In The Republic of Plato, Plato considers the nature and value of justice and the other virtues as they appear in both the structure of society as a whole and in the personality of an individual human being. This city-soul analogy supplies Plato with a metaphoric language that enables him to describe aspects of the structure and dynamics of the human soul. He began with a detailed analysis of the formation, structure, and organization of an ideal state before applying its results to a description of personal life. This paper will explore how the Republic uses the description of an ideal city-state as a vehicle for explaining the harmonious operation of the human psyche, which can be likened to a city. This “psychopolis” can be well or poorly
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He argues that as individuals alone, we are not self-sufficient and need others and must work together to satisfy our needs. In other words, we are naturally political and social with our social lives acting as a natural extension of ourselves. This statement contradicted Glaucon’s argument that stated that individuals are drawn into social life through the fear that an injustice will be committed against them. Because of Socrates’ stance, it has been made clear that this city is a city based on need where individuals gather into communities in order to have their needs better attended to by the division of labor. The city will be organized by the principle of specialization where each individual will work for himself and other members of the community, doing the thing he is by nature best fitted to do. In other words, no one in the city can be a “jack of all trades” and each person will fall into a certain class, with a specific job based off of their natural skills, talents and …show more content…
He thought a perfect State must have four virtues – wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice- and that identifying the first three within these classes would allow them to identify the virtue of justice on a city-wide level. The three classes he identified included, the rulers of the city otherwise known as guardians, the soldiers of the city, and the laborers or workers within the city. He found the virtue of wisdom within the ruling class as they had held the knowledge of how the city should be run. If the guardians who govern are wise, then the State as a whole should also be wise. Courage was found within the auxiliary’s conviction in preserving the opinion about what is and what is not to be feared. Plato found moderation in the harmonious interaction between all classes and in the agreement that the highest class should rule and the rest should obey. This led Plato to the conclusion that by process of elimination, justice in the State is found in the harmonious unity of all classes created by the principle of specialization in which each class minds their own business. When each class attends to its own work, then the State is just. If any class attempts to do the work of another, there will be an injustice in the State. Justice can be seen using the metaphor of justice as a person’s soul. In a healthy body, each organ does its own work, so in a healthy State, each class does its own work. “When
He argues that as individuals alone, we are not self-sufficient and need others and must work together to satisfy our needs. In other words, we are naturally political and social with our social lives acting as a natural extension of ourselves. This statement contradicted Glaucon’s argument that stated that individuals are drawn into social life through the fear that an injustice will be committed against them. Because of Socrates’ stance, it has been made clear that this city is a city based on need where individuals gather into communities in order to have their needs better attended to by the division of labor. The city will be organized by the principle of specialization where each individual will work for himself and other members of the community, doing the thing he is by nature best fitted to do. In other words, no one in the city can be a “jack of all trades” and each person will fall into a certain class, with a specific job based off of their natural skills, talents and …show more content…
He thought a perfect State must have four virtues – wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice- and that identifying the first three within these classes would allow them to identify the virtue of justice on a city-wide level. The three classes he identified included, the rulers of the city otherwise known as guardians, the soldiers of the city, and the laborers or workers within the city. He found the virtue of wisdom within the ruling class as they had held the knowledge of how the city should be run. If the guardians who govern are wise, then the State as a whole should also be wise. Courage was found within the auxiliary’s conviction in preserving the opinion about what is and what is not to be feared. Plato found moderation in the harmonious interaction between all classes and in the agreement that the highest class should rule and the rest should obey. This led Plato to the conclusion that by process of elimination, justice in the State is found in the harmonious unity of all classes created by the principle of specialization in which each class minds their own business. When each class attends to its own work, then the State is just. If any class attempts to do the work of another, there will be an injustice in the State. Justice can be seen using the metaphor of justice as a person’s soul. In a healthy body, each organ does its own work, so in a healthy State, each class does its own work. “When