Thursday, November 14, 2019
Platos The Republic Books 6 Through 10 Essay -- essays research papers
Plato’s The Republic Books 6 through 10      In books 6 through 10 of Plato’s Republic, we see many different discussions on the subject of justice, philosophy, and goodness. The philosopher Socrates has now defined what a philosopher is. His next task is to show that a philosopher is best qualified to be the ruler of a state. A good ruler must surely know what Justice and Goodness are, for he must administer Justice and always act for the good of the community. But a philosopher, as we have seen, has knowledge of the Forms, so from this point of view at least, he is best qualified to be a ruler. A good ruler must have a good character as well as a good mind; he must always be truthful, high-minded, and disciplined, and never mean, petty, or cowardly. A philosopher will satisfy these requirements too, Socrates argues. Since the philosopher loves truth, he will always be honest and forthright.      Socrates is being much too idealistic here. The idea that a philosopher should be the ruler of a state is just an idle dream. Politicians should be practical and experienced. However philosophers have wisdom and goodness.     Next Socrates is asked, â€Å"What is Goodness?†Socrates tries to answer this question in the form of an analogy. The Analogy of the Sun, as this is called, can be represented in a diagram:           Sight                              Knowledge The Sun                          Goodness Is the source of                    is the source of Light,                              Truth, And so makes objects                    and so makes the Forms Visible, and allows the      &... ...osopher-Ruler: At the age of fifty, the philosopher-rulers will at last be fully formed. They will spend a large part of the rest of their lives in contemplation and philosophy, but they must also take their turn in public and political life, and do their duty in ruling and guiding the state. For now they will know Goodness itself, and thus they will know what is best for the community. At this point, Socrates has discovered the nature of Justice, both in the state and in the individual man, and he had begun to answer the question â€Å"Why is it better for a man to lead a just life than it is for him to lead an unjust life?†The Myth of Er tells us that even after death justice is rewarded and injustice punished. Plato’s view is that a man who chooses to be unjust is a matter of ignorance. A man guided by reason would realize that living an unjust life causes him unhappiness and suffering. Socrates than says that there are four main types of unjust societies. These are Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, and Tyranny. This is the order of their degrees of injustice; timocracy is closest to the just state, and tyranny is the most unjust and diseased of all.     Â
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