General and arms

Use in the book

The general follows the pilot at 226c. Knowing that his army has arms worth nothing, does he think he gains from them and think fit to gain? The companion’s “Not at all” carries the previous inference into a collective undertaking. A commander’s expertise concerns resources used by other people, so the sequence is no longer confined to a practitioner personally handling a plant, animal or instrument.

The wording deliberately repeats two expressions whose relation has already been examined: thinking that one gains and thinking fit to gain. At 225d the companion accepted Socrates’ interpretation of thinking fit as thinking that one ought to gain. In the general’s question those descriptions stand together, as though the practical recognition of useless arms makes either expectation untenable. The example works through the accepted interpretation, rather than independently proving that expectation, entitlement and desire always coincide.

The arms’ worth is assessed through their role in the army. Their weight, quantity, resale price and moral ownership do not enter the question. This helps isolate why the later discussion of gold and silver at 231d needs worth in addition to sheer amount: possessing more stuff need not improve one’s position. The arms themselves do not return, and the dialogue never develops a military account of benefit. The cross-reference is an argumentative resemblance, not a second occurrence of the example.

There is also a limit to the conclusion. An unscrupulous contractor who profits by supplying useless weapons would not be the general described here, and gain at the army’s expense is not tested. The example puts the informed director of a practice in the place of the alleged lover of gain. That substitution encourages assent because the commander’s immediate practical standard is clear. It does not by itself settle the original complaint about gains that respectable people refuse.

The general is one stage in a list, not an exception granted superior philosophical insight. After him Socrates turns immediately to musicians, an archer, craftsmen and other intelligent men. The question is common to their distinct competences: can they expect the relevant gain from what they recognise as worthless?

Places to read

1. 226cστρατηγὸς γιγνώσκων — The commander’s knowledge is part of the hypothesis.
2. 226cἡ στρατιὰ αὐτῷ — The arms belong to the force under his direction.
3. 226cοἴεται ἀπὸ τούτων κερδαίνειν καὶ ἀξιοῖ κερδαίνειν — The question couples expected gain with thinking fit to gain.

Translation in this edition

The edition uses “general,” “army” and “arms.” Its apparatus gives stratia in T against strateia in B. Strateia can designate military service or an expedition rather than the force itself; Burnet’s printed stratia underlies the straightforward subject “his army.” This reported variation should not be expanded into a historical claim about a particular kind of Athenian campaign.