Plato’s Republic Mrs. Morgan Air Academy High School Based off of Carson Holloway, University of Nebraska

Plato’s Historical Context - Continued Plato recorded the activities of Socrates in a series of dialogues that are still appreciated for their beauty and wisdom. Plato was part of an aristocratic Athenian family, some of whose members were dedicated to overthrowing the Athenian democracy. He traveled late in his life to the island of Sicily and tried unsuccessfully to reform the rule of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius II. He founded a school of philosophy in Athens known as the Academy and Aristotle was one of his students.

Plato’s Historical Context Plato focused on the problem of the relationship of the philosopher to his community. The philosopher’s quest for truth about political things places the unquestioned opinions necessary for the community’s survival into jeopardy. Plato’s Republic attempts to reconcile the philosopher and the community by showing how the interests of the city (polis) and the philosopher can be harmonized.

The Ethics of the Republic Inquiry into Justice Definitions of Justice Cephalus – Paying one’s debts What about giving an insane man a weapon? Polemarchus – Doing Good to Friends and Harm to Enemies Do we not make something worse if we harm it?

The Ethics of the Republic - continued Definitions of Justice Socrates – According to Polemarchus justice would lead just men to make other men unjust by harming them. Thrasymachus – Injustice is more profitable than justice. Socrates – Injustice destroys people’s ability to work towards a common enterprise; similarly injustice disrupts the individual. Glaucon – Justice is an onerous task pursued for gain rather than for its own sake.

Justice in the Ring of Gyges, from the Republic, Book II Glaucon advances his argument about injustice by using a tale of a magic ring that would bestow invisibility upon its possessor. Even if just a man had this ring, he would act unjustly, and if he did not everyone would think he was an idiot though they would praise him to his face.

The Ethics of the Republic - continued Founding a city in speech to find the nature of the soul. One man and one art, minding one’s business as the definition of justice If reason rules, the soul is in order. ClassVirtueSoul ArtisansModerationDesire GuardiansCourageSpirited- ness RulersWisdomReason

Moderation Moderation allows each individual in the polis to be content with his or her specific career and keeps them from attempting to do someone else's work. It allows the different classes of people to be content with their position in life and to agree that the wise Philosopher Kings should rule. Moderation is a mastery of appetites, pleasures, and desires (Plato, 430e).

Courage “Courage is a kind of preservation" (Plato, 429c). Belief system about what should be feared and fighting the things that are. Courage is located within the spirit of the soul, and allows a human to defend his or her beliefs and what is right and just.

Wisdom Wisdom as enlightenment. wisdom is depicted as getting out of the cave and coming to see things as "they really are." Wisdom as care for the soul. "…the greatest good for a man [is] to discuss virtue [excellence] every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others, for the unexamined life is not worth living for men…" 38a. Wisdom as not knowing “I am likely to be wiser than he to this small extent, that I do not think I know what I do not know."

The Ethics of the Republic - continued The just order of the soul is the source of just order of the city, but how do we know that reason will not be unjust? Allegory of the cave - Reason is grounded in the Good that is beyond bodily desires. The pursuit of justice is connected to the happiest life, the life of the philosopher. Tyrants are the mirror image of the philosopher and are ruled by desires and are unhappy.

The Cave Analogy, From the Republic, Book VII The allegory of the cave illustrates how gaining knowledge about what is true would make one seem like a madman to those who remained acquainted with the world of illusion. The man blinded by the sun (the true, good, and beautiful) would not be competent when returned to the world of the shadows (the world of opinion).

The Nature of Politics The purpose of the community is to provide citizens education in virtue. Education (Paideia) – Is character formation. Virtue (Arete) – Habits necessary for community and the highest activities of the soul. Plato attacks traditional politics in works like the Gorgias by assaulting the goodness of rhetoric when it is not wedded to philosophy.

Great Books Video ew/assetGuid/5D4813F A6- 8D4093E27DA2 ew/assetGuid/5D4813F A6- 8D4093E27DA2 Get One Give One As you watch, brainstorm 6 ways that society could incorporate ideas from Plato. Get: 6 different ones from your friends (one each!)