ANGLING DEFINED BY PLATO 
INTRODUCTION 
PART II 
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“Except to politicians, a decent definition is a help anda delight.” 
ACTING on this American dictum I start with’ two definitions, 
one of Fishing and Angling, 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 Theztetus as to its “satisfactory con- 
clusion,’’ each reader must decide. 
Plato, using the method of elimination 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 
Angling or drawing up.” 
Theetetus: “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) 
1 Jowett’s Translation, vol. iv. p. 343. The whole passage, which is too 
long for quotation, is fairly typical of Platonic methods, 
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