Preview

Why Is The Republic: Important Ideas And Argument

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1255 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Is The Republic: Important Ideas And Argument
The Republic: Important ideas and arguments.

INTRODUCTION
The fundamental aim of the Republic is to define justice. In the pursuit to defining justice Socrates engages in a range of discussions in these discussions many important ideas and arguments are presented. This essay will discuss five of the most important ideas and arguments displayed in the Republic as well as stating the reasons for their importance in Plato’s justice argument. The essay concludes with reasons why these ideas are relevant in today’s society.

IDEAS AND ARGUMENTS
To exemplify why being just has more benefits than being unjust, Plato puts forward a couple of arguments. First, being unjust places strain the individual whereas the just individual is peaceful and calm, Plato uses the example of the tyrant, where the tyrant is motivated by lust, the greed for money and power (Plato, 1993:579d-580c).

Plato …show more content…
The analogy of the sun highlights the Form of the Good. The sun is a source of light the sun allows for visibility in the visible realm. The sun is the Good, just like the sun brings things in the visible realm to life, the Good brings the Forms in the intelligible realm to life (Plato, 1993:508b-509c).

The analogy of the divided line explains the different forms of truth and knowledge. The division between the visible realm and intelligible realm is made. The visible realm is divided into two; the lowest form being imagination and above it the physical objects of the imagination. The intelligible realm consists of another division which consists of mathematical reasoning and lastly the highest form of knowledge, the Forms. To understand the metaphysical and epistemological theory, Plato uses the allegory of the cave (Plato,
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Glaucon vs. Thrasymachus Essay Example
    • 1831 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Glaucon vs. Thrasymachus Essay Example

    In this paper we will show that Glaucon and Thrasymachus' positions on justice are entirely different. We argue that Thrasymachus despite his slippage and confusion between a traditional and immoralist definition of justice, is really intending to illustrate a political system ruled by a rational-minded and exploitative tyrant. On the other hand Glaucon clearly presents justice as a necessary evil originating out of a social contract constructed by the weak of society. He then challenges Socrates to prove to him that the life of a just man is better than the life of an unjust man.…

    • 1831 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Justice In Plato's Republic
    • 114 Words
    • 1 Page

    Justice In Plato's Republic

    What is justice? Today, where it is common for people to only look out for themselves, justice is an extremely important tool. But what exactly is justice? What is right, what is wrong, and who decides that? To find an accurate definition, we as a society should not just focus on one opinion, but the views of many. Similar to how our society is today, the society in The Republic, lived the same, struggling to determine what the correct definition of justice was, and how to pursue the right answer. In the paper, I will be discussing all aspects of Plato’s Republic, including the Philosopher King and his nature, and justice in that time.…

    • 114 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Refute Thrasymachus Argument About Justice In The Republic
    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Refute Thrasymachus Argument About Justice In The Republic

    This paper argues that Socrates does not successfully refute Thrasymachus’s argument about justice in The Republic. In Book I, Socrates attempts to refute Thrasymachus point about the craftsmen analogy in regards to Thrasymachus’s argument. Socrates argues that every craft seeks the advantage of what it rules over and not its own advantage. (342c) He further goes into this idea of how competition doesn’t exist between people in the same craft.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing Plato's The Republic And Apology
    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparing Plato's The Republic And Apology

    The theme of justice is prevalent throughout the dialogue of "the Republic", as Socrates seems to be on a mission to discover "what exactly is the good life?", and if it encompasses being just or unjust. His journey is sparked when the oracle of Delphi prophesizes his future to be the wisest man…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Persuasion By Peopl Socrates-Just Or Unjust?
    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Persuasion By Peopl Socrates-Just Or Unjust?

    Plato adopted persuasion by argument to provide an explanation about the societal issues. Therefore, he believes that proper steps have to be taken in order to persuade other groups. Firstly, Socrates strives to use three arguments to support just life in that a just man is good and wise while the unjust person is bad and ignorant. Injustice produces disharmony preventing effective actions, while justice helps one to live a much happier life. It shows that one will choose to be just rather than unjust due to the outcomes that result from both just and unjust behaviors. Plato depicts that evil is not the basis of strength, but of dissolution and discord.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Wannabe Philosopher King
    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Wannabe Philosopher King

    Plato’s Republic begins with a debate on the subject of morality. One by one, Cephalus, Polymarchus, and Thrasymachus put forth their definitions of morality and one by one, they come up short. None survive the merciless scrutiny of the author’s mentor, Socrates.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Plato's City-Soul Analogy and the Nature of Justice
    • 1949 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Plato's City-Soul Analogy and the Nature of Justice

    In his philosophy, Plato places a large emphasis on the importance of the idea of justice. This emphasis can be seen especially in his work ‘The Republic’ where, through his main character Socrates, he attempts to define the nature of justice and to justify this definition. One of the methods used by Socrates to strengthen or rather explain his argument on justice is through his famous city-soul analogy, where a comparison between a just city and a just soul/individual is made. Through this analogy, Socrates attempts to explain the nature of justice, how it is the virtue of the soul and is therefore intrinsically valuable to the individual, but it becomes apparent in the analysis and evaluation of the analogy that there may have been several purposes behind it. Inconsistencies within the analogy itself also raise questions to the validity in Plato’s definition and justification of justice.…

    • 1949 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Plato's Allegory of the Cave
    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Plato's Allegory of the Cave

    One of Plato’s more famous writings, The Allegory of the Cave, Plato outlines the story of a man who breaks free of his constraints and comes to learn of new ideas and levels of thought that exist outside of the human level of thinking. However, after having learned so many new concepts, he returns to his fellow beings and attempts to reveal his findings but is rejected and threatened with death. This dialogue is an apparent reference to his teacher’s theories in philosophy and his ultimate demise for his beliefs but is also a relation to the theory of the Divided Line. This essay will analyze major points in The Allegory of the Cave and see how it relates to the Theory of the Divided Line. Also, this essay will attempt to critique the dialogue from the point of view of Aristotle, Plato’s student, using his theories and beliefs.…

    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Socrates: A True Champion Of Democracy
    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Socrates: A True Champion Of Democracy

    He must do this regardless of the opinion of the majority or possible consequences for himself; he must act only in accordance to the opinion of the few wise, knowledgeable men who understand what is justice, and the laws of the State. Unfortunately, in all of the dialogues the author of this essay has read5, Socrates never clearly explains what ‘the laws’ really are — they remain a sort of abstraction, a divine essence of justice. However, this does not invalidate our definition of a champion of…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Birth of the Republic
    • 1232 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Birth of the Republic

    During the Seven Year War against France, England encountered many expenses which lead to the nation falling into a great debt. This debt created many issues between the British government and its people. England's people felt as if the King was trying to rule over them and not take their own personal beliefs into consideration. The government tried to resolve the issues of their debt by creating new acts that would hopefully pay for the war expenses, the new territory of Canada and Mississippi, and its troops to defend as well as take care of their new land.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Republic: The Noble Lie
    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Republic: The Noble Lie

    Frederick Nietzsche once wrote that the “untruth, [or lie], is a condition of life.”At least in terms of creating a stable society, Socrates would seem to agree. In The Republic, Socrates points out that civilization is most prone to instability when founded on what he calls a“noble lie.”The lie which, despite its falsehood, serves for the good of society. His noble lie can be broken into two parts: a justification on why the lie applies to all of a society's members and a justification of the role each person serves in their society. Thus, if subjects believe in his noble lie, instability is abated because those who end up in the working class will be given simple reasoning for why they are where they are in society. That is to say, discontent will be diminished because the noble lie gives reasoning for why those in power are in power. The lie is noble in its attempt to achieve a greater good; however, the lie also contains truth due to the fact that, theoretically, it enables those who should be in power to be in power. The concept of the noble lie can be further expanded as its premise, a societal truth founded on a falsehood, can be applied to many different aspects of society. For instance, many people in the U.S. believe that America is a completely democratic country because that is the noble lie they are told, yet many aspects of American society, such as the disenfranchisement of felons, suggest just the opposite.…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Critique of The Birth of the Republic
    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Critique of The Birth of the Republic

    In his book, The Birth of the Republic, Edmund S. Morgan puts forth an account of the quarter century span, from 1763-1789, in which the American Republic was born. This work provides a detailed description of what historians call “The Revolutionary Era” in American history. Morgan seems to be making the argument that while the revolution may have begun for economic reasons, and that the founding fathers may have stood to gain financially from it, it eventually became about more than just money and economics. The revolution became about the fight for equality of all men.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Form and Meaning of Happiness in Plato
    • 2738 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Form and Meaning of Happiness in Plato

    One of the central claims of Plato’s Republic is that justice is not only desirable for its own sake, but that it maximises the happiness of those who practice it. This paper examines Plato’s arguments in support of this thesis to determine (a) what he means by happiness, (b) to what extent it exists in his proposed ideal state, and (c) whether this in any way substantiates his claims about the benefits of justice. In particular, I will argue that there are two different conceptions of happiness at play in The Republic, and two methods of achieving its highest form, namely the pursuit of justice and philosophy, before arriving at a final definition of the Platonic Form1 of happiness—a matter that Plato touches on only briefly in the text, but that is nevertheless central to his thinking on the subject.…

    • 2738 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Kallipolis: Justice and Ideals
    • 1875 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Kallipolis: Justice and Ideals

    The center of my argument lies in Plato's specific definition of justice and the quality of life he believes that the just man will enjoy. In the broadest sense, Plato defines justice as the quality of an entity capable of making decisions whose parts are arranged according to their proper function. In constructing the just city, Plato reveals his theory of the tripartite human soul, that we are composed of a rational part, a spirited or emotional part, and an appetitive part. Each of these three parts has a particular function and is structured hierarchically in relation to the others. As Plato posits, the key aspect of this hierarchy in a just soul is the rule of reason. In this sense, the soul may be construed to mean the rough combination of emotion and intellect by which we determine our actions. According to Plato's conception of the forms, true knowledge may only be obtained by one who is ruled by the rational element. Rule by reason promotes harmony within one's own constitution and allows the soul to act most effectively. The unjust man lives troubled by his own…

    • 1875 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Virtue ethics
    • 580 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Virtue ethics

    Plato, in his book “Republic”, focused on justices and further on argues that, with his beliefs about the soul, that there is a virtue connected to such part of the soul. These different parts of the soul, are called imperative and it is divided into three parts, with a virtue connected to it. These virtues are the cardinal virtues; thus reason and wisdom are one, the human spirit performing well is paired with courage and destiny which is paired with temperance or otherwise known as moderation (self-control). If we have all these virtues we can obtain justice, the fourth virtue. According to Plato, justice is an important virtue because it balances out the interrelationship between the parts of the soul. There is justice when reason rules over spirit and desires.…

    • 580 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics