Once one sees the bridge which is born on the shores of civic life but extends beyond such initial shores, there is great motivation to continue. Once one crosses the bridge one finds there are innumerable conditions for reflection on that very civic life which can hardly see such a bridge. But perhaps the greatest possible reflection available to us as humans is to remain, not on the other side of the bridge, but rather on the bridge itself. This could be called bridging; those who are seriously bilingual or seriously dual citizens, or seriously androgynous, or seriously ambidextrous, or seriously into political philosophy may have an inkling for what I mean. By bridging we can reflect primarily on what is of absolute importance, how one comes to actually see a bridge and even try to cross it (for some ——Socrates, Plato and Aristotle among them—– have indeed crossed it and left some complex maps on the conditions for such a crossing.)
Furthermore, the chances for the young to see any bridge towards the reflective life are minimal. If one cares for the young —primarily because they are the future citizens of the kind of community which has made reflection in some sense possible—– one must always return to the bridge, if not cross all the way back. Returning fully is no longer an option, it is actually quite dangerous as both of Socrates’ Apologies attest to; not remaining at the bridge only a few –the very wisest— might be able to.
This could be one way to understand why Socrates, whom one really doubts had the need to get married, got married nonetheless. More importantly, perhaps it is also in this sense that one could say “Socrates was the first philosopher who concerned himself chiefly or exclusively, not with the heavenly or divine things, but with the human things.” (Strauss, CM, 13.) This could also shed light into what is known as Socrates’ second voyage (see Phaedo), as well as his conversation with the perfect gentlemen as it appears recorded by Xenophon in his Oeconomicus.
But without a doubt the map for such a type of crossing that constantly returns lies in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Therein lies the greatest of bridges.
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Note: For a more developed view of what a bridge is, see here
