Intangible Justice is in the Soul

Intangible Justice is in the Soul

Plato’s Republic, although officially divided into ten books, can be separated into two very distinct sections. The first section, roughly spanning Books I through IV, contains a rather tangible investigation of justice in practice. Namely, the section considers what acts or occurrences are just, either in a city or in a man. The second section, beginning around Book V and continuing through the end of the dialogue, deals with the much more abstract issue of justice in a soul. The backbone of this section is the Allegory of the Cave, and the establishment of the philosopher. Within these discussions, a new concept of justice is revealed which proves to be the most profound in the dialogue, and comes closest to answering the question of Socrates’ success in convincing Glaucon and Adeimantus that it pays to be just.

The discussion surrounding the Allegory of the Cave, known well independently of the Republic, begins as an attempt by Socrates to “make an image of our nature in its education and want of education.” (Plato, Republic[1], 514a[2]). Here, Socrates begins to emphasize the connection between the nature of human education and justice—a theme that will become a central element in the definition of justice that the Allegory produces. The Allegory itself begins with a description of people raised in a dark cave who can see only the shadows that a fire behind them projects onto the wall they are perpetually facing. The images the people see, the “puppets” (514b), are all they have ever known, and are therefore thought of as reality, and not a filtered version void of details. Socrates, in fact, calls the people “prisoners” (514a). Socrates then turns the tables and, perhaps signal...

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...mention of the benefits of keeping one’s soul free of chaos, Socrates shies away from actually addressing whether it pays or not to be just. The very fact that the second unofficial section of the Republic, which proves to be more dominant than the first, deals with justice in the soul furthers this phenomenon. In the end, justice is in a person’s soul and has little to no connection with the tangible world, and therefore cannot provide tangible benefits to following or disobeying it. This is the real message of the Republic.

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[1] Plato. Republic. Trans. Allan Bloom. Basic Books, 1968.

[2] Stephanus numbers and letters used to cite all works of Plato. They will be used to

cite all further quotes from Plato’s Republic.

[3] This is in fact the definition of an allegory.