Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Reflection about the republic by Plato
Plato's theory on the mind and body
Justice in society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Reflection about the republic by Plato
“One of the best known and most influential philosophers of all time, Plato has been admired for thousands of years as a teacher, writer, and student. His works, thoughts, and theories have remained influential for more than 2000 years” (“Plato”). One of these great works by Plato that still remain an essential part of western philosophy today is, The Republic. Ten books are compiled to altogether make the dialog known as The Republic. The Republic consists of many major ideas and it becomes a dubious task to list and remember them all. Just alone in the first five books of the dialogue, many ideas begin to emerge and take shape. Three major ideas of The Republic; Books 1-5 by Plato, are: the question of what causes the inclination of a group, …show more content…
It isn’t the fact Socrates gave women a role in the ideal society, but rather the fact that he proposed such a controversial idea. The notion of women and their equivalencies to men has been something that has been brought up time and time again throughout history and will always remain a great debate. In The Republic Book 5, Socrates says that even though women are not as physically strong as men, women still have the same abilities and aptitudes as men. Therefore, women should be treated equally with men. Because women have the same mental abilities as men, it is possible for them to become leaders as well. “In this Socratic perspective, basic qualities of the human body and mind such as strength, justice, virtue, temperance, courage, wisdom, etc. exist in both sexes enough to make their inclusion, or the inclusion of anything dependent upon them, in a gender identity distinction into a serious misconception of men and women. This means that the most important and valued attributes of the human heart and mind should never be included in the construction of gender difference. All that is courageous, tender, temperate, virtuous, compassionate, just and wise, all that stands at the heart of our attempts to live well, all that is the very lifeblood of the human spirit’s striving for excellence is never masculine or feminine. It is human” (Maxwell). Maxwell perfectly …show more content…
In The Republic, Socrates splits the soul into three hierarchal parts, desire, emotion, and reason (being of the highest importance). Socrates says, “It is appropriate that the reasoning part should rule, since it is really wise and exercises foresight on behalf of the whole soul, and for the spirited part to obey and be its ally” (The Republic IV.441e4-6). Socrates explains that an individual’s ability to balance these aspects of his/her soul, it leads to justice in the individual. “When the parts are so organized and balanced, they are in ‘harmony’” ("Plato Reason and the Other Parts of the Human Soul"). This notion of having a balance of the soul which causes a man to be just, hence the individual acquiring harmony, leads back to the notion of the inclination of a group. When each individual has balance in his soul and harmony, it leads to the harmony of the
In his philosophical text, The Republic, Plato argues that justice can only be realized by the moderation of the soul, which he claims reflects as the moderation of the city. He engages in a debate, via the persona of Socrates, with Ademantus and Gaucon on the benefit, or lack thereof, for the man who leads a just life. I shall argue that this analogy reflecting the governing of forces in the soul and in city serves as a sufficient device in proving that justice is beneficial to those who believe in, and practice it. I shall further argue that Plato establishes that the metaphorical bridge between the city and soul analogy and reality is the leader, and that in the city governed by justice the philosopher is king.
Two great philosophers had individual concepts of tranny that both shared the idea that this form of government was flawed. The first philosopher is named Plato. Plato was born around the year 428 BCE in Athens. He began his philosophy journey when influenced by his mentor Socrates. Socrates was a Greek philosopher who greatly aided in creating what is known as the Western Political Thought. Socrates taught Plato to question all that was around him and go in search for answers. One of the concepts Plato was taught was to question the way that those in Athens were being ruled. Socrates taught Plato that ruling through oppression and force also known as tyranny was far from the correct way to govern. From Socrates learnings Plato developed his own ideas of tyranny. His form of expression,
Plato spends much of Republic referencing justice and in one part in particular, the importance of harmony between reason and passion. He explains the virtuous soul is a tripartite soul,
In the book Republic, Plato is on a quest to define Justice as he builds the ideal city. His city is ruled by philosopher kings, the true rulers. Philosophers, in Plato’s opinion, are best fit to rule and judge because of their love of knowledge and wisdom. When arguing philosophers have the experiences of all regimes Plato says, “The philosopher to have tasted the kind of pleasure that comes from the sight of things as they truly are. ‘so far as experiences goes, then,’ I said, ‘he is the one who is in the best position to judge” (325). Plato believes, that because philosophers have all the parts of the soul that other types of rulers contain, plus the ability to be able to see the world for what is, they then have
Both Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics deal with the issue of justice. In both of these pieces of writings, the authors are trying to determine what is the perfect city, and how justice plays a role in the city, and in turn how justice is present in both society and individuals. While some similarities may be present between Aristotle and Socrates’s thinking, they approach the situation completely differently. Socrates first builds what would be a perfect city to him. He then examines what makes the city perfect and relates it to the individual. On the other hand, Aristotle looks at the relationships between humans that exists in society and then looks for those relationships within the human soul.
The Republic by Plato talks about justice and what it means to be a just person. When having a conversation with Glaucon about justice, the ring of Gyges is brought up to prove a theory about people and the social contracts that make up our society. The legend of the Ring of Gyges tells the story of a man who was a shepherd but when an earthquake revealed a body of a skeleton of a giant from the past he was giving an opportunity to change his status. He stole the ring and discovered that by twisting it in a certain way he could become invisible. The thief would then sneak in to the castle and convince the queen to help murder her husband, and the thief took the throne. With the common knowledge of the thief and the ring Glaucon poses a question about what a supposedly good and decent individual finding the ring would do with the power of invisibility. Socrates believes that a just person would not even put the ring on, directly contradicting Glaucon.
Plato and Aristotle were both very influential men of there time bringing vast knowledge to the world. I honestly believe that Democracy does a lot of good but it definitely has some common side effects. Out of all of Plato's significant ideas, his best was the idea of democracy opening political decisions to the majority who cannot think on behalf of the community. Aristotle on the other hand is very optimistic when it comes to democracy so it becomes a rather interesting compare and contrast between these to men.
Plato's suggestion that female guardians do everything male guardians do is a radical and revolutionary proposal in a time when women were viewed as property. However there are complexities and contradictions in the Platonic text on female equality. He makes obvious statements and allusions those women are more cowardly, less trustworthy, innately worse then men. In Book V, he emphasizes that women, as a class are equals to men in capacity, although on the whole, weaker in all pursuits. Plato's ideal society is inadequate for the emancipation of women from the standpoint of feminism today. His proposal is not in the interest of woman as a class whom he supposes to be depraved, but in the interest of the state. The ideal state is emancipation from woman and a complete "de-feminization" of politics.
Societies hold value in the respect and virtuous abilities over others often times put justice on a pedestal and hold tight to it. In the eyes of Socrates is Plato’s Republic, Book VI he states that “In a suitable one [constitution], his [a philosopher's] own growth will be fuller and he will save the community as well as himself” (Plato “Republic”, p. 177, 497a). When you break it down this quote means when abiding by the laws held by the community each man must try to pursue the most virtuous version of themselves. However, being only a “suitable constitution” (Plato “Republic”, p. 177, 497a) there is no true way to become completely virtuous. However, it describes that all men have the ability to try. This notion carries on to describe that said acts will have great purpose among one’s peers. One mans’ betterment can affect not only himself but also the imperfect justice system of the community in great ways.
In order to define what justice is as was questioned in the beginning of Book 4 of Plato’s Republic, Socrates comments that the answer to this is the division of a person’s soul and how they are connected. Socrates states the soul is divided into three parts and as a way to easily deduce justice, compares it to a city with three ranks as he states “a just man won’t differ at all from a just city in respect to the form of justice (435b).” In addition, Socrates also described four traits that the city and person must have, which is being wise, moderate, courageous, and just, and is included in each part of the soul that Socrates believes every person has. Socrates argues that a person’s soul is consisted of parts by using the Principle of Opposites, explaining the role of the ‘spirited part’ of the soul, and links these parts to the definition of justice.
In Book one of the Republic of Plato, several definitions of justice versus injustice are explored. Cephalus, Polemarchus, Glaucon and Thracymicus all share their opinions and ideas on what actions they believe to be just, while Socrates questions various aspects of the definitions. In book one, Socrates is challenged by Thracymicus, who believes that injustice is advantageous, but eventually convinces him that his definition is invalid. Cephalus speaks about honesty and issues of legality, Polemarchus explores ideas regarding giving to one what is owed, Glaucon views justice as actions committed for their consequences, and Socrates argues that justice does not involve harming anybody. Through the interrogations and arguments he has with four other men, and the similarity of his ideas of justice to the word God, Socrates proves that a just man commits acts for the benefits of others, and inflicts harm on nobody.
The concept of the noble lie begins with Plato in the Republic, where in search of an ideal state he told of a magnificent myth^1.The society that Plato imagined was separated into a three tier class structure- the Rulers, Auxiliaries, and the labor or working class. The Rulers, he said, would be selected from the military elite (called Guardians).The rulers would be those Guardians that showed the most promise, natural skill, and had proven that they cared only about the community’s best interests. The Auxiliaries were the guardians in training, and were subject to years of methodical preparation for rule. The lower class would be comprised of the workers and tradesmen, who being the most governed by their appetites, were best fit for labor. The introduction of the "noble lie" comes near the end of book three (414b-c)* Where Plato writes "we want one single, grand lie," he says, "which will be believed by everybody- including the rulers, ideally, but failing that the rest of the city".* The hypothical myth, or "grand lie" that Plato suggests is one in which, the Gods created the people of the city from the land beneath their feet, and that when the Gods made their spirit the precious metals from the ground got mixed into their souls. As a result some people were born with gold in their souls others with silver, and others with bronze, copper,or more even common metals like iron and brass. It was from this falsehood that the first phylosophical society’s social hierarchy was established. The myth goes as follows: Those the Gods made with gold in the souls were the most governed by reason, and who had a predisposition to contemplation which made them most suitable for rule. Those with silver in their souls where the most governed b...
Wisdom, courage, moderation and justice are four essential virtues the ideal state must be built upon, as explained by Socrates in Plato’s Republic. Throughout the eight books of Socratic dialogue the ideal state and ideas of justice are debated, on both individual and state levels. The guidelines for a perfect state and how it will come about are thoroughly described. Socrates covers every aspect of political life and how it should work stating that “until power and philosophy entirely coincide… cities will have no rest form evils” . In Plato’s Republic Socrates emphasizes the superiority of the philosopher and their abilities to rule as kings above others. He believes that they are best suited to rule as a result of their pure souls and lust for knowledge, the desire for truth over opinions and things that are tangible. The philosopher is best able to fulfill the four essential virtues of the state and thus must be the king. He evokes the idea of a cave, a parallel to the effects of education on the soul and a metaphor for human perceptions, to describe how humans will act and show distinctions between groups of people. This conception of the ideal state has been heavily criticized by his successors, but when applied according to how Plato perceived the state and human capacity, in theory the idea of the philosopher-king is extremely convincing. According to Socrates the soul is made up of three parts, and each person is governed primarily by a different one. Which aspect of the soul occupies a person affects their access to the four virtues deemed ultimate. The appetitive part of the soul is at the bottom of the divided line; it controls the unnecessary desires and is undesirable to be governed by. The spirited element of the s...
Socrates is widely considered to be the first male feminist in history. In book five of Republic, Socrates proposes the idea of having guardians for the city. He believes these guardians can be both men and women alike. Socrates believed men and women to be equal in this regard. C.W. Taylor points out, “Socrates suggests that the distinction between male and female is as relevant as the distinction between having long hair and having short hair for the purposes of deciding who should be active guardians.” Socrates also states that females need to be put through the same school as males. Socrates says, “The if we are to use the women for the same things as the men, we must teach them the same things.” Socrates is arguing that women cannot perform the same tasks as men do without being taught how to do them. This was a very radical statement in Socrates’ time. No one before him had ever thought women to be equal to men. Clearly, feminism is a major theme in Plato’s
In Republic, Plato applies his account on the structure of training human cognition to understand justice and further process the personal development through discussion; to counsel towards improved political circumstances. He establishes the ideology that intellectual pursuits are staged based on age and knowledge, therefore clarifying, he describes how justice can only be obtained by the individuals who have conceived and developed their ability to the fullest. According to Plato, the ultimate goal in all of education is the form of good, which particularly means perfect goodness in all forms; thus good is beyond being. As humans we are subjected to learn from concrete existence and physical evidence but the values of abstract concepts are