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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Republic by Plato: 'Common sense is intolerable which is not based on metaphysics,' so Plato
would have said, 'Habit is worthless which is not based upon philosophy.'
The freedom of the will to refuse the evil and to choose the good is
distinctly asserted. 'Virtue is free, and as a man honours or dishonours
her he will have more or less of her.' The life of man is 'rounded' by
necessity; there are circumstances prior to birth which affect him (Pol.).
But within the walls of necessity there is an open space in which he is his
own master, and can study for himself the effects which the variously
compounded gifts of nature or fortune have upon the soul, and act
accordingly. All men cannot have the first choice in everything. But the
lot of all men is good enough, if they choose wisely and will live
The Republic |
