A DISCOURSE ON THE GOOD

Aristotle was wont to say that most of those who heard Plato's Discourse on the Good had the following experience. Each came thinking he would be told something about one of the recognised human goods, such as Wealth, Health or Strength, or, in sum, some marvellous Happiness. But when it appeared that Plato was to talk on Mathematics and Numbers and Geometry and Astronomy, leading up to the statement that the Good was Unity, they were overwhelmed by the paradox of the whole matter. Some then pooh-poohed the whole thing and others were outraged by it.Aristoxenus, Elements of Harmony, II, 30-1, Meibom; quoted from J.N. Findlay, Plato: The Written and Unwritten Doctrines (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1974), p. 143. © 1992 Kluwer Academic Publishers.