Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/457

 ANALOGY OF SPECIAL ARTS. 435 between the state of men's knowledge on the general topics of man and society, and that which artists or professional men pos- sessed in their respective special crafts. So perpetually did he reproduce this comparison, that his enemies accused him of wear- ing it threadbare. 1 Take a man of special vocation a carpenter, a brazier, a pilot, a musician, a surgeon and examine him on the state of his professional knowledge, you will find him able to indicate the persons from whom and the steps by which he first acquired it : he can describe to you his general aim, with the particular means which he employs to realize the aim, as well as the reason why such means must be employed and why precau- tions must be taken to combat such and such particular obstruc- tions : he can teach his profession to others : in matters relating to his profession, he counts as an authority, so that no extra- professional person thinks of contesting the decision of a surgeon in case of disease, or of a pilot at sea. But while such is the fact in regard to every special art, how great is the contrast in reference to the art of righteous, social, and useful living, which forms, or ought to form, the common business alike important to each and to all ! On this subject, Sokrates 2 remarked that every 1 Plato, Gorgias, c. 101, p. 491, A. Kalliklcs. 'Of uel ravrti Aeyetf, u 2<JKpa~ef. Sokrates. Ov fiuvov ; e, <i ia/.A</i/if, u/,/.u ifcpl TUV OVTUV. Kallikles. N^ rot)c $eot)f, ure^v&c ye lei GKvreaf nal KvaQeae nal nayeipouf "kiyuv nal iaTpoi)( t tvdsv navy. Compare Plato, Symposion, p. 221, E. also Xcnoph. Idcmor. i, 2, 37 : iv. 5, 5. trast set forth in the text, which, however, runs through large portions of many Platonic dialogues, under one form or another : see the Menon, c. 27-33, pp. 90-94 ; Protagoras, c. 28, 29, pp. 319, 320 ; Politicus, c. 38, p. 299, D ; Laches, c. 11, 12. pp. 185, 186 ; Gorgias, c. 121, p. 501, A ; Alkibiades, i, c. 12-14, pp. 108, 109, 110 ; c. 20, p. 113, C, D. Xenoph. Mem. iii, 5, 21, 22; iv, 2, 20-23; iv, 4, 5; iv, 6, 1. Of these passages, iv, 2, 20, 23 is among the most remarkable. It is remarkable that Sokrates (in the Platonic Apology, c. 7, p. 22), when he is describing his wanderings (K?MVT]V) to test supposed knowledge, first in the statesmen, next in the poets, lastly in the artisans and crafts- men, finds satisfaction only in the answers which these latter made to him on matters concerning their respective trades or professions. They would have been wise men, had it not been for the circumstance that, because they knew these particular things, they fancied that they knew other thing? also.
 * It is not easy to refer to specific passages in manifestation of the con-