The Duality Between Political And Individual Justice In Plato's Republic

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Though perfection often seems distant, in Plato’s Republic Socrates builds an argument claiming that justice overall is better than injustice. Though ideal, but nearly impossible, Socrates claims that the perfectly just contains a duality between political and individual justice. Furthermore, the perfectly just city contains different caste systems, different types of rulers, and a different societal setting. Socrates deepens his argument in Book V by presenting three reforms that contain elements of seriousness and ridiculousness however; these reforms reveal juxtaposition as they present permanent problems that could only be overcome by changing human nature.
Socrates declares that in order to have a perfectly just city, the same education …show more content…

Because philosophers are students of human nature, and the city is grounded in nature, philosophers would best able to rule over humans. Philosopher-kings would further have knowledge of all the forms and would be guided by their rationality. By allowing education to flourish in the city, political justice would be served as everyone in the city could discover, develop, and practice their innate and natural abilities. However, the reform ridiculed because philosophers by nature have a love of knowledge and questions of human nature, and have no interest in ruling a city. The permanent problems arise in third reform for two main reasons; first, the philosophers do not want to rule and second, the people of the city do not understand philosophers and therefore do not want a philosopher to rule the city. By nature philosophers do not seek to rule, and unlike many rulers who seek to gain power, philosophers would be making a sacrifice to rule the perfectly just city. The philosopher’s intrinsic nature contradicts the reform Socrates suggests, and like the previously stated reforms the third reform similarly could not be overcome due to human

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