Category: Plato

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Census

3/12/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Enumeration

Part 12 of 13

“American exceptionalism.”
“What is it Reb?”
“The way the founders defined ‘We.’”
“We?”
“The constitutional pronoun We.”
“What’s exceptional about that?”
“The Enumeration.”
“You don’t say.”
“It defines We the People Gus.”
“By numbers?”
“The Enumeration is the counting of people.”
“The census.”
“Census is a noun.”
“So is enumeration.”
“Enumerate is the verb.”
“The doing.”
“Yes.”
“And that was exceptional?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Represent

“There is no other republic like ours Gus.”
“Definitely not Plato’s.”
“And nothing like it since.”
“So the founders implemented something new by defining We the People by numbers.”
“They did.”
“And this is to happen every ten years?”
“A built in renewal.”
“So adding the ‘We’ to We the People was exceptional.”
“Still is.”
“So do the Enumeration and then what Johnny?”
“Divide by thirty Thousand.”
“To represent We the People.”
“Yes Yank.”
“This is the part where our Constitution says there shall be one Representative of We the People for every thirty Thousand people.”
“Yes.”
“That seems good.”
“We wouldn’t have had our Constitution without it.”
“Really?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW We the People

“It’s called the Connecticut Compromise.”
“Heard of that.”
“The Enumeration unifies by dividing.”
“Sounds like us.”
“You and me?”
“Yes.”
“Our war?”
“That and the Enumeration reverses.”
“Counter-intuitive.”
“More like it reverses thinking.”
“I hear ya.”
“The whole ‘unify by dividing’ idea.”
“Sharing.”
“It is sharing, ain’t it Johnny?”
“Power sharing.”
“We the People is a political means that divides in order to unify.”
“To share is to divide.”
“Go figure Reb.”
“Go figure Yank.”

*Next Up: 19 March and our season finale for Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Constitutional Solutions.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Birthright

3/5/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Divided

Part 11 of 13

“We was born into usurpation, weren’t we Johnny?”
“We were.”
“That’s like being born into slavery.”
“Same power.”
“How’s that?”
“Same power that Plato was up against.”
“Might makes right.”
“Yes Yank.”
“So it’s always been something about the people.”
“Divide and conquer usually.”
“Ouch.”
“The people was sort of a derogatory phrase Gus.”
“Bad.”
“Slaveholders would even refer to their slaves as ‘the people.’”
“Like who?”
“Lee.”
“Robert E.?”
“It was common Gus.”
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
“Correct.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW House

“Lincoln.”
“1858.”
“Fifty-eight Reb?”
“When Lincoln was running for the Senate.”
“He lost.”
“And then won the presidency in 1860.”
“Did Lincoln coin the Divided House phrase?”
“No, Sam Houston used it.”
“Heard of him.”
“Texas Governor who wouldn’t rebel in 1860.”
“Who else?”
“Thomas Paine.”
“Common Sense.”
“Thomas Hobbes.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Saint Augustine.”
“Sounds vaguely familiar.”
“The Gospels.”
“Heard of them.”
“Mathew and Mark.”
“Oh my.”
“Lincoln was quoting Jesus Gus.”
“Smart man Johnny.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW United

“It mostly worked.”
“’Cept for the war.”
“Blame the usurpation.”
“Usurpation divides We the People.”
“That is its purpose Gus.”
“And today in 2017?”
“Worse.”
“Worse?”
“Worse as measured by the constitutional definition of We the People.”
“So our Republic prefers usurpation to constitutional representation?”
“Our Republic is stuck in usurpation.”
“Sounds like Tory Crown.”
“Correct Gus.”
“So to get America unstuck?”
“Use our exceptionalism.”
“Our exceptionalism?”

*Next Up: 12 March and part 12 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Census.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Er

2/19/2017

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Resurrection

Part 9 of 13

“It’s a story Gus.”
“Great!”
“Shall we walk and talk?”
“On our way time ‘eh?”
“Time.”
“Okay – but what’s Er?”
“A soldier.”
“So what did Er do?”
“Lots.”
“Like what?”
“Resurrection.”
“Rise again?”
“So sayeth Plato.”
“Plato ends The Republic with a resurrection story?”
“Plato does.”
“What happened?”
“There was a battle and Er fell on the field.”
“Okay.”
“Ten days later they find the battlefield.”
“Yikes.”
“Right, ’cept Er’s body is not decayed.”
“Irrational.”
“Plato then says that two days later, while on the funeral pyre, Er comes back to life.”
“Jesus.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Afterlife

“Right Yank.”
“But before Jesus.”
“By 350 years.”
“That’s like from Columbus to our time Johnny.”
“True.”
“Does Er just scare ‘em?”
“He tells the people of his soul’s journey.”
“To where?”
“Afterlife.”
“The dead?”
“Yes, and the newly to be born.”
“Both?”
“It’s a long journey Gus.”
“What was Plato up to Johnny?”
“Order again.”
“So Er saw Judgement Day.”
“Others, not his.”
“Okay: so?”
“It was a big deal to Plato.”
“Why?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Necessity

“Cosmos.”
“Explaining good government wasn’t enough.”
“Plato wanted to explain it all.”
“Plato wanted to replace Athena.”
“Hey there is a goddess.”
“Where?”
“Necessity.”
“The mother of all invention is a goddess?”
“She is and she concludes Plato’s Republic.”
“I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“Goddesses.”
“They’re resilient.”
“Like fate.”
“Plato would agree Yank.”
“Go figure. Hey there’s a fork ahead Johnny.”
“There sure is.”

*Next Up: 26 February and part 10 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Fork.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Just ‘cuz music: Gaga Gotsadze - Late Night Melancholy

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Good

2/12/2017

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Feeling

Part 8 of 13

“The Good Gus.”
“Isn’t that a feeling Reb?”
“Probably.”
“Plato doesn’t like feelings.”
“He liked The Good.”
“I suppose Gladys and Spoon liked The Good too Reb.”
“Spirited people for sure.”
“Feelings they had.”
“Of course Yank.”
“Plato must have defined this Good.”
“He tried.”
“Got a quote?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“One on Goodness Gus.”
“Perfect.”
“Here goes: ‘The summit of the intelligible world is reached in philosophic discussion by one who aspires, through the discourse of reason unaided by any of the senses, to make his way in every case to the essential reality and perseveres until he has grasped by pure intelligence the very nature of Goodness itself. This journey is what we call Dialectic.’”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Alive

“That’s Plato?”
“From The Republic.”
“That’s us Reb.”
“Us?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“‘Through discourse of reason unaided by any of the senses.’”
“That does sound like us Gus.”
“Surprising.”
“Spirit.”
“That’s why it’s us Johnny.”
“We’re alive via our death.”
“And discoursing unaided by any of our senses.”
“I hear you Gus – a thing unaided by any sense would be dead.”
“So this senseless journey Plato called Dialectic?”
“True.”
“Was Plato talking about the dead?”
“He meant the living.”
“Plato posited humans that don’t feel while journeying?”
“Yes.”
“That would be a Journey of the Dead.”
“Nice Gus.”
“Humans are truly senseless when dead Johnny.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Again

“One can’t think without sensing.”
“True.”
“One can’t speak without sensing.”
“True again.”
“Or act without sensing.”
“I see why Plato’s Republic didn’t work.”
“No Freedom and Senseless Humans (The Dead) in control.”
“Quite a republic.”
“Certainly.”
“We bring Plato to life Reb.”
“’Cuz we aspire Gus.”
“We do.”
“And persevere.”
“Often.”
“And we discuss.”
“Talking is what we do best.”
“Well let’s discuss the ending of Plato’s Republic before we go.”
“Sun’s setting.”
“Right.”
“How does it end Johnny?”
“With Er.”
“With her?”
“Er.”
“Er?”

*Next Up: 19 February and part 9 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Er.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Meaning

2/5/2017

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Herd

Part 7 of 13

“Meaning.”
“Like I said Reb, what would Mr. Plato not like about this place?”
“I meant 'meaning' Gus, sort of what people make of things – how they think.”
“Freedom.”
“Yes.”
“Think, Speak and Act Reb.”
“Right.”
“Plato was against thinking?”
“He wasn’t Gus.”
“So what’s up then?”
“The Guardians were to form a single family.”
“Huh?”
“Like a herd.”
“You mean like selecting a bull and a cow to be together?”
“Correct.”
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
“Why?”
“If you let individuals select a mate, they will sometimes choose unwisely.”
“To each their own.”
“Not in Plato’s Republic.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Common

“Quite a place.”
“It never worked.”
“I see why.”
“Places like this are tempting.”
“Of course.”
“How often did we think of home Gus?”
“Endlessly.”
“That’s what Plato feared.”
“He feared feelings Johnny.”
“Yes.”
“Which is why he didn’t like poets.”
“True.”
“What could Guardians have?”
“They were to have all things in common.”
“Sounds like a Guardian Church Johnny.”
“Same spirit.”
“Community then.”
“The whole over the individual Yank.”
“Makes Plato’s pyramid.”
“Exactly.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW State

“And the interests of the State were atop this pyramid?”
“Correct.”
“What about the children Johnny?”
“For Gladys and Lee?”
“In general.”
“Children were to be held in common too.”
“Meaning?”
“No Guardian was to know their child; no Guardian child was to know their parents.”
“Nuts.”
“Agreed.”
“Why do that?”
“Unity.”
“For?”
“Fealty to State and not family.”
“Sounds like submission to me.”
“The State first Gus.”
“What’s the good in that Reb?”

*Next Up: 12 February and part 8 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Good.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Family

1/29/2017

Augustus Kotka OOW Rest

Part 6 of 13

“Rest here Reb?”
“Sure Yank.”
“Just wanted to clear the bend.”
“Cleared.”
“Gladys and Lee’s this is.”
“It is.”
“Did they homestead the place?”
“No Gus, a few generations before them did.”
“When Reb?”
“It’s a farm of 14 acres.”
“Sounds normal.”
“Not much anymore.”
“So when did it become 14 acres?”
“In the 1870s.”
“After.”

Jonathan Rebel OOW Reason

“Yes, after.”
“What would Plato have said Johnny?”
“About homesteads?”
“Family I suppose I mean – and places like this.”
“For Guardians Gus -”
“Military.”
“- Family was to be abolished, as well as private property.”
“Weird.”
“Got Plato noticed.”
“What about Athena Reb?”
“Goddess of Reason.”
“Okay.”
“Family and property were defended.”
“How?”
“She had a sort of nickname, Athena Promachos.”
“Meaning?”
“She who fights in front.”
“Skirmisher.”
“Nice.”
“So Athena was a fighter and Plato a writer.”
“Yes.”
“Did this Lee here have a nickname Reb?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Rise

“Spoon.”
“Whether Spoon?”
“Spoon’s around.”
“Spirit – I remember.”
“US Army too.”
“Right.”
“Wonder why we’re here?”
“Rest Reb.”
“Something else Gus.”
“You mean like why are we here?”
“Yes.”
“We could be any place.”
“True.”
“Gladys and Lee raised a family here, yes?”
“They did.”
“To raise a family is to rise.”
“Praiseworthy words Yank.”
“Spoon was military.”
“He was.”
“Like a Guardian.”
“Fair enough.”
“Then what would Plato's Republic have not liked about this?”

*Next Up: 5 February and part 7 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Meaning.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Freedom

1/15/2017

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Think

Part 4 of 13

“Freedom.”
“To do what Reb?”
“Think, Speak and Act.”
“High qualities this Freedom.”
“The highest.”
“You just making this up Johnny?”
“Freedom’s real Yank and from our times.”
“When?”
“1863.”
“The woman atop the Capitol?”
“Goddess.”
“Sure.”
“I helped make her Gus.”
“What’s that Reb?”
“I helped make the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol.”
“You?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Speak

“The part of me that is US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.”
“President Reb.”
“Yes.”
“How did Jeff Davis make Freedom?”
“Design oversight.”
“As Secretary of War?”
“Yes.”
“Sensing some irony here Johnny.”
“Me too.”
“He, I mean you, were this War Secretary Davis when?”
“That would be 1853 to ‘57.”
“Before the war.”
“Before the war.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Act

“A goddess does what Johnny?”
“Patroness.”
“Like Athena for Athens.”
“She was pivotal before Plato.”
“Plato replaced Athena?”
“Dismissed.”
“And with Freedom you see a similarity to Athena.”
“Athena was a teacher of stratagem.”
“Meaning?”
“Wit.”
“Okay.”
“Freedom demands wit Gus.”
“Think, Speak and Act.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“Freedom and Johnny Reb.”
“They go together.”
“More than ever.”

*Next Up: 17 January and part 5 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Cowpens.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Plato

1/8/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Pyramid

Part 3 of 13

“… There’s no easy answer for that Gus.”
“’Cept there was no guiding goddess.”
“Right.”
“So that’s one way Plato was different.”
“True Yank.”
“He was no poet.”
“He didn’t like poets.”
“What did Plato like?”
“Order.”
“In his Republic?”
“Most definitely.”
“How so?”
“Imagine Plato’s Republic as a pyramid Gus.”
“Okay.”
“At the base of the pyramid are the Workers – homemakers and crafters of all ages.”
“The people.”
“And above the people are the Guardians.”
“The military.”
“Yes.”
“And above them?”
“The Rulers.”
“That’s not our Republic, is it Reb, like a pyramid?”
“No Gus.”
“What’s ours like?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Wagons

“Good question.”
“Got a thought Johnny?”
“I think so.”
“Share it.”
“Perhaps in our language, a Wagon and Horse."
“We know them.”
“Wagons would represent the States.”
“Buildings and roads.”
“Horses would represent We the People.”
“You mean how many Horses matters.”
“Yes Yank.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Horses

“One Horse pulls differently than a team of Horses."
“And they’re alive.”
“So then government would hold the reins.”
“Sure – and decides on cargo too.”
“Still no goddesses though Johnny.”
“Columbia.”
“True.”
“Wait a second Yank.”
“What?”
“There is another goddess.”
“There is?”

*Next Up: 15 January and part 4 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Freedom.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way of Truth

1/1/2017

Gus and Johnny OOW Reverence

Part 2 of 13

“… She showed him the Truth Johnny?”
“The Way of Truth Gus.”
“As opposed to the Not Is.”
“Right.”
“That’s the nonsense way.”
“Yes.”
“Did Parmenides' goddess say her name?”
“She didn’t.”
“So it could have been any goddess?”
“Sure.”
“Even what we might call an angel.”
“I hear ya Yank.”
“Just trying to put it into our language.”
“Agreed.”
“With respect and all Johnny.”
“Reverence.”

Gus and Johnny OOW Spirits

“Right.”
“That’s how they thought of Parmenides Gus, with veneration.”
“Veneration?”
“Yes.”
“Like a saint Reb?”
“For some in ancient Greece and Italy.”
“Socrates?”
“Correct.”
“I was just guessing Johnny.”
“Good guessing.”
“Did Socrates have a vision too, you know, like Parmenides?”
“Sort of Gus: with Socrates, he claimed a female spirit was always with him.”
“Doing what?”

Gus and Johnny OOW Republic

“Dissuading him from doing.”
“Socrates, did he know Parmenides?”
“Plato says so.”
“Plato of The Republic fame.”
“You know it?”
“Just the word.”
“Republic.”
“Yeah; so did Plato know Parmenides?”
“No.”
“Did Plato know Socrates?”
“He was his student.”
“And a Plato goddess, yes?”
“No, not like the other two Gus.”
“What happened to the goddesses Johnny?"
“Well …”

*Next Up: 8 January 2017 and part 3 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Plato.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Announcing Aspasia of Miletus: Socrates’ Didaskalos, a research pamphlet

6/15/2016

Aspasia

Plato says that Aspasia (a woman) taught Socrates the Socratic method.

Announcing Ew Publishing’s research pamphlet, Aspasia of Miletus: Socrates’ Didaskalos (Bryan W. Brickner, 2016).

From the conclusion: the primary sources utilized throughout this pamphlet have demonstrated both parts of the original thesis. In the first case, we have seen that Aspasia’s purported political influence only provided the Samians with a scapegoat, Pericles’ enemies with a target, and Aristophanes with material for his comedies. Regarding Aspasia’s rhetorical skills, we found that she not only had a keen intellect, but also that she utilized the maieutic method and was respected enough by Socrates that he had no difficulty in seeking her advice or in referring to her as his didaskalos.

*Next Up: Sunday 19 June and The Union series begins again with Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Juneteenth Square.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner