The varieties of injustice

The unjust cities Timocracy This is a city ruled by an honor loving military elite Oligarchy Ruled by the wealthy few Democracy Ruled by the majority Tyranny Ruled by one individual tyrannical person

The four types of unjust person Timocratic people have souls dominated by the honor loving spirited part Oligarchic people are dominated by the desire for money and financial stability Democratic people have no order at all. Each of their desires are considered of equal value. A tyrannical person’s soul is dominated entirely by sexual desire.

Questions to consider Why does Plato seem to demonize sexual passion? Is Plato right in his ordering of the different kinds of injustice? Why is the democratic person near the end of the list?

The comparison of justice and injustice In Book IX Socrates finally compares the life of the just person with the life of the unjust person He presents Three arguments to show that the life of the just person is better than the life of the unjust person

The Tyrant ruler argument A tyranical person, who is also ruler of a city leads a life of anxiety. He is like a slave owner, stuck on an island with all his slaves. Such a person cannot trust anyone. They cannot trust other tyranical people and cannot trust just or partially just people.

The competent judge argument Plato’s next two arguments rely on a comparison of the types of pleasures pursued by the just and unjust person. The first argument compares the judgements each person makes about their prefered pleasures The unjust person claims physical pleasure is best The honor loving person claims honor is best The just person claims intellectual pleasure is best

It looks like a wash, but its not. The lover of physical pleasure does not know what intellectual pleasure is like. These people are not competent judges about which pleasure is best But the just person, the philosopher, has experienced BOTH physical and intellectual pleasure So we should trust their judgement.

The false pleasure argument Physical pleasures are preceded by desire, which is a kind of pain. When you feel physical pleasure, the pleasure is really only the absence of this pain—it is just the relief of the painful desire. Thus the pursuer of physical pleasures is pursuing false, illusory pleasures. Not only that, they need to increase the amount of pain they feel in order to have more of these fake pleasures.