The Cognitive Division of Labor, Socrates, and Damon, and some Plutarch

In the Republic, in the context of the education of the Guardians (or the purification of the Kallipolis), a certain Damon is mentioned explicitly a few times by Socrates. There are really two episodes. I find them startling upon reflection.

The first episode begins around 400b1 and ends around 400c2. Damon is introduced as a technical expert on the rep…