Three Classes And The Soul In Plato's The Republic

Plato emphasis the question on what is justice for the people as well as for the Kallipolis and whether a just person is better off than an unjust person. Ethical beliefs are Plato’s main focus in a government. Plato claims that in order to maintain a harmonious polis, the people must accept their position as they were born to be by Mother Nature. Only those born with a gold heart will be rulers and they will look over those born craftsmen, farmers who have copper hearts and auxiliaries who have

In the second book of the The Republic by Plato, Socrates, ancient Greek philosopher and mentor of the author, attempts to define justice with the help of Adeimantus, and Glaucon. Socrates suggests beginning the expedition by first identifying justice within a city to then hopefully identify justice within a single individual. In order to effectively commence the search for justice within a city, however, the group must explore the birth of cities. The passage of concern is section 369b - 369d with Socrates and Adeimantus as the main interlocutors where Plato argues that cities are formed from need, more specifically basic needs.

According to Socrates there are two types of justice, the political justice and the justice of a particular man. As we know, city is bigger than a man. Socrates believes that it is easier to find justice at the political level which means in the city, thus he tries to define a just city from scrap, and will see in which stage justice enters. Also, Socrates tries to find justice in the city before finding justice in the individuals because individuals are not at all self-sufficient. We humans have similar needs such as food, clothing and shelter and in order to accomplish these goals human beings form unions, where each and every individual specializes in a field. Socrates familiarizes the readers with the principle of specialization. Principle of specialization states that each individual must perform the role which he is suited for and must not interfere with in anyone else’s business. Specialization also means the division of labor in appropriate

Socrates compares the relationship between a citizen and a city to that of a child and a parent. Athens has nurtured Socrates in body and mind, given him an ideal environment to raise his own children in, to give him a platform to exhort people to be virtuous (Crito, 51a). As any child benefits from the protections and provisions of a parent, he must also obey the parent when it requires something of him. So, Socrates considers it his civic duty to obey Athens wishes since he has benefited from his citizenship. Socrates reaches a conclusion that defies a common-sense understanding of

Therefore, since Athens has a part to play in corrupting Socrates’s life as well as his mistaken visual of the truth, Socrates must understand that by obeying the state, he has done injustice to his soul for it will not be in true harmony. Furthermore he will be doing an injustice to the state because Plato would have established that, objectively, Athens laws are unjust and even if Socrates thinks that they are just, it is only because Socrates has been corrupted by

Socrates in the dialogue Alcibiades written by Plato provides an argument as to why the self is the soul rather than the body. In this dialogue Alcibiades and Socrates get into a discussion on how to cultivate the self which they both mutually agree is the soul, and how to make the soul better by properly taking care of it. One way Socrates describes the relationship between the soul and the body is by analogy of user and instrument, the former being the entity which has the power to affect the latter. In this paper I will explain Socrates’ arguments on why the self is the soul and I will comment on what it means to cultivate it.

When all the functions of society are performed by the rightful class, the resulting outcome will be justice. Each class has a duty to perform the responsibilities they are naturally best fit for and should refrain from executing another’s job. The state will be unjust if meddling occurs as it directly goes against the true definition of justice according to Plato. When the auxiliaries try to perform the role of the rulers or the workers attempt to be a guardian, the state is damaged and the exchanging of roles in the society will lead to the ultimate destruction of the state. The fourth virtue of a just city is justice because when each component of the state performs its main purpose, justice can be

Socrates begins to explain how the people all stem from the same “mother”, but they all have a different characteristic within. They have different souls. This portion starts with this:

According to Socrates if three of the first descriptions are found in a state, then justice will be easily found. He goes on to saying how the definition for justice includes principles of some one practicing one thing only, and that thing should only be to which he can naturally adapt to. Justice also incorporates the concept one doing his own business. Socrates outlines how injustice is done to the state if one causes harm to his own city, so the one who handles his own business is doing just to the state is what defines justice. This definition differs when applied to an individual because when one only is practices temperance and self mastery to gain personal achievements by pushing lower class down, walking over the poor and using wealth and power to gain control and wealth is doing unjust to the people, where as those who treat others equally and fairly are the ones who portray the virtue of being just. To him temperance and self mastery come into play when the “evil desires are pushed down by virtuous and wisdoms of the few by proper state

Socrates was convinced that our souls are where virtues and vices are found, they are vastly more important for our lives than our bodies or external circumstances. The quality of our souls determines the character of our lives, for better or for worse, much more than whether we are healthy or sick, or rich or poor. If we are to live well and happily, as he assumed we all want to do more than we want anything else, we must place the highest priority on the care of our souls. That means we must above all want to acquire the virtues, since they perfect our souls and enable them to direct our lives for the better. If only we could know what each of the virtues is we could then make an effort to obtain them. As to the nature of the virtues,

The ideal city must keep its people just. It is argued in The Republic that “each one must practice one of the functions in the city, that one for which his nature made him naturally fit.” (4, 433 a). After all, it only makes sense that in certain areas there are people who are simply better fit than others. In the society that Socrates creates, this idea is taken to an extreme. Each and every person has a designated task on which they must focus on, and each man focuses solely on their own. Socrates describes this as just and that when each man is just “then the just man will not be any different from the just city with respect to the form of justice, but will be like

Plato’s Republic Book II covers many topics such as the three types of good, finding the origins of justice, why reputation matters when thinking of justice, and the start of finding justice in an ideal city. With Thrasymachus and Polymarchus gone, Glaucon, Adeimantus, and Socrates continue the debate about justice. Glaucon has asked that Socrates prove that justice is the preferred choice.

In The Republic, Plato writes about his thoughts on good, justice, and how we can achieve it. He starts off by stating that for human happiness and to live the best life philosopher-kings are needed. Not everyone can become a philosopher; certain people simply are non-philosophers also called lovers of sights and sounds. Plato makes the distinction between lovers of wisdom(philosophers) and lovers of sights and sounds clear using beauty as an example. Non-philosophers see ''fine tones and colours and forms and all the artificial products that are made out of them''(476b) but are unable to see or to understand absolute beauty. While lovers of wisdom will search for knowledge in everything and seek to find true beauty.

Just as there is the appetitive part of the soul—the largest part of the soul—there is the productive class, or the workers, who have souls of bronze and account for the largest part of the population.13 This class includes the general population of laborers, plumbers, masons, carpenters, merchants, and farmers. Justice and moderation are found within these individuals.14 These professions correspond to the ‘appetite’ part of the soul. The protective class includes the warriors or guardians, and Plato considers them to have souls made of silver. They are strong, brave, and comprise of the ‘spirit’ part of the soul.15 Courage lies within the auxiliaries. And then there is the governing

In Book IV of Plato’s Republic, Socrates and his peers come to the conclusion that a city is going to need people who have an understanding of what justice should be. Socrates at the end of Book IV can make the difference between individual, political, and social justice. He knows that individual and political justice is so much in common because they both weigh in heavy on truth, honor, and appetitive soul. That appetitive soul is an element that helps the secure the just community with love and support. This is where the society will have a closer connection to justice in general. This is where Socrates came to the conclusion that we all need to be under justice in our society. So, the first action that Socrates did was to make sure that he doesn’t disrespect his family, be disloyal to his friends, or commit a crime. And when the majority of a just society realizes that there are