Pagina 170 de 1391

And all the higher class of statesmen have in them something of

that idealism which Pericles is said to have gathered from the

teaching of Anaxagoras. They recognise that the true leader of

men must be above the motives of ambition, and that national

character is of greater value than material comfort and

prosperity. And this is the order of thought in Plato; first, he

expects his citizens to do their duty, and then under favourable

circumstances, that is to say, in a well-ordered State, their

happiness is assured. That he was far from excluding the modern

principle of utility in politics is sufficiently evident from

other passages; in which 'the most beneficial is affirmed to be

the most honourable', and also 'the most sacred'.

We may note

(1) The manner in which the objection of Adeimantus here, is

designed to draw out and deepen the argument of Socrates.