Socrates Regime In Plato's Republic

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“. . . Those who are without education and experience of truth would never be adequate stewards of a city”. Socrates’ regime in Plato’s Republic would permit the watching of The Truman Show because it is beneficial to one’s soul in two main ways. Firstly, a viewing of this movie illuminates a world that would otherwise be lost in the darkness of ignorance; and, secondly, an understanding of the movie can give sustenance to the calculative part of the viewer’s soul. Some may argue that Socrates’ regime in Plato’s Republic would deny the viewing of this movie as it is allows a certain sort of pleasure to enter into the city that can ultimately deteriorate from the good of the soul.
The first reason why a viewing of The Truman Show would be permitted
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In Plato’s Republic, Socrates establishes a soul with three parts to it: a calculative, a spirited, and a desiderative. The calculative contains the knowledge of good and bad, the spirited part contains the courage to carry out the will of the calculative, and the desiderative seeks those animalisitc neccesities such as food and drink. Socrates establishes an aspect of the soul that is distinct from the other parts, when he says, “Isn’t there something in their soul binding them to drink and something forbidding them to do so, something different that masters that which bids?” Socrates goes on to further say, “doesn’t that which forbids such things come into being - when it comes into being - from calculation, while what leads and draws is present due to affections and diseases?” One can clearly see how the calculative part is meant to guide and drive both the desiderative and the spirited parts of the one’s soul. By watching The Truman Show, one’s calculate soul is given substantial information of imitation and right and wrong that can help guide one’s life. By establishing a strong calculative part of the soul, man can achieve justice within his own soul. Socrates describes the just indivudal

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