The Deficiencies Of Socrates

The inconsistencies of Socrates In life it can be very easy to tell when someone doesn't know what they are talking about, but there are the few who can disguise their ignorance. Socrates is one of those few, he is able to trick his peers into believing he has superior knowledge to what is and what isn't, but in reality he creates and develops his ideas as he is going in the Republic, his ideas are improvised and molded around the questions and comments his peers give to him. Throughout the Republic, Socrates will constantly contradict himself and even sometimes insult his own views without even realizing it, as the reader we can see these conflicts that he has with himself. In book II of the Republic Socrates speaks of the necessities and …show more content…
How he speaks of these professions in society in this book make the reader think that Socrates wants poets, artist, and musicians and that they play a key role in his just society, that the just filled person needs to have those things in their life, and that they are important to a person's life. In book IV he speaks of how children learn how to be lawful through poetry and how if follows them throughout their whole life (Plato 425a). He clearly states at least twice throughout the Republic, the importance of poetry, art, and music, especially poetry. However in book X Socrates changes his mind or rather he forgot his previous statements on poetry for the sake of his perfect society, as he then proceeds to ban all poets from his society (Plato 595a-c). Claiming that all poets lack virtue, that they will only corrupt the soul and alter how the listener of the poet views reality or that it would act as a drug for all who listen to the poetry. Socrates then changes his mind once …show more content…
Originally Socrates believed that lying and hiding the truth would be best for this city but then he has yet another change of heart when in book VII he tells the Allegory of the Cave (Plato 514b-517c). His main point in telling that story was to show how the truth and access to education is best for the soul, as well as finding the true form of everything and expressing that to others is a way to become more intelligent and be more just in life. Though the Allegory of the Cave is brief the meaning behind it is clear and disclaims Socrates previous points on lying to his people. He does come back again to how his people should live and it is how he described it in book III, however how he switched back and forth three times between how he wants his people to live shows that he has no idea what he truly thinks is best. Nevertheless once again it is unclear what Socrates wants us to think, does he want truth or does he want deceit; either having his people living in a world that is true in nature to better education and the soul or will his people live without knowing the truth behind anything other than why they exist and what they exist