Internal Conflicts In Plato's Republic

In book VIII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates begins to discuss with Glaucon the four stages of government. Socrates identifies four basic governments and speaks of them in order of what he observes to be common occurrence. He begins with Timocracy, a government driven by the brave warriors and war heros of the day. Timocracy closely resembles how a powerful army is governed. It runs like a well oiled machine by the most powerful men. The second, an oligarchy, men of power not of strength, but of goods and riches. These men lavish their wealth on their passions and care little for anything but that which they can buy with money. The third, democracy. Democracy is made up of many men desiring freedom. Those who would rather die than be chained to the rich. The fourth and final form of government Socrates discusses is tyranny. The tyrant is a government driven by one man, who with no concern for his people, rules most unlawfully. Socrates says that the tyrannical government is the most regrettable form of government, ruled by the worst kind of man. Socrates says these are the inevitable stages in which every government will downfall.

"Unless," I said, "the philosophers rule as kings or those now called kings and chiefs genuinely and adequately philosophize, and political power and philosophy coincide in the same place, while the many natures now making their way to either apart from the other are by necessity excluded, there is no rest from ills for the cities, my dear Glaucon, nor I think for human kind, nor will the regime we have now described in speech ever come forth from nature, insofar as possible, and see the light of the sun."(THE REPUBLIC OF PLATO By Allan B- 473d - 473e)

In Book VII of the Republic, Plato intimates that someone “returning from a mode of existence which involves greater lucidity” (63-4) would “much prefer, as Homer describes it, ‘being a slave labouring for someone else – someone without property’ […] than share [the] beliefs and [the] life” of ignorant “people who [have, by virtue of being (born) astute, managed to accrue a great deal of] status and power” for themselves despite the sizeable odds stacked against them (62).

At the beginning of Book I, we are introduced to the narrator, Socrates, and his audience of peers. We are made aware, however, of Socrates' special charm and intellectual gifts through the insistence of Polemarchus and the other men for the pleasure of his company. The tone is casual and language and modes of expression rather simple, as is commonly the case in Plato's dialogues. However, Plato's unaffected style serves at least two purposes. For one it belies the complexity and elevation of the ideas, thus it is in accord with Socrates' characteristic irony itself, which draws the "fool" in by feigned ignorance, only so that the master can show that he does not know what he thinks he knows. And second,

In the end of Plato’s Republic Book I, Socrates and Thrasymachus who had just finished a set of vigorous arguments on what the definition for justice is and whether the just or the unjust life is the best life to live, come to a conclusion. Regarding the true definition of justice, at the end of Book I, Socrates mentions that their discussion have not led them to the true definition of justice (Republic 354b). On the other hand, their discussion on which life is more profitable does come to a conclusion, “So the just man is happy and the unjust man is miserable…but being miserable is not profitable, whereas being happy is” (Rep. 354a) Socrates says, indicating the just life tends to be more profitable than the unjust life. Following their

In this paper I will defend the hypothesis that Plato’s set of regulations concerning sexual relations and the family in the Republic Book V will fail because it would disrupt the natural order of reproduction that the city will need for future philosophers to continue the path of philosophy.

Plato's most famous work is undoubtedly The Republic it has weathered the test of time to provide us with the most influential philosophical doctrine surviving from the ancient Mediterranean. Over the years Plato has been hailed by some as an advocate of women's rights because of some views he puts forth in The Republic. In Book V of the work Plato has Socrates, acting as his voice, engage in a discussion of the perfect state with Polemarchus, Adeimantus, Glaucon, and Thrasymachus. In the conversation Socrates puts forth the notion that women should be equal to men and that just because a person is of a certain sex it does not mean that they cannot still be beneficial to the operation of the society. This idea will be the focus of this

Plato continually attempted to enter the world of politics, but after being let down time after time and seeing the execution of his beloved mentor Socrates, Plato criticized the regime of his time (Athenian democracy). He sought to draft his own representation of the ideal constitution, outlined and explained in his work Republic. Plato’s critique of democracy is expected since democracy embodies the opposite of his ideal regime: A government controlled and ruled by the uneducated masses that easily slips into chaos and tyranny. According to Plato, democracy cannot function efficiently due to its unnatural, weak leaders, disordered functionality, and its appetitive citizens. He defines his conception of democracy through its deviation

Philosophy is a Greek word meaning "love of wisdom." Throughout Plato's Republic, wisdom plays an important role. According to Plato, education is wisdom. In the passage, 518d, Plato discusses the true meaning of education vicariously through Socrates. Some literary mechanisms can be found in the passage and I will show how they fit in the text and how they contribute to the main themes of Plato's Republic.

Socrates continues the conversation with Glaucon and now focuses on the obligation of the guardians and philosophers to serve the people as a result of their education.

In the Republic, Plato divides social classes into three categories. These categories were Rulers, Guardians, and Craftsmen. These classes work together to ideally create Utopia. Plato believes social order must be maintained in order to have a fully functional society. These social classes are similar to the Feudal System, and modern day social classes. Each class has its own role, which if not carried out can disrupt the flow of society. Within each social class all men, women, and children had their own roles that they also had to fulfill.

“the having and doing of one’s own and what belongs to one would be agreed to

believes that the son will realize to be just is only worth it if you can get a

Plato's Republic is often read as a political work, as a statement of some sort on government, society, and law. This is certainly not a rash reading of the dialogue; it is called the Republic, and over half of it is devoted to the construction of a city through speech, a city complete with a government structure, a military, an economic system, and laws. However, I believe that to read the Republic as a political statement is inaccurate. Although Socrates and his companions construct a city out of speech as they attempt to define justice, the dialogue repeatedly frames justice as something that cannot be established through a fixed system of morality, let alone through a rigid

Explain and evaluate the reasons given by Plato in the Republic, to support the contention that justice is superior to, or more beneficial than, injustice?