---
title: "1 Communal Quotes By Thomas McEvilley"
description: "1 Communal quotes by Thomas McEvilley. Plus more from Thomas McEvilley and more Communal sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3d/thomas-mcevilley-42744_art_art-s-primary-social-function-is-to-defi_586510.jpg"
---

> [Art's primary social function is to define the communal self, which includes redefining it when the community is changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/art-s-primary-social-function-is-to-define-the-communal-self-which/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3d/thomas-mcevilley-42744_art_art-s-primary-social-function-is-to-defi_586510.jpg)

## More by Thomas McEvilley

> [It is ... possible to read Plato as if he were only discussing reason and not mystical intuition in his writings but ... in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/it-is-possible-to-read-plato-as-if-he-were-only-discussing-reason-and/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [Many modern scholars have found the asceticism expressed in Plato unacceptable; it does not sound like the advice of a reasonable man in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/many-modern-scholars-have-found-the-asceticism-expressed-in-plato/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [Art's primary social function is to define the communal self, which includes redefining it when the community is changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/art-s-primary-social-function-is-to-define-the-communal-self-which/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [Plato feels that ethical abstinences and austerities are essential preconditions for the cleansing and opening of the eye of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/plato-feels-that-ethical-abstinences-and-austerities-are-essential/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [In the Republic Plato presents a theory of personality. ... He speaks of three faculties, the appetitive, the ambitious, and the rational. ... The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/in-the-republic-plato-presents-a-theory-of-personality-he-speaks-of/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [“The European reception of Greek philosophy has been dominated by a model in which Plato and Aristotle are seen as the centers and others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/the-european-reception-of-greek-philosophy-has-been-dominated-by-a/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [Plato rarely if ever states anything about himself clearly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/plato-rarely-if-ever-states-anything-about-himself-clearly/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [“Lyotard remarked that post-Modern artists often function as philosophers. They may deal with issues of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, as many influential critics today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/lyotard-remarked-that-post-modern-artists-often-function-as/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [“There Pericles says that the essence of the Athenian democracy is that any citizen, regardless of class or profession, should be able to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/there-pericles-says-that-the-essence-of-the-athenian-democracy-is/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

> [To Plato the desire for excessive and special foods ... is a hindrance to the soul's attainment of intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/to-plato-the-desire-for-excessive-and-special-foods-is-a-hindrance-to/)

[Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/)

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