Dinner in Utopia: Why did Plato propose meals in common?

2014

"Let one open any book of history, from Herodotus to our own day, and he will see that, without even excepting conspiracies, not a single great event has occurred which has not been conceived, prepared, and carried out at a feast," so said Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in the Philosopher in the Kitchen (1981[1825]: 54). Scholars of course know the faculty club and the conference dinner, where many events have been planned. While Plato consistently recommended common meals, syssitia (literally "eating together"), and Aristotle accepted this one feature of Plato's political program, their recommendations of these public meals as political practices have been treated in a perfunctory manner, limited to military purposes (e.g., Finer 1997: 338 and de Mesquita et al., 2004: 174). In later utopian theory and practice, Thomas More, Tomasso Campanella and William Morris, among other utopian theorists, incorporated such meals, as have utopian communities from Oenida to the Kibbutzim, all to little comment. Insofar as the seed for the practice is found in Plato, a close study of his recommendation of common meals enhances our understanding of what such meals can offer. Why in The Laws (780a-d) did Plato recommend meals in common and why did he say that they were "amazing" and "frightening," and perhaps not to be mentioned? 1 To better understand Plato's approach to syssitia this essay summarizes common meals in the context of classical Greece, examines Plato's discussion of political dining, emphasizes the role of women in common meals in Plato's political theory, considers the role of these meals in the second-best ideal commonwealth of the Laws, and draws several conclusions.

This paper addresses the question of the sociological and political background of food, cuisine and commensality in Plato ́s philosophy. It argues that the importance of these elements in Plato ́s political thought is related to the increasingly complex gastronomic developments in fourth century Greek world. In the first place, it will analyse the general trends concerning Platonic perceptions on fourth century ́s food habits and cookery. In the second place, it will study the role food and eating habits have in the Platonic utopias of the Republic, Critias and Laws. These two compared analyses will de‐monstrate how the utopian diets and eating habits are key elements in the construction and stabilisation of these imaginary communities.

Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics, 2014

This essay provides an overview of Plato’s contribution to food ethics. Drawing on various Platonic dialogues, the discussion includes an analysis of the problem of gluttony and the correlate virtue of moderation, the diet of the Republic’s ideal city, and the harmonious order of the tripartite soul.

Little attention has been paid to the >Symposium<’s close linkages with the ‘manifesto’ about the proper organization of banquets we find in the >Laws<. In this paper, I endeavor to demonstrate that the similarities between the >Symposium< and the Athenian’s normative agenda about banquets in the >Laws< should not merely be seen as sporadic thematic affinities; these connections are so close and so many that it can justifiably be argued that in the >Symposium< Plato follows a system of values which we also find in its entirety in the >Laws<. This training, I will argue, is inextricably related in Plato’s mind to the virtue of courage, the other part of which entails practicing keeping in check one’s fears in battle. Consequently, Socrates, although not the most appropriate candidate for the position of a banquet’s head, undoubtedly resists more than anyone else in the Symposium the “enemies” he confronts at the party and thereby emerges as not only the most moderate but also as the most courageous of all.

The Vegetarian Polis: in Plato’s Republic and in Ours, 2013

Odysseys of Plates and Palates: Food, Society and Sociality, 2015

This study has been prepared within the UNU/WIDER project on The Impact of the WTO Regime on Developing Countries, which is directed by Professor Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis. UNU/WIDER gratefully acknowledges the financial contribution to the project by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

In David Keyt and Christopher Shields (eds.), Principles and Praxis in Ancient Greek Philosophy - Studies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in Honor of Fred D. Miller, Jr. Cham: Springer., 2024

In his much-explored argument for the tripartition of the soul in book 4 of the Republic, Socrates makes use of two principles, which I shall call the principle of opposition and the principle of qualification. The aim of the present paper is to explain, in particular, the second of these principles, so as to reveal its role in that argument and in the conception of an appetite and of the appetitive part that is central to the larger argument of the Republic as a whole. Section 1 briefly introduces the principle of opposition, analyzes the principle of qualification, and presents the argument for tripartition. Section 2 uses the analysis of the principle of qualification to interpret a claim Socrates makes about the soul and its relation to the good, which seems at odds with the account of appetites uncovered in section 1. Then, in section 3, the relevance of the principle of qualification to Socratic intellectualism-the view that knowledge is sufficient for virtue-is explored. In section 4, appetites are returned to with the focus now on the varieties of them that Socrates recognizes. In section 5, a view is put forward about the nature of the appetitive part (Appetite), its beliefs, and its ability to be persuaded by the rational part (Reason). In * This paper is a small token of my gratitude to Fred Miller for his inspiring work on Aristotle's Politics, for his translation of De Anima and Parva Naturalia, and for his personal kindness. Readers are encouraged to consult his excellent paper on the parts of the soul, Miller (1999). 2 section 6, it is argued that Appetite and Reason are both souls, capable of working in harmony, but also of being opposed, thereby underwriting an important part of the analogy between the polis and the soul on which much of the Republic relies. 1 1 The Principle of Opposition, the Principle of Qualification, and the Argument for Tripartition Once justice and the other virtues have been found in Kallipolis, the polis Socrates and the others are founding in words (369c9-10), the task of finding them in the soul is taken up, and with it the task of showing that there are parts in the soul corresponding to the three classes-producers, guardians, and philosopher-kings 2 (435b4-c5). Central to it is the principle of opposition, which is formulated as follows: It is clear that the same thing cannot do or undergo opposite things; not, at any rate, in the same respect, in relation to the same thing, at the same time. So, if we ever find that happening here, we will know that we are not dealing with one and the same thing, but with many. (436b9-c2) Though the principle of opposition looks, at least, relatively clear as it stands, Socrates spends some time making it "more exact" (436c9), by going through objections to it. 3 1 I cite and translate the Oxford Classical Texts editions of Plato's and (in one instance) Aristotle's works. Unidentified references are to the Republic. 2 At this point, the latter two are called "auxiliaries" and "complete guardians" (414b1-5), since the philosopher-kings are not introduced until book 7 (535a6-536d1). 3 An excellent discussion of the principle of opposition, and of rival interpretations of what Plato intends it to do, is Christopher Bobonich (2002), pp. 219-35.

For Paul, common meals should not become a signifier of the socio-economic and religious status of participants rather common meals should become an agent of the social integration of the body of Christ. It ought to be a reflection of the self-giving love of Jesus. Thus, Paul wanted his community members to participate in any form of common meal as long as it builds them up in the Lord and keep them in unity.

2021