From the very beginning of The Republic of Plato it has been Socrates’ aim to prove to Adeimantus and Glaucon, why men lead just lives. In order to thoroughly explain his point of view as we now know Socrates went about setting up his city of thought. Through the formation of the city of thought we are first introduced to Socrates idea of what his ideally just city would be like and how it would be formed. We are from the formation of this completely just city introduced us to the minds of the “philosopher-kings” who are to be the rulers of Socrates’ city. We then move in to the discussion of the four unjust constitutions of city and man. There is first the, timocracy, which is embodied and led by the man who is most honor-driven, the oligarchy, embodied and led by the man who allows his necessary desires drive him, the democracy, led by the man who is most driven by his unnecessary desires, and finally, the tyranny, the most wretched of the cities, led by the man who is most driven by his unlawful desires. It is thought that the tyrannical city and the private tyrant were the most wretched constitutions set out by Socrates and it is not until Book IX that Socrates reveals that there is something far worst. According to Socrates the tyrant that does not keep his tyrannical ideas to himself is far worse than the tyrannical city or the private tyrant. According to Socrates the political tyrant is the man that expects to be able to rule over the people as well as the gods and will not hesitate to take whatever he may desire with no regard for the law of the land or any laws set out by the gods. He goes on to say that if the people will not willingly submit to that man with the most tyrannical soul he will not hesitate to turn his o... ... middle of paper ... ...the philosopher is the only one who can really experience true pleasure because the philosophical desire can be permanently satisfied by grasping the form of the good. To Socrates these reasons alone are enough to convince anyone that is better to live a just life because not only will you be happier but you will be substantially more privileged than the unjust man. But there are some flaws in Socrates’ reasoning in my opinion with all three of these arguments but the one that stands out the most as being problematic is that the philosopher will be the only person able to judge who is truly just. In my opinion this should not have been accepted as a valid reason for living a just life simple because throughout his reasoning it seems as the Socrates is very redundant and doesn’t fully explain why the philosopher would be the only person able to make this decision.
Socrates and I grew up alongside the Athenian democracy, and experienced her vicissitudes in the past seventy years. We have both heard and experienced cycle of five types of governments that Socrates had mentioned. (Plato, Republic 8.547e) Our democracy was established hundreds years ago under Cleisthenes and turned to tyranny under Isagoras. In our childhood, Athens was a timarchy, and then Pericles ruled Athens with the
Socrates reaches a conclusion that defies a common-sense understanding of justice. Nothing about his death sentence “seems” just, but after further consideration, we find that his escape would be as fruitless as his death, and that in some sense, Socrates owes his obedience to whatever orders Athens gives him since he has benefited from his citizenship.
One of Plato's goals in The Republic, as he defines the Just City, is to illustrate what kind of leader and government could bring about the downfall of his ideal society. To prevent pride and greed in leaders would ensure that they would not compromise the well being of the city to obtain monetary gains or to obtain more power. If this state of affairs becomes firmly rooted in the society, the fall to Tyranny begins. This is the most dangerous state that the City become on i...
...cting unjustly. Therefore, justice is determined to be intrinsically valuable from the negative intrinsic value of injustice that was demonstrated, as well as from parts of the soul working together correctly. Glaucon also wants Plato to show that a just life is better than an unjust life. It has been shown that when the soul is in harmony, it only acts justly. It is in a person’s best interests to have a healthy soul, which is a just soul, so that the person can be truly happy. This means that by showing justice has an intrinsic value, it can also be concluded that it is better to live a just life opposed to an unjust life. The conclusion that I have drawn is that Plato’s argument against the intrinsic value of injustice is sufficient to prove that the just life is superior, even if the unjust life may be more profitable.
Socrates evaluates four city constitutions that evolve from aristocracy: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny. As a result that these four types of cities exist, four additional types of individuals who inhabit them also exist. Although these city constitutions evolve from aristocracy, Socrates deems aristocracy to be the most efficient, therefore the most just, of the constitutions because the individuals within it are ruled by the rational part of the soul.
Plato (2007) says, “Well, musicians will hardly use their skill to make their pupils unmusical, or riding master make their pupils bad horsemen then will just men use their justice to make others unjust?”(335c p.13). For example, a person who goes out and steals a someone’s car they would be considered unjust because they feel they need and want to have something of someone else’s. Another example is that, if a doctor who simply does not care about treating their patients for a medical issue that happens, they are called unjust as well, because they are purposely ignoring their proper job title as a doctor. Lastly, a hair stylist can act unjustly because if she or he refuses to take a customer that appropriately belong to them. People who are unjust do not realize their positions based on their roles in life, or they treat someone worse than they deserve to be treated. In comparison, an unjust society does not succeed in carrying out the meaning of what a society should be. It is evident that it is a better to be just and worse to be unjust. In book IV, of The Republic, Socrates proposes that each individual person would be happy by performing in the workforce that suits their role best. The idea of going back to specialization were performing a task best is based
the laws of man and kept in check by society's own norms. The human struggle to
...litical figure came close to challenging Socrates' unique philosophical plan. In the Republic, Socrates' ideas of how ignorant a democracy is, is portrayed in the Apology when Socrates' proclamation resulted in death. A democracy is supposed to be about individuality and freedom, however it was contradicted when Socrates was put to death because he had ideas for a better system of ruling. He wanted a ruler to be somebody who would see truth, not shunning certain ideas and keeping others solely because it is not understood. These ideas are portrayed in both excerpts.
The debate between Thrasymachus and Socrates begins when Thrasymachus gives his definition of justice in a very self-interested form. Thrasymachus believes that justice is only present to benefit the ruler, or the one in charge – and for that matter any one in charge can change the meaning of justice to accommodate their needs (343c). Thrasymachus provides a very complex example supporting his claim. He states that the man that is willing to cheat and be unjust to achieve success will be by far the best, and be better than the just man.
In Plato’s republic, a philosophical account on the kallipolis (the beautiful city) is built on the perspective of Socrates and his discussion between his companions. In the republic, the city in which ones live in depends on the soul and the character of the city one lives in. In this paper the character of human nature and politics will be discussed in how a city is ought to be by the influence of human nature and politics. Firstly, the influence of human nature on politics will be looked at, for example according to Plato on behalf of Socrates; he claims that a just soul creates a just society, where it is human nature to be just, that influences in creating a just political system. Secondly, politics influences human nature, where in the republic when the discussion of guardians starts out between Socrates and the companions, there is political thought discussed between them, where Socrates wants to create the perfect guardians through specific training in all types of skills instituted to creating a perfect protector. Lastly, human nature is human soul if the soul is just the city is going to be just. It is the human nature which has created communities without any political thought put in place; it political thought that forms rules and laws. Thus, human nature is part of the individual understanding of its society that creates an understanding of how one ought to be, which in turns creates rules and laws that is essentially viewed as politics.
...s are a paradigm case of those in control. The essence of ruling is, therefore, to be unjust and that is why a tyrant is a perfect ruler. He always knows what is to his advantage and how to acquire it. Thrasymachus’ view of justice is appealing but therein lies a moral danger and this is refuted by Socrates.
Throughout The Republic, Plato constructs an ideal community in the hopes of ultimately finding a just man. However, because Plato’s tenets focus almost exclusively on the community as a whole rather than the individual, he neglects to find a just man. For example, through Socrates, Plato comments, “our aim in founding the
The three men discuss justice as if it's a good thing. Glaucon wants Socrates to prove that it is, and argues if it is just to do wrong in order to have justice, or on the other hand, is it unjust to never do wrong and therefore have no justice. For example; a man who lies, cheats and steals yet is a respected member of the community would be living a just life, in comparison to a man who never lied, cheated, nor stole anything but lives in poverty and is living an unjust life. Glaucon assumes the life of a just man is better than the life of an unjust man.
The Republic is an examination of the "Good Life"; the harmony reached by applying pure reason and justice. The ideas and arguments of Plato center on the social settings of an ideal republic - those that lead each person to the most perfect possible life for him. Socrates was Plato's early mentor in real life. As a tribute to his teacher, Plato uses Socrates in several of his works and dialogues. Socrates moderates the discussion throughout, as Plato's mouthpiece. Through Socrates' powerful and brilliant questions and explanations on a series of topics, the reader comes to understand what Plato's model society would look like. The basic plan of the Republic is to draw an analogy between the operation of society as a whole and the life of any individual human being. In this paper I will present Plato’s argument that the soul is divides into three parts. I will examine what these parts are, and I will also explain his arguments behind this conclusion. Finally, I will describe how Plato relates the three parts of the soul to a city the different social classes within that city.
In Plato’s Republic, the main argument is dedicated to answering Glaucon and Adeimantus, who question the reason for just behavior. They argue it is against one’s self-interest to be just, but Plato believes the behavior is in fact in one’s self-interest because justice is inherently good. Plato tries to prove this through his depiction of an ideal city, which he builds from the ground up, and ultimately concludes that justice requires the philosopher to perform the task of ruling. Since the overall argument is that justice pays, it follows that it would be in the philosopher’s self-interest to rule – however, Plato also states that whenever people with political power believe they benefit from ruling, a good government is impossible. Thus, those who rule regard the task of ruling as not in their self-interest, but something intrinsically evil. This is where Plato’s argument that justice is in one’s self-interest is disturbed. This paper will discuss the idea that justice is not in one’s self-interest, and thus does not pay.