The Lovers

for it is agreed that the philosopher is inferior to each of those who possess the arts. original: "ὡμολόγηται." "Agreed." "Come then, tell me, if you happened to be sick yourself, or if one of your friends, for whose body you have great concern, were sick, would you call that consummate philosopher into the house to gain health, or would you take the doctor?" "Both, I would," he said. "Do not say 'both' to me," I said, "but which one would you call sooner and more readily?" "No one," he said, "would dispute that one would choose the doctor both more and sooner." "What if a ship is in a storm? To whom would you more readily entrust yourself and your own affairs: the pilot or the philosopher?" "The pilot, by all means." "Therefore, regarding all other matters as well, as long as there is some demiourgos craftsman/artisan, is the philosopher useless?" "It seems so," he said. "Consequently, the philosopher is currently useless to us: for there are, presumably, craftsmen, and we agreed that the good are useful and the bad are useless." He was forced to agree. "What, then, shall I ask you after this? Or is it too rustic to ask?" "Ask, if you wish." "I seek nothing else," I said, "but to confirm what has been said: it stands somewhat like this. We agreed that philosophy is a good thing and that we are philosophers ourselves; that philosophers are good, the good are useful, and the bad are useless. Yet, we have again agreed that philosophers are useless as long as there are craftsmen, and that there are always craftsmen: or are these not the things that have been agreed upon?" "Certainly," he said. "We agree, then, as it seems according to your own argument, if to philosophize is to be knowledgeable in the arts, as you say, that in this manner they are wicked and useless as long as there are arts among men."