Wine and its Confusions in Plato's Dialogue "Laws"

21 June 2024

Wine and its Confusions in Plato’s Dialogue Laws

In the first two books of Laws, which scholars widely regard as Plato’s last dialogue, there is an extensive discussion about wine; the circumstances under which it should be drunk, age restrictions, its effect on health, wine’s effect on cognition, the way different cultures use wine (highly restricted to frequent indulgence), ceremonial usage, the effect wine has on the cultivation of the virtues, and more.  I find the discussion a bit on wandering, but perhaps that is my own lack of comprehension as to the overall direction of the discussion.  When I say ‘wandering’ I mean that at times the discussion seems to be reaching a certain conclusion and then it veers away with an additional consideration.  But at the end of Book 2 there is a summation of the points raised which I found very helpful:

“Athenian:  If a city treats the practice that has now been discussed as a serious matter, and uses it along with laws and order as a means to the practice of temperance, and, in accord with the same argument, will in the same way not avoid the other pleasures, but will contrive to have them for the sake of controlling them, then in this way it must make use of all these things.  But if it treats the practice [of drinking wine – my addition] as a sort of play, allowing anyone who wishes to drink whenever and with whoever he wishes, combining it with any other practices whatsoever, then mine is one vote that would not be cast for the use of strong drink at any time by this city or this man.  Indeed, I would go even beyond the Cretan and Spartan usage and cast it for the Carthaginian law requiring that no one ever taste this drink while on campaign, but for all this time drink water at their gatherings.  Even in the city, it requires that no slave, male or female, should ever taste it, nor any of the officials during their year in office; nor should ship captains or jurors taste any wine at all when on active duty, nor anyone who is about to give advice at an important council meeting, nor anyone at all during the day (except on account of bodily training or disease), nor even at night when anyone, a man or a woman, is intending to beget children.  And there are many other circumstances one could mention in which those who possess understanding and correct law think that one must not drink wine.  The result, according to this argument, is that no city would need many vineyards, and that while the other agricultural products and all dietary matters would be regulated, those having to do with wine would turn out to be pretty much the most properly measured and restricted to the smallest quantity.

“Let this, Strangers, if you agree, put the finishing touch to our argument about wine.

“Cleinias:  Good.  We agree.”

(Plato, Laws, translated by C. D. C. Reeve, Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2022, page 68, 673e-674c, ISBN: 9781647920463)

“Ath.  First, though, if it’s all right with you two, let’s put the capstone on our discussion of the use of drunkenness.

“Kl.  What capstone and what sort do you mean?

“Ath.  If a city will consider the practice that has now been discussed as something serious, and will make use of it, in conformity with laws and order, for the sake of moderation, and will not refrain from other pleasures but will arrange them with a view to mastering them according to the same argument, then all these things should be employed, in this manner.

“On the other hand, if this is treated as something playful, if anyone who wishes will be allowed to drink whenever he wishes, with whomever he wishes, along with all sorts of similar practices, I would not vote for the use of drunkenness at any time by this city or this man.  Indeed, I would go beyond Cretan and the Lacedaimonian usage, and advocate the Carthaginian law which forbids anyone to taste this drink while out on campaign and requires that only water be drunk for all that time.  I would add to that law, and forbid drinking within the city too, among female and male slaves, and among magistrates during the year in which they serve; pilots and judges would not be allowed to taste wine at all while they were performing their services, and the same would apply to anyone who was about to give advice in an important council meeting.  Moreover, no one would be allowed to drink at all during the day except for purposes of physical training or illness, nor at night would any man or woman who was intending to create children.  And someone might list many other circumstances in which those who possess intelligence and a correct law should not drink wine.

“So according to this argument no city would need many vines, and while the other farm products and the diet as a whole would be regulated, the wine production would be almost the most measured and modest of all.  Let this, strangers, if you agree, be our capstone to the argument about wine.

“Kl.  Beautifully spoken, and we agree.”

(Plato, The Laws of Plato, translated by Thomas L. Pangle, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1980, pages 56-57, 673e- 674c, ISBN: 0226671100)

1.  It is clear that drinking is to be severely circumscribed; for example a prohibition against drinking wine during the day, with a tiny number of exceptions, sets the general tone.  And there are all sorts of additional restrictions having to do with one’s job and station in life. 

This is similar to the laws that circumscribe the use of alcohol in the U.S. today.  Limits are placed on how much someone can drink and drive, for example.  And it is expected that people engaged in their duties at work will not have those duties compromised by the influence of alcohol.  Depending on the job, if it is discovered that someone has acted under the influence of alcohol this can lead to their dismissal.  In addition there are age restrictions regarding the sale and consumption of alcohol.

In other words, alcohol is seen both by Plato and by our contemporary society in the U.S. and many other countries, as potentially very harmful to society as a whole and this justifies placing the use of alcohol into a class of highly restricted usage; the violation of these legal restrictions is punishable by the law.

2.  I think it is worth noting that Plato is not referring to distilled alcohol such as whisky, bourbon, vodka, and so forth.  Distilled beverages appear on the scene much later and, in general, they have a higher percentage of alcohol and are more destructive to the body and mind.

3.  I find myself thinking of Porphyry’s On Abstinence from Killing Animals which opens with Porphyry’s suggestion that the philosopher should refrain from eating animal flesh, or participating in animal sacrifices, because of the specific vocation of the philosopher.  The overall view is that eating animals, and sacrificing animals, coarsens the soul and is an obstacle to a life of contemplation.  Porphyry refers to abstinence from eating animals is an ‘ancestral law’ of philosophy and that this teaching is ‘ancient and dear to the gods.’

I think the same kind of analysis can be used to prohibit the drinking of alcohol for philosophers; I mean that the drinking of alcohol is a hindrance for the philosophical vocation; and just as a Doctor should not drink before engaged in surgery, so also a philosopher should not drink before being engaged in contemplation, or even simple study.

This is not a rare opinion.  Traditionally in Buddhism alcohol consumption is prohibited because such usage ‘clouds the mind and leads to heedlessness.’  Although this prohibition is widely disregarded today, nevertheless it is upheld by a number of Buddhist teachers.  Most often these teachers are monastics, but there are even lay teachers, such as Christopher Titmuss and Robert Aitken, who lived up to this basic precept.

And there are many other spiritual traditions that prohibit the use of alcohol for tradition specific reasons.

4.  Porphyry’s On Abstinence also, to my mind, helps to clarify why the Laws would grant limited use of wine among specific, age-restricted, groups on certain occasions.  If Laws is at least in part a general depiction of society, and not solely a guide for those with a philosophical vocation, then that fits in with Porphyry’s view that these kinds of restraints are for the philosopher in particular.  In other words, refraining from animal flesh and wine would both be regulations that a philosopher would live by as part of an overall commitment to philosophy.  

5.  Perhaps the Athenian is telling us his true feelings when he says that if the drinking of wine is unregulated he would cast a vote against any kind of wine drinking at all.  At any rate, it seems clear to me that the Athenian’s preference is to distance himself from wine as much as possible.

6.  Another aspect of this part of Laws may be focussing on dealing with those of different cultures who have different cultural habits.  Those who adopt the Platonic ascetic practices often run into difficulties with the culture around them because the ascetic practices run counter to cultural norms.  This is a complex problem, especially for practitioners who are not part of an institution that supports these ascetic practices, such as solitary practitioners.  In the case of wine and alcohol, there may be pressure to join with other workers at a bar after work, or to take ‘just a sip’ on some special gathering of friends and/or relatives.  This kind of clash is persistent for those who have even a slight ascetic inclination; for those who adopt a more dedicated ascetic practice outside of an institutional context it can be an almost daily negotiation.  I think Laws has the purpose of bringing that difficulty into the foreground without explicitly stating that purpose.

7.  It’s interesting to me that Plato remarks on the agricultural impact of wine production.  Plato notes that “no city would have many vineyards.”  Instead, that land would be used to grow food to nourish the general population, including the philosophers.

8.  “And there are many other circumstances one could mention in which those who possess understanding (nous – translator’s note) and correct law think that one must not drink wine.”  My intuition here is that the Athenian, speaking for Plato and the tradition he embodied, is suggesting that as one’s practice grows it becomes more and more apparent that the philosopher should refrain from wine.  This naturally arises from circumstances that demonstrate alcohol’s negative effects.  These are not unusual circumstances.  Rather they are ordinary occasions, such as parties and interactions with people under the influence of alcohol that bring to the foreground how damaging alcohol is both at the mundane and contemplative levels.