Virtue

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Virtue

Virtues contribute to people’s actions in today’s society. Society as a whole has a common set of virtues that many people agree on. In today’s society, these are known as laws. Virtues also mold the individual outlook on life, and give them the moral’s to do what is right. In The Republic, Plato divides the city into three classes: gold, silver, as well as bronze and iron souls. Each class is designated to posses a specific virtue. He believes that wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice combine together to form The Republic. However, Plato’s four virtues individually do not necessarily produce a utopian society. A combination of the four in each citizen is imperative in producing the ideal society. In Plato’s search for the perfect "republic", he decides that the basis of the city will be on four virtues. The first of them is wisdom. Plato defines wisdom, in Greek terms "Sophia", as knowledge of the city as a whole. Of the three classes, the gold souls posses the virtue of wisdom. The gold souls are the only class whose knowledge goes beyond the mere facts to the level of true wisdom. "…This class, which properly has a share in that knowledge which alone among the various kinds of knowledge ought to be called wisdom, has, as it seems, the fewest members by nature" (429a). The second virtue that Plato defines is courage, which in Greek terms is "Andreia". Courage is the preservation of the opinion produced by law, through education about what things are terrible, and what things are good. Courage can be found in the silver souls. Plato uses the example that when dyers want to dye wool, they start with the background. They need the right kind of white material, and they have to prepare it carefully; and if they go to...

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...ses to be virtuous in one virtue. If all people in a society posses all of the virtues that Plato states, along with love and emotion, all the people of the society will have the same moral outlook on life. Therefore a balanced society will be obtained and everyone would be in harmony with each other. The four Platonic virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice are the foundation of Plato’s Republic. He not only revolves his city around them, but also his people. Plato tries to instill virtues onto certain classes, without thinking about what the "republic" would be like if he gave all people ALL the virtues. Virtue is something that individual people possess out of their own willingness to be virtuous. Virtues are not characteristics that can be isolated and dispensed individually. They are complimentary. In order to have one; you must possess the others.

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