then it is just a specific instance of the general statement, and what
we have already said about political statements applies here too. But, as
we have seen in our discussion of the school of morals, playwrights have
taken themselves not merely to be communicating facts to their audi-
ences, but in some sense training them or educating them to be better or
more moral people. Aristotle’s notion of‘catharsis’ has sometimes been
interpreted in this way; versions of the‘school of morals’view have been
repeated by various defenders of theatre, and were attacked by Rousseau
in his letter to D’Alembert. Because we have discussed these arguments
in detail in another chapter, I do not propose to repeat them here; but
note that much of what was said in relation to theatre and general moral
principles may also apply to specific political claims about what ought
and ought not to be done.
Questions and imperatives
Hegel calls the work of art a question. Indeed, it may be that where political
plays are asking political questions, they are easier to defend than where they
appear to be making statements or claiming to offer moral training. If
I make a statement to you, then the implication is that I know more than
you; but in a typical case, if I ask you a question then I think you can
help me with the answer. A question, as we noted in Chapter 2, is not
the kind of thing that is true or false. Thus, if the political playwright
thinks of herself as a questioner, then she does not have to answer Plato’s
charge of where she gets her special information from. She’s just asking.
Asking questions can be an important philosophical and political
activity. Plato’s Socrates–who inThe Republicdemands knowledge from
the rulers–is perhaps the best model here. Socrates claims to know noth-
ing and assumes that those around him know more than he does. But he
is disappointed with the answers, and concludes that none of the Athe-
nian experts really knows about the things that most concern him.
Socrates’insistence on asking why the Athenians are doing what they are
doing and questioning their responses has obvious political implications.
In one of the most important instances of this kind of conversation (in
Plato’sMeno), Plato has Socrates question someone called‘Anytus’;asa
result of this questioning, Socrates concludes that politicians don’t really
know what they’re doing–when they get a decision right, it’s really a
matter of luck, not skill or knowledge.^14 Written after but set shortly
before Socrates’trial and execution, the significance of this conversation –
and the series of questions that brings about Socrates’conclusion–is that
Anytus will go on to be one of Socrates’chief accusers and will try, suc-
cessfully, to have Socrates put to death. Anytus, in other words, concludes
that Socrates’questions are a danger to the city.
Collective action 171