Socrates Ideal City Analysis

Glaucon is unsatisfied with the argument between Thrasymachus and Socrates regarding Justice. Thrasymachus believes Justice is for the common good, it is not for the good for an individual, that any compromise is involved. Glaucon renews Thrasymachus’ argument, he divides the good into three classes: things good in themselves, things good both in themselves and for their consequences, and things good only for their consequences. Socrates places justice in the class of things good in themselves and for their consequences without any hesitation. Glaucon wants Socrates to prove by exploring that Justice is best, not a compromise. To prove Justice is best and not a compromise, Socrates must find a definition of Justice that nobody has ever heard …show more content…
Socrates proposes first to search for Justice in the city because it is easier to determine what just is as a whole than in the individual and begins specifying what the Ideal City needs. The first city provides necessities of life, such as food, shelter, and clothing. One of the most important aspects of the Ideal City is the idea that each individual specializes in a particular role. Socrates calls this city the Healthy City because it is governed only for necessary desires. The Healthy City only produces what is necessary for life. Glaucon thinks the first city is not best calling it a “city of pigs,” he points out the first city is impossible because people would also want to have unnecessary desires such as wanting rich food, luxurious surroundings, and art. Socrates believes that the true city is the Healthy City, which Glaucon appears to not agree on, so they both decide look into a much larger city called the Feverish City also know as the Luxurious City. The Feverish City requires a larger city, which leads to war in order to acquire more land. War requires an army and guardians with special skills. Socrates think that Glaucon’s second city will not improve the first city because if rulers are allowed to own property they will eventually abuse their power, ruling and accumulating wealth for personal gain, which does not lead to a good …show more content…
Just as the city has in its residents the virtues of wisdom, courage and temperance, the individual soul also has three parts. The mind or intellect is the thinking portion within the individual, which sees what is real and not clear, judges what is true and what is false, and wisely makes the right decisions in accordance with which human life. Lusts and hungers is the opposite of the right decisions. The third part is the spirit, which should control the appetites. Balance between the three parts results to the Justice of an individual. Justice is related to wisdom, courage and temperance as harmony produced when each of the three parts functions