963
Athenian
Ath. You follow us admirably, Clinias; and now follow us in what comes next. In the case of the pilot, the doctor, and the general, reason is directed, as we said, towards the one object of aim which is proper in each case; and now we are at the point of examining reason in the case of a statesman, and, addressing it as a man, we shall question it thus:—O admirable sir, what is your aim? Medical reason is able to state clearly the one single object at which it aims; so will you be unable to state your one object—you who are superior, as perhaps you will say, to all the wise? Can you two, Megillus and Clinias, define that object on his behalf, and tell me what you say it is, just as I, on behalf of many others, defined their objects for you?
Clinias
Clin. We are totally unable to do so.
Athenian
Ath. Well then, can you declare that we need zeal in discerning both the object itself as a whole and the forms it assumes?
Clinias
Clin. Illustrate what you mean by the forms you speak of.
Athenian
Ath. For example, when we said that there are four forms of virtue, obviously, since there are four, we must assert that each is a separate one.
10
Athenian
Ath. And yet we call them all by one name: we assert that courage is virtue, and wisdom virtue, and the other two likewise, as though they were really not a plurality, but solely this one thing—virtue.