Justice: Virtue and Plato Essay

Submitted By Bobbysays
Words: 1161
Pages: 5
Open Document
Tavon Mcmillon
Professor Debellis
Philosophy 100-002
October 24, 2013 Plato’s Happiness
To be just or unjust. To be happy or unhappy? Men fall into these two categories. Why does a man act according to these 2 extremes? Is it because they fear punishment? Are they quivering in fear of divine retribution? Or do men do just things because it is good for them to do so? Is justice, good of its rewards and consequences? Or is it good for itself. What is justice? Are the people who are just, just as happy as the people who are unjust? Plato sheds light on these questions and says yes, I have the definition of justice and yes, just people are happy if not happier than unjust people. Plato show’s that justice is worthwhile in and of itself and that being a just person equates to being a happy person. In my opinion, Plato does a good job and is accurate when explaining what it is to be just and this definition is an adequate solution to repairing an unjust person or an unjust city or anything that has an unjust virtue and using the definition of what justice is accurately explains why just people are happier than unjust people.
According to Plato justice is harmony (book 4, 434c) and justice is each part doing its own work and not interfering with one another. These two definitions of justice don’t do a good job of explaining what justice is in ful. Plato compares justice in a soul and justice in a city, the city of Kalipolis. Plato critiques what justice is, the parts in the soul and the parts in the city of Kalipolis. The soul is split into three parts by Plato, the appetitive, spirited element and the rational. The appetitive is the part are, in lames terms, our desires, our hunger, our thirst in some sorts. The rational part of our soul controls the appetites. The rational part is the part in the soul makes decisions that are good for the soul and should always have that interest in mind. The third part is the spirited element. This part of the soul gives us drives, it gives us courage, it wakes us up in the morning, gets us through the day. This part of the soul is also controlled by rationality. The spirited naturally, if “it hasn’t been corrupted by a bad upbringing” (4, 441a), partners with the rational part.

Now to understand the parts of the city Kalipolis. The parts of Kalipolis are three types of people, the producers, the auxiliaries and the rulers. They are evaluated to their natural qualities at birth and taken away from their parents. Though I don’t agree with this entirely, it is an effective tactic. The producers are people who specialized in a certain craft. They obtain this craft by nature. The producers are also knows as the money-seekers. The producers produce most things needed in the city of Kalipolis. This entails clothing, food, and electronics, whatever the city needs to do. In modern society they would be considered labor workers. The producers must obey the rulers in the city of Kalipolis, which is also known as the good or beautiful city. (See what Plato did there? This is in likeness to the soul whereas the appetites must obey rationality.

The auxiliaries are the people that are supposed to fight to protect the city of kalipolis. They are supposed to hold a good sense of justice attained by the ruler. They have to have the attribute of bravery and have to be very strong willed as well as strong physically. The rulers are people who are the messiah of goodness. They must be a lover of wisdom. They must always have the good of the city at heart with every decision they make. These parts of the city have been separated justly because they are naturally suited. Each part doesn’t have the essential attribute needed to network through these occupations. Both the Kalipolis and a just soul have the same components. Plato claims that justice is the same in the soul and in the state. Both the auxiliaries and the appetitive have the attribute desires. Both the auxiliaries
Show More

Related Documents: Justice: Virtue and Plato Essay

plato the republic Essay

plato The Republic is an examination of the "Good Life"; the harmony reached by applying pure reason and justice. The ideas and arguments of Plato center on the social settings of an ideal republic - those that lead each person to the most perfect possible life for him. Socrates was Plato's early mentor in real life. As a tribute to his teacher, Plato uses Socrates in several of his works and dialogues. Socrates moderates the discussion throughout, as Plato's mouthpiece. Through Socrates' powerful…

Words 2973 - Pages 12

Plato Essay

conduct demonstrates his belief that citizens must not be complacent when it comes to political virtue. In order to push citizens out of complacency, Socrates used a method called the “elecnhus” to prod citizens to discover the true definition of virtues (Jowett, 2009). In doing this, Socrates hoped to promote a rigorous understanding of traditional moral virtues; an understanding of what courage, justice, and wisdom, truly meant (Jowett, 2009). At first…

Words 2327 - Pages 10

Analysis of The Republic Essay

rewards and punishments? Greek philosopher Plato seeks to answer these compelling questions in his works The Republic. After criticizing the conventional theories of justice presented differently by intellectuals Cephalus, Plymarchus, Thrasymachus and Glaucon, Socrates gives his theory of justice according to which it is a sort of specialization (Plato, p.14). Individually, justice is a human virtue that makes a person self-consistent and “good”; socially, justice is a consciousness that makes society…

Words 1119 - Pages 5

Bernadette Carberry PPe Essay Plato2

groups which society will be organized into are the guardians, the auxiliaries and the producers. Three virtues are also established by Plato which corresponds to each group which include wisdom, courage and moderation. (‘The state will obviously have the qualities of wisdom, courage, self-discipline and justice’2) The guardians defend the city against its enemies and therefore must have the virtue of courage. (‘We shall say it’s brave with sole reference to the part which campaigns for it.’3)The producers…

Words 1530 - Pages 7

Analysis Of Plato's Gorgias

In Plato’s Gorgias, there are many different ideas that Plato wants the reader to contemplate. This text is a study of virtue based on the evaluation of the power and influence rhetoric places on society. Rhetoric plays a larger role in this text than many of the other ideas explained, and the ideas that Plato explains to the readers are his own true thoughts, and are expanded explanations of the ideas that Socrates had taught him while growing up. Rhetoric in this text is looked as amoral lacking…

Words 771 - Pages 4

Comparing Plato's The Apology And The Republic

knowledge are tools that help people learn about life and find it’s value. Socrates believed and taught that when life is examined, you can see the proper way to live it. Throughout Plato’s Republic we are exposed the ideas of truth, goodness, and virtues and the role they play in Socrates’ philosophical life, and in The Apology, we see him defend his beliefs. Before we can determine if Socrates was correct in stating that, “the unexamined life is not worth living,” we…

Words 836 - Pages 4

Virtue of Sophrosune Essay

The Virtue of Sophrosune The Laws is an extensive dialogue that represents one of the most thorough philosophical views by Plato. In the Laws, the Athenian looks for an analysis that will classify the virtues beneficial to the life of a human and the state. Virtues are qualities that are considered morally good and desirable in a person. He began by stating that the human virtues that include health, beauty, strength, and wealth are of lesser value than the divine virtues. These human virtues will…

Words 977 - Pages 4

Thrasymachus Definition of Justice in Plato's Republic Essay

about human affairs since they do not seem to enforce justice. Scholars have, however, been divided whether this claim is compatible with the position Plato attributes to Thrasymachus in the first book of the Republic. Plato’s account there is by far the most detailed, though perhaps historically suspect, evidence for Thrasymachus’ philosophical ideas. In the first book of the Republic, Thrasymachus attacks Socrates’ position that justice is an important good. He claims that ‘injustice, if it…

Words 1177 - Pages 5

Plato s Forms Essay

Ultimate Basis of Reality Plato, a philosopher that lived more than 2,400 years ago, has proven himself to be, as time has elapsed, one of the brightest men ever to inhabit the earth. Although it is not certain, it is believed that he was born a little over 400 years before Christ in ancient Greece. He was brought up in the home of a wealthy and influential family in Athens and his parents made sure that he got the best education money could buy. Before I discuss Plato further, it is critically important…

Words 1644 - Pages 7

Plato: Soul and Pruning Knife Essay

is better suited to pruning than a butcher’s knife, its function is to prune. Having established this, Socrates goes on to argue that everything also has a virtue that relates to the performance of its function. The virtue of eyes would be sight and the virtue of the pruning knife would be its sharpness. An object that is deficient in its virtue is said to be incapable of performing its function well (a dull knife would not be able to cut properly). Having shown this, Socrates turns his attention to…

Words 552 - Pages 3