苏格拉底讲述时间的故事

Story Time with Socrates

When Socrates decides that only philosophers are qualified to rule his city(473c), he gives truth utmost importance there. He also claims that, in order to raise capable philosopher-kings, poetry should be banned from the city (595b) as “all poetic imitators… have no grasp of the truth” (600e). What Socrates means by truth, however, is not immediately apparent. While many readers might be led to view Socrates’ “noble falsehood” (414b) as being in opposition to truth or Socrates’ many analogies and myths as a sort of poetry, a closer analysis shows that his careful application of both falsehood and myths does, in fact, serve the pursuit of truth.

Throughout The Republic, Socrates clearly endorses truth as the guiding value for his city. Nothing, he says, “is to be honored or valued more” (595c). This “love for the truth” (485c) quite literally governs the city: the rulers are philosophers (473c-473e). All of this, especially in light of his statement that the truth “must be told” (595c), seems to contradict quite strongly a critical element in the organization of the city, the “noble falsehood” (414b), also known as the myth of the metals. Surely the philosopher-kings, who “must be without falsehood,” “refuse to accept what is false,” and even “hate” untruths (485c) would never “make considerable use of falsehood and deception” (459c). But in fact, they seem to do exactly this when they tell their city the myth of the metals (414d-415d).

In order to reconcile this tension, one must first examine what Socrates means by truth. He draws a distinction between “true falsehood” and “falsehood in words” (382b): a true falsehood is “to be false to one’s soul about the things that are, to be ignorant and to have and hold falsehood there” (382b), while a falsehood in words is “as much like the truth” (382d) as possible. In other words, a true falsehood is to have an incorrect belief about the nature of the world, while a falsehood in words reveals a true understanding of this nature by way of incorrect external facts. To Socrates, this makes all the difference. A true falsehood to him is abhorrent (382b), while falsehoods in words are acceptable and often “useful” (382d).

According to Socrates, the myth of the metals is a perfect example of the acceptable falsehood, as it instills in his city the correct understanding that not everyone is equal. To understand how it is useful, one must examine how Socrates understands human nature and development.

Socrates believes that everyone holds “from childhood certain convictions about just and fine things,” and that these stay with us throughout life. “We’re brought up with them as with our parents, we obey and honor them” (538c). In other words, the stories that children are told give them the values that remain with them throughout life.  By carefully crafting these stories to contain basic truths about humanity, these children develop a proper understanding of the structure of society that keeps it functioning. It is necessary to present these truths through mythical stories rather than simply explaining them because “the majority [of people] cannot be philosophic” (494a) – most people are not able to comprehend or appreciate pure truths at any time in their lives, let alone as children. Socrates advocates using such falsehoods “as a form of drug” (459c-459d), a sort of medicine to give people the benefits of truth in an easy-to-swallow package.

The myth of the metals is also useful for the people in that minority with a philosophic nature. According to Socrates, “the philosophic nature… will inevitably grow to possess every virtue if it happens to receive appropriate instruction” (491e-492a). The noble lie is one element of the fifty year long education of the philosophic elite of Socrates’ city, the education that conditions them to eventually see “the good itself” (540a) – the ultimate realization of truth – and then “put the city, its citizens, and themselves in order, using it as their model” (540a-540b). When these philosopher-kings put the city in order, they will be adhering to the same class organization that the noble lie suggests and propagating the lie itself, despite knowing that it was in fact a lie. At this point, they will understand both the truth behind the lie and that it is necessary for the society.

Socrates justifies raising the guardians in this manner through an analogy to the process of dying fabric: “because they had the proper nature and upbringing” (430a) – like a “naturally white” fabric carefully prepared (429d) – “they would absorb the laws in the finest possible way, just like a dye, so that their beliefs… and all the rest would become… fast” (430a).

And so, we see that the noble falsehood is in fact aimed at the sort of truth that Socrates finds most important in his city. The true falsehoods that he despises are also worth examining.

Socrates considers what he dubs “imitative” poetry (595a) to be one example of true falsehood that has no place in his city (595b). He argues that “all poetic imitators… have no grasp of the truth” (600e) by the understanding that “imitation is far removed from the truth (598b). According to Socrates, imitative poetry, in which the poet makes himself “like someone else in voice or appearance” (393c), is inherently untrue because it simply imitates the appearance of truth (598b).