Defining Justice in Plato's Republic

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During the time period Plato wrote the Republic all Greek thinkers had come to agree upon one common idea, good men all possessed the cardinal virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. The previous statement seems basic enough to understand but during this time period many thinkers struggled to define the virtue of justice in a clear way. Throughout the text Socrates argues back and forth with his peers in order to establish an accurate definition for justice and to determine which is better, to be just or unjust? The original intent of Plato’s perfect Republic state was to create an environment where justice would be commonplace and all the people would flourish. Justice is at the core of all things good and those who live in accordance with justice will prosper. …show more content…

The first example given is the tyrant. A tyrant is known to be an aggressive, strict, mean, and heartless ruler. A man in this position will be happy due to the excessive amounts of material wealth and power that is available to him. He has the power to purchase anything money can buy and kill anyone whom he desires (Reeve 273). The tyrant is only consumed with his personal desires and wants and not the good of the common people and for that reason a tyrant will never truly be happy. Socrates continues saying “So, those with tyrannical nature live their entire lives without ever being friends with anyone, always masters to one man or slaves to another, but never getting a taste of freedom or true friendship (Reeve 275).” On the other hand the man living justly lives his life according to reason. The just man is knowledgeable, makes conscious decisions, and lives a truly happy

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