Coinciding Concepts Of Justice In Plato's The Republic

Plato’s Republic addresses the overarching concern of what justice is in the city and what justice is in the individual. Despite claims that The Republic goes too far in subordinating the individual and their happiness, the text disproves this because it constantly searches for coinciding concepts of justice within the city and the individual, addresses the benefit of the happy city for the individual, and specifically presents an exchange of Socrates that explains justice is made to benefit all people and not just a single class of people. Throughout The Republic the reader is presented with Socrates searching for coinciding concepts of justice within the city and the individual. Before Socrates accepts a definition of justice for the city, he first explores if there is a similar concept of justice within the individual. The most prominent example of this line of questioning as presented by Socrates occurs when he is discussing the concept of justice with Polemarchus: Polemarchus describes just as “telling the truth, and returning what you have been given”(331d). Socrates immediately presents an issue that becomes the deciding factor for some …show more content…
what is best for the city: if you return the weapon, you are being just as an individual; but if you return the weapon, you risk committing injustice against the city. If the person is insane and asks for the weapon and you return it, they now have the power to harm anyone in the city and you can be responsible for their actions. By working to define justice in a way that both addresses the needs of the city and the needs of the individual, Socrates ensures that justice is an all encompassing concept. Justice can not just apply to the city, as those who live within the city must respect the same law of justice. Justice must account for the situations experienced on the level of the individual and the level of the