Marquette University
e-Publications@Marquette
Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications Philosophy, Department of
6-1-2009
Putting Unity in Its Place: Organic Unity in Plato’s Phaedrus
Franco Trivigno
Marquette University, franco.trivigno@marquette.edu
Originally published in Literature and Aesthetics, Volume 19, No. 1 (June 2009).
Putting Unity in Its Place: Organic Unity in Plato’s Phaedrus
Franco V. Trivigno
The notion of organic unity has had a long history in aesthetics and art criticism.1 It is a normative aesthetic ideal, which historically has been applied to several of the fine arts, most prominently painting and literature. Both organic unity itself and its critical uses have their origin in Plato’s Phaedrus. In the dialogue, Socrates introduces this notion in order to criticize Lysias’ speech, which Phaedrus greatly admires. The main goal of this paper is to get clearer on what Plato means by organic unity as a normative principle for writing. I first formulate what I will call the principle of organic unity [OU], and then subject it to a rigorous critique.2 I argue that the principle is incompatible with earlier claims in the dialogue, that it warrants unfair criticisms of Lysias’ speech and that it fails to account for far more serious charges against Lysias. I claim that the principle as stated by Socrates is deficient as a critical tool and intentionally incomplete, primarily because it does not accommodate the main intention or purpose of a speech. The principle as implied in the Phaedrus is, I argue, teleological, incorporating a unified function or purpose with respect to the souls of its audience. I attempt to reconstitute the organic ideal and to restore its proper context in the larger discussion of writing by amending the principle in several stages. In the end, I test the reconstructed principle by using it to assess Plato’s own intentions in writing the Phaedrus and the unity of the Phaedrus itself.3 I At the end of...