ANGLING DEFINED BY PLATO 



INTRODUCTION 



PART II 



" Except to politicians, a decent definition is a help and a delight." 



Acting on this American dictum I start with two definitions, 

 one of Fishing and AngHng, the other of Angling. The first 

 we owe to that past master of the art, Plato. Whether it come 

 within the category of " delight or help," or whether he can 

 endorse the verdict of Theaetetus as to its " satisfactory con- 

 clusion," each reader must decide. 



Plato, using the method of ehmination and incidentally 

 more than three pages of print, eventually arrives at the follow- 

 ing definition of Fishing and Angling : ^ " Then, now you and 

 I have come to an understanding, not only about the name 

 of the Angler's art, but about the definition of the thing itself. 

 One half of all Art was acquisitive : one half of the acquisitive 

 Art was conquest or taking by force : half of this again was 

 hunting, and half of hunting was hunting animals : of this 

 again the under half was fishing, and half of fishing was 

 striking : a part of striking was fishing with a barb, and one 

 half of this again (being the kind which strikes with a hook and 

 draws the fish from below upwards) is the Art we have been 

 seeking, and which from the nature of the operation is denoted 

 Anghng or drawing up." 



ThecEtetus : " The result has been quite satisfactorily 

 brought out." 



In search of a more helpful definition I turn to the English 

 Dictionaries. The N.E.D. {New English Dictionary, Oxford) 



^ Jowett's Translation, vol. iv. p. 343. The whole passage, which is too 

 long for quotation, is fairly typical of Platonic methods. 



45 



