Plato's Argument Essay

Week nine was a very short week in class. Due to outstanding circumstances we only had a chance to meet for one class. The class took place this past Friday. We started class with discussing Plato in hopes to end our ongoing discussion regarding Plato, and Plato on Virtue. In class we all came to agreement that the ultimate virtue to Plato was justice. Referring back to last week’s diary I quote myself, justice can be described as each part of the whole doing what it is supposed to do. According to Plato, justice is a quality of the soul. Also Plato believed that justice would cure all evil in a society, therefore making it also a social consciousness, and therefore good. This would be present in an ideal state or ideal society according

to Plato. I reference my previous source, Bhandari, and he stats that “Plato says that justice is not mere strength, but it is a harmonious strength. Justice is not the right of the stronger but the effective harmony of the whole.” Going off of Bhandari, I found some supporting evidence from Antonis Coumoundouros, and professor from Adrian College. He writes that “[t]he just person has a value that motivates him to do what is just” This approach seems to make a connection between a persons soul and a persons actions.
In class we discussed the quote from Plato on Virtue, “[t]he united influence of music and gymnastic will bring them into accord, nerving and sustaining the reason with noble words and lessons…” In other words good music and a sound gymnastic is the foundation of a moral life.

In class we summed up this statement by saying if an individual feels good physically one will feel good mentally. To go more in depth with that thought, the mind learns the lesson of energetic spirit during exercise- energetic assertion through physical exercise. An individual’s energy will give them courage to do what they need to do. Socrates also thinks that sound gymnastic is the foundation of a moral life. I quote “he says that a good soul produces a good body, and that a healthy intellect ensures a healthy body (403d-e).” continuing off of that thought Socrates also says, “The man who makes the finest mixture of gymnastic with music and brings them to his soul in the most proper measure is the one of whom we would most correctly say that he is the most perfectly musical and well harmonized (412a).” These quotes were produced from an essay responding to The Republic. Ariel Dillo from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California is the author of the essay Education in Plato’s Republic. On a side note, it’s important to mention that gymnastics when being referred to are referring to the type in the Olympic games. They would be tasks associated with war, and war like

activities.
Also mentioned in Dillo’s essay were Plato and his comment on music. In class we discussed how songs were Plato’s favorite arts. Particularly poetry when it was sung. There was the harmony, the music and muses. To Plato any words that were sung, especially about the Gods had to be morally good. Anything that could portray a Demigod or a Greek God as less then good could not happen. Also seeing these tales could be heard by anyone for a price the right message needed to be shared. Quoting The Republic again “The hero Achilles must be absent from all tales, because children cannot see lamenting or gross displays of immoderate emotion glorified for fear they will adopt the practices as their own (388). Additionally, tales cannot include displays of laughter (389a).” In the same respect excessive displays of grief, or happiness threaten the attitude that is desirable by the Gods. In short the words of the poetry had to be morally good, and also have a good message to teach.