The Rolling Stones and Philosophy_ It's Just a Thought Away - Luke Dick [110]
Keith Richards, Anita Pallenberg, and “Blue Lena,” Keith’s S3 Bentley Continental Flying Spur said to have a secret drug compartment located in the chassis.
Wherever the appetites lead, tyranny soon follows, according to Plato. Keith’s soul is a case in point. It seems Plato is right, to a degree, to fear the poets and the musicians. I don’t believe it’s simply stodgy moralism talking when I say I believe Plato’s right that appetites can drive you to destruction. Whenever you habitually let unnecessary bodily desires dictate your action, your rational interests, the interest of your family, the interest of your very life can be at stake. That is, we neglect justice when we let appetites reign. I happen to love tobacco. I love the dull high. I love how the pipe smells. I love the heat of it in my hand. I love the slight burn of the smoke in my lungs. I know this is an unnecessary appetite, one that may even shorten my life. But, I still let that appetite dictate my action every time I light up. I have no answer for this, other than I love that pleasure more than longevity. That’s a tyranny of the appetites on some small level.
Compromise Solution
I wonder if a person could be trained to be as pure in heart and motivation as Plato describes as the just man. I doubt it. I’ve never, ever seen anyone with a soul as harmonious as Plato believes is possible. The philosopher king sounds like a fairytale to me. I’ve never met a philosopher I would want as a leader. Something else I wonder about is whether or not beating the appetites down with the force that Plato requires would lead to a better life. By my lights, there are a few things that make life truly valuable. At the top of my short list are good sex, good food, and good conversation. Here I sit, writing in a resort, awaiting a fine dinner. My soul tells me that doing without any of this would mean a life bereft of serious value. Of course, I grew up under a form of democracy, which Plato believes has caused my soul to be soft on the appetites:
He lives from day to day indulging the appetite of the hour; and sometimes he is lapped in drink and strains of the flute; then he becomes a water-drinker, and tries to get thin; then he takes a turn at gymnastics; sometimes idling and neglecting everything, then once more living the life of a philosopher; often he-is busy with politics, and starts to his feet and says and does whatever comes into his head; and, if he is emulous of any one who is a warrior, off he is in that direction, or of men of business, once more in that. His life has neither law nor order; and this distracted existence he terms joy and bliss and freedom; and so he goes on. (Plato, Republic, Book VIII)50
If you think Plato has the democratic citizen all wrong, then you clearly haven’t looked around. There’s so much laxity in my own life, in the life of my own city, state, and nation, I can’t help but find this passage incredibly insightful. No party escapes this, as our love for “freedom” only lends to our appetites for unnecessary desires. BUT, does that mean I need to stop listening to the Stones and downscale?
What Can a Poor Boy Do, but Sing in a Rock’n’Roll Band?
Only a fool fails to give Plato his credence. Justice has something to do with self-control, and the success of a person or government rides heavily on this. I’m not willing to give up my refined pleasures. Perhaps I’m too entrenched in democracy. Perhaps my soul’s too weak. Whatever the case, I’ll be dying happy