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Plato And The Tyrant Analysis

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One of the main focuses in the Republic of Plato is to prove the value of justice. In Books VIII and IX, tyranny and the soul of the tyrant are discussed at great length with the ultimate goal of proving why it is worthwhile to be just. The portrait of the tyrant is developed in such detail to acts as a metaphor for injustice, while the true philosopher represents justice. By portraying the tyrant in a way that makes clear his faults, Plato is able to demonstrate perfectly the need for justice in both the city and the soul.

Through careful analysis of the tyrannical soul, Plato contrasts the philosopher king and the tyrant and in doing so reveals the role that justice plays in the distinguishing between them. By looking directly at the individual with the capacity to become a tyrant, Plato reveals this individual to be a failed philosopher, a great soul who has chosen passion over wisdom and injustice over justice. The degree of contrast between these two individuals illustrates the importance of the role of justice in determining the nature of the human soul. Through his in depth psychoanalysis of the psyche of the tyrant, Plato is able to prove that the life of the tyrant is infinitely worse, describing tyrants as those who “live their whole life without ever being friends of anyone, always one man’s master or another’s slave,” and as …show more content…

Through Socrates’s description of the life of the tyrant, Plato makes clear the apparent angst within the tyrannical soul and its direct correspondence to justice. Through describing tyrants as “unjust as they can be” (Book IX: 576b) as well as “the most wretched” (Book IX: 576c), Socrates is able to prove that “the man who turns out the worst” will “also turn out the most wretched” (Book IX: 576b). This defies Glaucon’s case that justice is valuable solely for its

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