Plato 's Republic : A Practical Approach

Seneca suggest, “Temperance controls our desires.” Temperance is our self- control or free will acting on a situation. It controls our wants and replaces them with necessities. Seneca articulates, “…some it hates and routs, others it regulates to a healthy measure.” It monitors our thoughts that we cannot escape or lie to ourselves about. If there is an urging of evil it calms the storm, or if there is a hunger to help it makes sure it is not corrupted. Seneca states, “Temperance knows that the best measure of the appetites is not what you want to take, but what you ought to take.” Temperance shows the way by substituting fake and dismissible wants for, honest and productive needs. Temperance exposes the truth of what one is thinking and cannot be

Justice is in one sense the greatest virtue for it is key to making the other virtues work together for the common good. If all the parts are to work together as a whole, each must have on function to excel at. This is very much like the engine of a car, each part of the engine has their own particular task, but without the complete unit, it will all collapse. Using this analogy, justice would be something like the moral engine that guides the car in its activities. Justice then is the engine, at the top of the hierarchy in social terms. When the other three virtues work together in a systematic manner within the state, justice is created. But for justice to be created, it must come from everyone doing his assigned function under the excellent guidance of the ruling class.

In Republic II, Glaucon and Socrates pose the question of whether justice is intrinsically good, or instrumentally good. Further, the two men wish to discover which life is best - the just life or the unjust one. While Glaucon argues that the unjust life is best, Socrates argues that the just life is truly better. In this paper, I will summarize both Glaucon’s and Socrates’ arguments, and provide a critical analysis of the opposing views.

Sense of Self- This component focuses on how an individual should recognize one’s self, in terms of attitudes, behaviors, and values.

Reason is knowledge of things like mathematics but which require that some postulates be accepted without question, and "intelligence," which is the knowledge of the highest and most abstract categories of things, an understanding of the ultimate good.(Plato)

The idea of striving for goodness has always been something that has been instilled in our minds since birth. We were always taught to the do the right thing. But why? What are the benefits of being a good person versus being bad? This is question that Colin Mcginn tackles in his article, “Why Not Be a Bad Person?” In it, he explains why he think virtue is the more intriguing moral standard, and explores why some people may disagree with him.

Fairness and equality are essential components for humanity to flourish and prosper. These attributes help to ensure that no individual will be denied opportunity based on their gender, skin color, or economic status. Additionally, the utilization of these qualities are designed to avert both disrespect and harm among people. In order for humans to create a more just society for the common good, they must understand the foundation in which an individual is considered “evil”, and to further comprehend the impact this malicious behavior can have on society. Strategies that foster the development of a just society pursuing the common good can be perceived in works by Pope Benedict, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

‘Health we must have; and health is proportion; so that when a man comes into your room and says he is Christ… …and has a message… …and threatens… …to kill himself, you invoke proportion; order rest in bed; rest in solitude; silence and rest; rest without friends, without books; without messages; six months’ rest…’ (Page 110).

Justice is a defining factor of human motivation—it can result in the triumph or demise of a person’s actions. Nevertheless, justice is not only the blade that separates good from evil, but it is the adhesive that cements all of humanity together to form an overall gluttonous species. Justice is at the root of everyone’s greatest desires. Though the purpose of one’s justice may vary, it is seen through history of the inevitable—the truth is always revealed. Some people spend their entire lives attempting to expose the lies that suppressed their greatest desires and caused their greatest failures.

It is entirely possible that humans are inherently able to cultivate themselves toward moral goodness and also do not innately prioritize the advancement of the state. When one considers the different scales by which goodness can be measured, the two philosophers’ viewpoints on human nature no longer seem so

At first, Socrates is hesitant to respond to the challenge of Glaucon. After some time, Socrates reciprocates to Glaucon’s argument. He states that there are two kinds of justice: political justice, and

When we don't practice this temperance we become a slave to oneself in which we rely on another person or have let our virtue go in which the better part is overwhelmed by the worse. The fourth virtue is justice, which is the virtue of entire city when they work in unison, which can only be understood if the first three are virtues are understood by their proper class citizens. The virtue of justice in the city is when each class performs their proper function and not interfere with others. When they don’t perform their duty/ “techne” that is when we find corruption and self-ambition. Similarly, we have justice in an individual in which the human soul is divided into 3 parts: mind, heart, and appetites. A human is just when each part of the soul is performing its function. The mind is the rational part of the body that is to rule over the rest in which the virtue of the mind is wisdom. The heart is the will power that assists the mind in ruling the body. The body is the mediator to keep order in which the virtue of the heart is courage to keep brave. The appetites is the desire of the flesh. For appetizers we must exercise the virtue of temperance so they do not control

The soul is different from the body in that it is able to communicate with the divine and see things that are beyond human senses. The soul therefore has a specific function in connecting the body with the divine as well as running bodily functions.

In my opinion, it is not right to divide the world into just and unjust. Justice itself is subjective, in a sense that everybody has his own justice. Moreover, not necessarily all three parts should be in harmony in order to be just. For example, let us imagine that there are two best friends. One of them has a gun made of gold, and he tells his friend: “Could you please hold my golden gun for some time and give it back to me when I will ask you to do so.” The other guy takes the gun and he is willing to give it back when the time comes. But, the friend, who is the gun-owner, becomes angry and wants to kill his neighbor because he is too loud. After the second friend was informed of it, the first tells him to give him the gun. In this situation, the friend’s reason tells him not to give the gun back, because he wants to avoid a murder. His will wants to give the gun back, because he must do so. And finally, his appetites want to hold the gun, because he always

To live together beneficially, we must act decently or morally with one another. There is no social, economic or political institution which can exist if the participants in it unrestrainedly lie, cheat, steal, injure, threaten or physically endanger one another. (p. 694).