The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic, 2016a

Back
consequences distinct from justice itself, and it appears unhelpful to teach
children to be mindful of such things when it is the value of justice itself
that one is trying to get them to appreciate. And yet, consider how
musicianship is traditionally taught. Parents insist through a system of
rewards and punishments (some subtle, some less so) that their children
regularly practice their musical instruments. Step by step, year after year, it
continues: scales, simple etudes, short pieces, harder etudes, more complex
pieces, simple duets, more difficult scales, more complex chamber music,
and so on. The idea is that what begins under a regime of incentives as
awkward and ugly and frustrating will come in time to be loved for itself – a
language through which the child can freely give shape and voice to
emotions and thoughts otherwise inexpressible. But it generally goes
without saying that musicianship is desirable for its own sake. Is there
anything to love for its own sake in justice?