Plato on how (not) to be Born

This paper explores the language of birth in Plato’s dialogues via the conceptual framework of natality, with a focus on Plato’s interest in the question: to what are humans committed on the basis of their status as born? I argue that natality provides a powerful conceptual tool for understanding Plato’s ethical theorizing, as vividly demonstrated in the instructions to the about-to-be-born provided in a passage from the Timaeus (41d4-42e4), and conclude with some broader considerations about the relationship between alienated mortality (the denial of the unavoidability of death), alienated natality (the denial of the contingency of birth), and the potentially liberatory aspects of untethering birth-giving and identity.