This text is part of:
ἆρ᾽ οὖν κτλ. On the unique position of Sight among the senses see Phaedr. 250 D and Bonitz on Arist. Met. A 1. 980^{a} 23: cf. also Phaed. 65 B, Tim. 47 A ff., Hipp. Maior 297 E ff. It is the costliest (πολυτελεστάτη) because it requires an additional precious or valuable element (μὴ ἄτιμον 508 A) beyond what is necessary for the operation of the others, viz. Light: cf. Tim. 45 C, D and Arist. de An. II 7. 418^{b} 2 ff. ἔστιν ὅ τι κτλ. Steinhart (p. 689 note 213) and others remark on Plato's error in denying that a medium is necessary in Hearing etc. Aristotle was well aware of this fact (see his de An. II 7. 419^{a} 25 ff.), and there are several indications that it was not altogether unknown to Plato. In Tim. 67 B, for example, air is regarded as in a certain sense the medium of sound. Here, however, where a scientific analysis of perception is not proposed, Plato takes his stand upon the broad fact of experience, that whereas we can hear, touch, etc. either in light or in darkness, we can see only where there is light.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.