V
Concerning music there are some questions which we have already
raised; these we may now resume and carry further; and our remarks
will serve as a prelude to this or any other discussion of the
subject. It is not easy to determine the nature of music, or why any
one should have a knowledge of it. Shall we say, for the sake of
amusement and relaxation, like sleep or drinking, which are not good
in themselves, but are pleasant, and at the same time 'care to cease,'
as Euripides says? And for this end men also appoint music, and make
use of all three alike- sleep, drinking, music- to which some add
dancing. Or shall we argue that music conduces to virtue, on the
ground that it can form our minds and habituate us to true pleasures
as our bodies are made by gymnastic to be of a certain character? Or
shall we say that it contributes to the enjoyment of leisure and
mental cultivation, which is a third alternative? Now obviously youths
are not to be instructed with a view to their amusement, for
learning is no amusement, but is accompanied with pain. Neither is
intellectual enjoyment suitable to boys of that age, for it is the
end, and that which is imperfect cannot attain the perfect or end. But
perhaps it may be said that boys learn music for the sake of the
amusement which they will have when they are grown up.
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