Oppression Of Justice And Justice In The Republic By Plato

As Socrates was building the city, according to his different accounts of how city ought to be. There were different classes of people and the position they held in the cities community. In a just city as Socrates claims there will be citizens, guardians and a philosopher king as the ruler of the city. In order to maintain order, politics influence on human nature by politically influencing laws such as stopping peoples from changing their division of labour. For example, Socrates claims that it is impossible for an individual to practice many crafts proficiently as discussed by the companions earlier. (Plato, 1992, p. 49). The reason there is division of peoples in the city is so the city can run efficiently, if there were many people doing many thing, there will not be an efficiency of work. For this reason, politics constrained human nature in which individual as human nature wants to do more than one thing, but it is stopped through influence of ideology of how one ought to be. That individual does not want to do one job for the rest of his life; this form of ideology is first form pre capital which was discussed in the republic. Continuing, as politics influence increases in the republic the more constrained human nature becomes. In politics, the political thought of Socrates creates a guardian for city, a protector to defend against an enemy or to conquer land for the city. In

Answer: One part of the political system focuses on specialization, the idea that each person would perform that "job" for which he is most suited. He would then stick to that job and that would satisfy him and thus keep structural order. Once this specialization occurs, there will be classes in the city and each class will do what it needs to do to make the city run smoothly: warriors, rulers, and producers will keep the city functioning smoothly. Rulers will make the rules, warriors will carry out the rulers ' commands, and producers will only figure out how their production helps the city. Socrates believes that if the city is set up this way, it will be a just city.

Although, Socrates seems to promote the idea of war when he later creates the "guardians" as the ones who will go to war and protect the city. Socrates and Glaucon agree in 374b that warfare is a profession. They go on to create a job description or profile for this second class of people in the make-believe city. Looking ahead to Book IV where Socrates concludes that a city is just when each person performs his or her own job, it would cause the city to be just when a guardian is performing his job by fighting in a war to protect the city. So here at the end of Book II,

Socrates is known for his unique practice of Greek philosophy. In The Republic, Socrates discusses building a just city with Glaucon and Adeimantus. Throughout The Republic, the three men decide what classes of people will live within the city, and how each person will be assigned to a class. There would not be a place for Socrates in the just city. Through examining the definitions of a guardian, auxiliary, and money maker, one can justify that Socrates is too complex of a man to be categorized as belonging to one specific group.

In Book II-IV of Plato’s Republic, Socrates* creates an ideal polis, and in doing so, will find justice in the soul. The two foundational principles of the city that Socrates creates, The City of Pigs** as Glaucon calls it, that eventually grows into the ideal city are self-sufficiency and one person-one art, referred to today as specialization. Due to the fact that individual people are not self-sufficient*, that is they are not able to survive on their own without the help of other people, the citizens of the city must take up a profession and utilize trade. Socrates believes in one person-one art*, the idea that each individual should only practice the craft that they are most naturally suited to do. Socrates considers war to be its own

Socrates calls for the supervision of the storytellers in order for the youth of the city to grow up to be just. “So our first task, it seems, is to supervise the storytellers: if they make up a good story, we must accept; if not, we must reject it…Many of the stories they tell now, however, must be thrown out” (Republic 377c). By censoring the storytellers it makes sure that the youth in the society grow up to be just. As Socrates discusses the need for censorship in a society, it is important to consider how different societies and cultures view censorship. In the ancient society where Plato was writing, it could be argued that it would be easier to censor the youth than in modern society. In modern society and more specifically the internet, it is so easy for youth to access material that maybe should be censored.

In the discussion between Socrates and Glaucon that involved how to create an ideal city, they divided the people into three classes: rulers, auxiliaries, and craftsmen. In this city each class has a certain role. The rulers are the highest of rank in the city. They are older, wise men who govern the state and make decisions in the best interest of the

In Plato’s Republic a person duty is determined by their natural ability. Unlike Thomas Mores Utopia, Socrates believes that a person should focus on achieving the most for themselves rather than the community being primary purpose. Plato’s Republic greatly supports the idea of inequality, and shows that social stratification is essential for the movement of the economy. For a country to function, there must be some sort of hierarchy and inequality. In page 118 of the republic Socrates states that he “leaves it to each class to achieve the kind of happiness that nature confers it”(pg. 18). Citizens in each class must work hard to prosper in theirs own class. People in the Republic must have the mentality of working hard for themselves. What they don’t realize is the domino effect that is triggered. As they work more, the classes above them are also greatly impacted because they are able to benefit. Social Stratification is valued in Socrates to a certain extend. Socrates mentions the importance of each member in each class to be apart of neither wealth nor poverty. In Plato’s republic, the importance of not being rich and not being poor is greatly expressed. Socrates gives Adeimantus the example of the craftsman.

In response to Thrasymachus, Glaucon, and Adeimantus, Socrates seeks to show that it is always in an individual’s interest to be just, rather than unjust. Thus, one of the most critical problems regarding the Republic is whether Socrates defends justice successfully or not. Socrates offers three arguments in favor of the just life over the unjust life: first, the just man is wise and good, and the unjust man is ignorant and bad; second, injustice produces internal disharmony which prevents effective actions; and lastly, virtue is excellence at a thing’s function and the just person lives a happier life than the unjust person, since he performs the various functions of the human soul well. Socrates is displeased with the argument because a sufficient explanation of justice is essential before reaching a conclusion as to whether or not the just life is better than the unjust life. He is asked to support justice for itself, not for the status that follows. He propositions to look for justice in the city first and then to continue by analogy to discover justice in the individual. This approach will allow for a distinct judgment on the question of whether the just person is happier than the unjust person. Socrates commences by exploring the roots of political life and constructs a hypothetical just city that gratifies only fundamental human necessities. Socrates argues

Plato’s Republic focuses majorly on the search to find justice, but also gives a lot of attention to education and how the quality of education dictates how just a person and a society will become. Socrates spends time creating the Kallipolis in order to disprove Thrasymacus’ claim that justice is the advantage of the stronger. However, through the methodology used by Socrates to educate the citizens of the Kallipolis, he supports the claim Thrasymacus makes.

Guardians are considered to be the most rational or the rational party in Plato’s state. They are described as wise individuals that can ensure the welfare of their society. Actually, they are compared, in the Republic, to dogs for their strength, loyalty, intelligence and courage. They are believed to need strength in order to defend their territory and fight for it when it is needed. They also need loyalty to make fair judgments; intelligence to make wise decisions and courage to pursue goals. These characteristics constitute the main traits that good guardians should have because, according to Plato, they are supposed to establish justice in the society and take care of the interest of the state as dogs serve their owners’ with loyalty and protect their interest. Therefore, defending their fellows’ interest, involves high spirit and philosophical disposition that should be used to serve the other social classes. However, this should not make them aggressive or arrogant towards their fellows and neighbors. In the contrary, they should be gentle towards them which would require from them a love for learning and philosophical thinking. Nevertheless, a question rises about the way these guardians

The producers are the craftsmen, farmers etc.; the auxiliaries are the warriors/soldiers; and the guardians are the rulers. This hierarchy places the rulers at the top of the food chain followed by the auxiliaries with the producers at the bottom. In this society, each group is required to perform is appropriate function and only that function. It is the rulers’ job to rule, the auxiliaries uphold the convictions of the rulers, and the producers are to limit themselves to exercising their natural skills. Plato argues that state justice requires each individual it conform to the societal role they have been given and not to interfere with any other business.

Plato’s view of justice ties in with his view of a perfect world. In Plato’s ideal world, the society would be a wise one, wise in

“Then, under the influence either of poverty or of wealth, workmen and their work are equally liable to degenerate” (Plato 277). On the other hand, poverty causes the craftsmen to develop a rebel attitude. As such, the will resort to evil deeds in order to sustain themselves in the city. Another class in the city is the soldiers. Plato, through his mouthpiece Socrates, argues that the courage of the people of the city lie in their soldiers. However, courage is not a state in which there is lack of fear. Rather it is a state of knowing and persevering in one’s own convictions. However, for this to happen, soldiers need access to good education, which will strengthen their convictions. Education becomes an important part in ensuring that the soldiers understand their role in the city. “Educating [soldiers] in music and gymnastic; we were contriving influences which would prepare them to take the dye of the laws in perfection” (Plato 286). In other words, without education, soldiers would not be able to make decisions that resonate with their beliefs. Thus, lack of fear alone would not serve a full potential as it forms only a smaller portion of what courage constitutes. The third class of the city is the guardians. According to Plato, “Here, then, is a discovery of new evils, I said, against which the guardians will have to watch” (277). Guardians are portrayed as people who have wisdom to watch over

Rulers, otherwise known as “True Guardians” held the most worthy role, although not the most important. Their social metallic property was gold. The Rules were leaders and philosophers who kept society in order. To fulfill this role one must be specially educated in specifically math and dialect. Plato believed that rulers must live in poverty, with any possessions they do have held in common. The very things, then, that mean the most to commoners will be denied to the rulers. The next class were the Guardians, otherwise known as “auxiliaries”. As the name implies, they were soldiers or warriors. They were responsible for defending the city from invaders, and for keeping peace. They enforce convictions and ensure that rules were obeyed. Their metallic property was silver. Although not as worthy or as looked up to as Rulers, the Guardians held what is considered the most important role in society, much as in modern day society our