 19th ceaturXr. Red.dsoovery andthe 2oth.

Tou:r reading have taken you into the

to mod.ern languageereinterpretation in

themes of philosop\rliterature, history and sriiences - and I propose to pur-sus thoee thenes further by exa^ming some of thenatioconneotions that have lecl your interest fron one to anokincl. or gonre of work, or that have d.etermined. what itnoans in oner as it has d.etermined. the meaninge of Platoand Aristotle. Learn critioial or philosophioal methodsby whioh to interpret yorks.

You read. AristotLers Poetios and if you ppply hisaritioal-nethod. when you read Sophoclesr 0edipusr Xouread it as an trargumenttr uith a beginning, mid,tlle I andend.r in whioh the nictdle ie by d.iscovery and reversal.Tour can even find. the three words of the title of thileoture, sinoe poetry is more uaiversal or pbiloeophthan history -- hietooyr literaturer philosophy'.

But Plato has different judgrnents about poetry -- it isnot clistinct from history and philosophy -. the only

or rhetoricians are also cLialeoticiang ard knowthe truth. Poetry and expoeition of truthe abou*i ,nas.related to the new sciences by the Carnbridge

poetstea{

aDd. th€ SophigtE - knoyledA€ or por€r th€ oondition offrsedoo w. Ar.ietotl€ aad tfie aton:.ita f"e.aor tJ o" I llbe$ea of litera.ture' Eistory atrd Phi1n6'iphy. 3.tla,tule anal hulstt traturo o! on hBbits etd instutions whioh goal, heroer a,adl nErr, Oetlipus of alivino guidaroe ia theprovido the oj.lorhBtanoeE for tba purEuit of knoul€dgE anA ieri,cfr fo! Jurtj.o€ atil virtus, reniniEcenoe of truth andth€ e!ta' purauit of bigter lovee. But osdipus ba€ alBo s Boi€nt-

Tho diff€!€lc€s of tbe.3 philoBophio vigrB dl6t€rnin6s lfio ilterpretatio!!, r&ioh has nede the tla,n6 Oedipus partth. plao. of poctty a,ll litoretu!€ in th6 progres. of of the vooabut&4lr of p6yohoaEsly6t6r s probiag of th6 deet{}!gdo[. [tr€ angirtt Dccts, trao6d. the theuo of f!6sdon flor of euboorsoiou8. lnd fi.lls1ly 6nd rhotorioal analysj rf In the Honoria .lies th. Craek6 corquor tbe [rojaae - odotiotrs snd invoiiiotr. Eistory of th€ interprBtationalal !€turr! to th.lltl&t8 to fitd a va.ri€ty of probleo anit appr€oistion a thenE i sad th€ lrovensrlt of the t!€sttnerof f!€edoo to t {lruFbr and. the oolqu€lod. troJend of baiio oonoepte - liko truth, Iove, f!..alon - Iikerris€trav€I in tle LcffiFoe wbele they ley th€ founde, e theirc tbat novsa fron braloh to bletroh of ktronledS€.tions of a Bitsd afffiltfion in FLioh freodotr sdefgBs Fl.eedom ia eally a Eubj€ct of historlr. The oreeiEflont the baLanoe t! rorcrEt and. tnovB on ilt the Blut uJritod in th6ir alefeffre of th6ir freoilon in the PelBiar+o €rtablisb a lsr loDa i! Etlglend. The tragedians , wat's as r€count6al by fierodotur, and C!6ek Boldlisls ,erploft other vsristiaa of f!€edoo itl th€ Pro,nethsus €:qflain dl.eBooraoy t; th€ p€rEian kinA rben he examin8sitt yhiob D€n eoqult! tha art6 by Lhich to bs free, in th€ virtuss of the diffeleDt forrdB of tgvernrnent. Atthe Tt.ojetr Uoned rhioh €q)lolas the f!6ealon of I nirori the 6nd of th€ x€r a iruoe which d.evel;!€a iEto aty colquer€d gloupr l il! the A!*i8bns in {bich the lar.d ool.L xsr }otwe€a tho Athenia.ns end tho Spsr.tars in whi'of the totla alo let ov€! egeln6t tha laws of ma. 6aoh plofosBer to be vorkiDg fo! th€ f!€ed.on of the C

[bo philoFophgrs cat! uao tho po€tB - Plsio to bari.sh th€; 0r6eks. HheE lrodoln history took its ihoorotio begin-lo€ta who tell utltlues and or.ko fatse v&luos attla,otiv€ i bi!8 fro6 Jsatr Bodi.nrs Xetloil

-esr-rB'l'trrrvrlbu to argue tb.t ths irua po.tEr Like ihe tfir€ rbetorioi- I for th€ oasy knoh.€deB Of bistow, it ras d.6ri.v6d. from.,!st and th. tru6 ltat.inon e$ pbilosophor. ard. d.lalco- 1 lbo studJr of LaIr and nas cLoee\r r6lai€i1 to hiB Sir 1tioi!.tt alrd ltiFiotl. to EtudJ thc a,rti.tlo foro of i i tivree d6 la !6pub1iqu6. Tflo d.irootions - itrtelnatio!oi..tty iD ih. Po.tlcs 6ud ibe Do.sl €ffeote and ed.uoe- | ol ond ths f!€od.on of th6 sEas in CrotiuE, PufeEd.orf,tiolal valut of poet4r i.! tbo Polj.ticsr s.paratilt 6sthe- I !,!d.oeatil€ aJd hj.story of trations snd ruivot.Faltio floE norsl oolslderctiona. i trietoryr in rbiob histarisls as d.iffsr6lt e6 tlegsl r

lh€ tbong of ft edotr ie tr€atEd. in e8ch of the brsnohe{ ltar!, 6nd O!oc. d.fin hirto'y s,a tbs d..vrlopE€nt ofof lii6feiu!€ ard kto}'led€g, eaoh of thE gBnr€s, bis- | fro.d,oo.ioty' litorstrE€t philotophr and soi6no€. lut ia I f! lbuoJ'Aido. tro fo!'o69 leadihg to th€ rer - furdmontalvi€l| of the fledbiliiy of those., how ghould on! i is.uar .trd r.hat rbt! rBial, Eo that ihe 6p€eohes of the proTeeal e singlo rolk of litelatu!€ - say th6 O.dipus. I tagoniate ooldtributo to the EtateDoat of tbo oplositionsIt oatt be r€ad 1n .aoh of the |.sJr6 diffe!€tttlatod ald I irbfoh i.e.d. to yar. thotorio end f!€6Aon --Sioily th6 fi-tbe biBtory of ti itE intelprotetior ereD.plifie6 thi.{ !.t <buooretlo city ststed ead. the b€aiDnin€€ of lhetoric

It 'Iay

be !€ral as a,tt arguE6llt a6 lrittoil€ r..sd it - ,l to dtv.lop ebility to logai.a atrd defeDd 0!!616 rightF.it ba! s b.gllnilg [i.ldl€ rra .ndr b.t"i!ri!g ritb o.di!!dl ioDuat. trayol.il f.!n oity to oity to t€sah tbe JrorygreooSttition of tho ptobl6o of tha ph€n6t tho foro4tion | lbCf |!'i. lh.iolio etd the !!w freodloBE of tbe EeDailarcof hJDothcro! oo!o.!!irg bcv it o€n bc ourcrt, la.dilg to .l -.f+*;lhr.

ilrprrtetiolrs oonoclnilg ritbts a,!d fr66alona in thhid rrr di6oor6r:r of hi. palt it it a.tril tb6 vrrssl of hir t; 2QIL'orats:r.sotiottBr 4nd tho r.solutio! by hi. aotions. J.

',"Onoritiosr of tbe philosophgrg to rbetorio -I Eay !6 lssd ara Dr.lelt.tion ald d.soliDtio! of '.1* Ei,tti,tnly lbc wiej are f!6e a. oppoE€al to ths Sopbi6tDatur6 and hulEn natut€ r the ds€D apliDg8 of a|lotlo! t . L ,.l ll'q|lroc thrt freedon is sn er€loiBe of pow€r enda,nal Euppr.Eaiolr, of a!.!ir.6 eDiL lov€!, std tb. thcrlFl '. '.ri rd*tuot of poyer. Tto po.itionB oonoruing tb6P.utio €ffcot of iltigbt. Thia i. ths ray Fr.ud read I rilrtioa gf Llowled€E el(l poHer to fr.edon - Pleio

past llterature opens our eyeF in present observatl-onstpast philosoplqr opens our minds in present speculation

and inquiry; past history isolates forces add conceptionsoperative in present circurnstances and happeninge' We

d.o not learn from literature, philospplSr or h.tistory as if

they were fixed entities or things which can be known ag

facternor as if thq faots of literature, philosophy or

history are duplioated' and recognized. in present artt

inquiry, or ocourre&og*r;,*.lile .Ceteot themes uhich make

them relevantl whid up the fixities in which we

had previously and put them asidel and'inaoyl and. integritY.and Peloponesia.n wars are

whioh gi.ve thenThe history of

d.ifferent in all ls from anythi-ng haPPenihg

todayr but even o*-il*ini,exa"mination of them have tup themes of freedon'and sf the use of reason to guid'e

"ot:.nt that tr:rn attetltion rto lilce thenes in orlr reoent

past. Like the Greekc hane rurited agplnot the tbreat

of a despotism, (Uazi ratber than Pergian), ws have nonedinto a cold war (Comnqnicp vB. western denooraeyl ratherthan $partan oppo:reeeion vs Athenian domscracy)r We tro

havo olposad "'.ltlre

to porer, holring tbat o'lt're willbe a baeis folr tnre pouer. oe tbqt pslnr wiLl. be a basisfor trus oulturer ad as tbe atbenian polioy d.egeneratedefter the death of Pericles ancl noved into the dieasterof strrraous, we have move,d fron cinil-izing the world tothe Lrrgf gf.figtnarn 4nd'1{atergate, antt we have oome to

hope thii thC opBresg.ione asd supprelsione of oonmuni:t--nay op"o up into-ossmrnication and oooperation. He shall

noi fina soLutions in what the GreHre clid'r or in the

cooessions of inpsril,lisne a.nd' oolonialia-nst not in

their countorllants in the advanoonente pf ecienc€ or

the ertensions of free.d.otss and rights.; But we may be

Lead by exarninatioa of the tbenee tbat run through thsge,

bigtories and epaorrlatiogg"a.r,ril arls""to booome_qar.e of 'thenee that l.ca.tl to gaa.oe

'rether, than wars a44 te lTet.- t

of knosLeclgo and. art for the furtheranoe of fmedo1 1111than.the aeomulation,of porep. In thi.e tray..uo,,nd$i fiird'

the siruoture or theme which llhucycclides eougfut in his

history when he hoped. that tbe story or !n9 urcet d'eetruo

tivo of all wars might give nen the knowledge to prevent

Themes of Literature, History and philosophy 4.it and. transformed psycholory and. psychiatry by examinrrthe d.epths of dreEns and verbaf srights and hurnorous cortradit ions.

It may be readr 4s P1ato read, i_t, seeking knowled.ge,or und"erstand,ing, or nous of the lnue and. the good,rather than the rational deveropment of an argumen-Eor the construction of a nature underrying sensationand emotion and find.ing in i.t the way by wirich menmay rise from the confusions of unreliabLe opinionsand d.istorting emotions to an awareagss of the intellgtble structure of id,eas and the elevating sequenoeof loves.

It may be read as the Sophists read. it beginning withthe emprtions and anxieties of Oed.ipus to constructoreatively and. innovatively new insights and. new feeling,in poetio d.evelopment.

If one begins wlth the conviction that the Oed.ipus isone thing that should be understood in itself this isa frustrating erperience, since there is no answer rothe question - which of these interpretations or thead.ditional interpretations. The answer is to befound. rather in the extension of the themes from thework to the present interests that animate the inter-pretation and stud.y of the work. This is why theOed.ipus, or the Republic or the Old Testanent havebeen read so long and why the thematic structures inwhich they have been places have yielded so nar\y mean-ing to them. | *

rn rea.d.ing the 0ed.ipus one h\ist find a structure of mean-ing whieh gives it connections and unity. And those struotures of meaning are mad.e intelligible in a philosophicanalysie which pursu€s the same themes a4d are rend.ered.gonorete end. effeotive in structure of historicalilretermination which move anong the sarle themes. paetnhilgoShies, like those of Plato and Aristotlea have beereintEF$eted in each agel and. new philosophies bavebe ooustruoted., Like new versions of the Oed.pipus theme,shiob g1\ro ncw content to the continuing schematicm.Ner hietoriee of the Greeks, their cuLture, their warsaqd, their ideael have been writteni in each age adapted,to tJgg- $i.storj.eal circumstances of that agel and thelfm,g;og histroical contrinuity from past to futureart;#,1oeived. aooording to the same historrLoal soehnata.

,

its repetition in the future.