Plato and his work Republic are discussed. The document provides background on Classical Greece, including the Pre-Socratic philosophers like the Milesians (Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes), Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Zeno. It also discusses the differences between Greek city-states like Sparta and Athens, and events like the Persian Wars and Peloponnesian War that divided Greece. Plato's Republic is described as humanity's first attempt at systematically discussing the ideal way to live.

1. Plato
Justice & Power--session ii

2. Topics in This Session
i.introduction
ii.Classical Greece
iii.Plato
iv.Politea (Republic)
v.Criticism

3. Introduction

4. Introduction

5. In the late 1960s it became fashionable to criticize the teaching
of Western Civilization as a source of white racism or cultural
chauvinism. By emphasizing the deeds and thoughts of the
ancestors of European Americans, the impression might grow
that Asians, Africans and Amerindians were people without
history, without culture… clearly inferior. “Why begin every
[expletive deleted] course with the Greeks?” Yippie leader
Jerry Rubin [Walnut Hills High School, Class of 1956] asked a
crowd of young Cincinnatians at a rally at Eden Park just prior
to the Chicago Conspiracy trial [in 1969]. A valid question,
however rudely put. Why should our inquiry begin with a small,
sparsely settled region of the ancient Mediterranean world?
James B. Powers, Justice & Power, p. 1

6. The Heartland
of
Classical Greece
Socrates would use
the image of
“frogs around a
pond” to describe the
Greek city-states
around the Aegean
Sea

7. Fourth century B.C. Greece might justly be considered
poor, perhaps barbaric, or even insignificant by a citizen
of one of the river states---Egypt or Persia nearby, or
the Indus or Yellow River empires of ancient Asia. The
Golden Age of Classical Greece passed quickly, but in a
sense the achievements of Hellas have never since been
surpassed.
Ibid.

8. As Bertrand Russell, the
great twentieth century
philosopher, has said of
Greek civilization:
Based on an underlying
principle of harmony, it was torn
by internal strife, and this may
have enhanced its greatness.
For though it never could evolve
a viable panhellenic state, it
c o n q u e re d a l l t h o s e w h o
conquered the land of Hellas,
and to this day remains the
framework of the West.
Wisdom of the West, p. 35

9. Plato and his student Aristotle are universally held to epitomize
Greek academic thought. “It may be true that all succeeding
political philosophy is a footnote to and a commentary on Plato,
Professor Michael Curtis has written [quoting Alfred North
Whitehead] (The Great Political Theories, 1961, p. 23). With Plato’s
Republic, quite simply, we are beginning at the beginning. This is
humankind’s first attempt to systematically and intelligently record
a search for the ideal way to live.
Ibid.

10. This perfect condition was ascribed by other earlier or
contemporary cultures, such as the aforementioned river
kingdoms or the post-exilic Jewish state, to divine activity or
revelation. With characteristic Greek self-confidence Plato
presents his program as the product of an evening’s conversation.
The atmosphere of the dialogue is one of curiosity, intellectual
rivalry, humor, and moral earnestness---with here and there
evidence of the wine which inevitably fueled a Greek symposium.
Ibid.

11. This perfect condition was ascribed by other earlier or
contemporary cultures, such as the aforementioned river
kingdoms or the post-exilic Jewish state, to divine activity or
revelation. With characteristic Greek self-confidence Plato
presents his program as the product of an evening’s conversation.
The atmosphere of the dialogue is one of curiosity, intellectual
rivalry, humor, and moral earnestness---with here and there
evidence of the wine which inevitably fueled a Greek symposium.
Ibid.
Attic red figure Krater, ca. 390 BC at the J. Paul Getty Museum

12. Plato, the man who invented higher education with his Academy,
invites you to be one of the silent listeners. Socrates is the
narrator; Plato’s two brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, speak,
as does the host, a rich and aged merchant Cephalus, and his son
Polemarchus. Socrates’ chief adversary is the sophist
Thrasymachus, a cynical professional wise man or tutor.
Ibid.

13. Plato, the man who invented higher education with his Academy,
invites you to be one of the silent listeners. Socrates is the
narrator; Plato’s two brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, speak,
as does the host, a rich and aged merchant Cephalus, and his son
Polemarchus. Socrates’ chief adversary is the sophist
Thrasymachus, a cynical professional wise man or tutor.
Ibid.

14. Once you have listened to the plan proposed “just last night,”
you may become a disciple like Plato’s brothers. Or, like
Thrasymachus and after him Aristotle, you may remain a skeptical
critic. But like every political theorist since Plato’s day, you cannot
be ignorant of the ideas discussed that night and expect an
educated audience to give weight to your ideas.
Ibid.

15. Classical Greece

16. Classical Greece

17. Hellas-the common
heritage

18. Hellas-the common
heritage

19. I. Classical Greece
A. Hellas - the common heritage
1. Homer
2. Pre-Socratics
a. Milesians - sceptics
b. Pythagoreans - ascetics
c. Heraclitus
d Eleatics - Parmenides & Zeno
e. the Sophists - Protagoras
B. Polis - irreconcilable differences
1. Citizens and “others”
2. Sparta, Athens et al.
a. experience and theory
b. metropolis and colonies
3. Persian Wars, 490-70 B.C.
4. Periclean Athens
5. Peloponnesian War, 431-04 B.C.
Justice & Power, p. 3

20. Apotheosis of Homer
J.A.D. Ingres, 1827

21. He was not the Greek Bible; he was the representative and spokesman of the
Greeks. He was quintessentially Greek. The stamp of the Greek genius is
everywhere on his two epics, in the banishment of the ugly and the frightful
and the senseless; in the conviction that gods were like men and men able to be
godlike; in the courage and undaunted spirit with which the heroes faced any
opponent, human or divine, even Fate herself; in the prevailing atmosphere of
reason and good sense…. Homer was the great molding force of Greece
because he was so Greek himself.
Edith Hamilton, The Greek Way, p. 212

22. Pre-Socratic Philosophy
Milesians-sceptics
Pythagoreans-ascetics
Heraclitus
Eleatics
Parmenides
Zeno
the Sophists-Protagoras

23. Milesians
philosophers from the Greek colony of Miletus
Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes
Θαλῆς,
c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC
Ἀναξίμανδρος
c. 610 – c. 546 BC
Άναξιμένης
585 BC-528 BCE

24. Milesians
one of the Seven Sages, father of philosophy (and
science), he began to doubt his senses and inquire
Θαλῆς,
attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC
to mythology
his first principle--the world started from water
he was followed by Anaximander who also doubted
(σκεπσις-skepsis, skepticism) Ἀναξίμανδρος
c. 610 – c. 546 BC
an indefinite (apeiron) principle gives rise to all natural
phenomena
finally, Anaximenes joined the argument
his first principle--air
Άναξιμένης
585 BC-528 BC

25. Milesians
one of the Seven Sages, father of philosophy (and
science), he began to doubt his senses and inquire
Θαλῆς,
attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC
to mythology
his first principle--the world started from water
he was followed by Anaximander who also doubted
(σκεπσις-skepsis, skepticism) Ἀναξίμανδρος
c. 610 – c. 546 BC
an indefinite (apeiron) principle gives rise to all natural
phenomena
finally, Anaximenes joined the argument
his first principle--air
Άναξιμένης
585 BC-528 BC

26. Pythagoras and his followers salute the sunrise-Fyodor Bronnikov, 1869

27. little reliable information about him
is known. He may have travelled to
Egypt in his youth
530-he moved to Croton, a Greek
colony in Southern Italy where he
established a communal sect
his disciples followed ascetic
practices such as vegetarianism.
They were called the mathematikoi
Μαθηματικοι (learners)
their first principle of the cosmos Πυθαγόρας
c. 570 – c. 495 BC
was number

28. a proof of Pythagoras' theorem, showing
how by rearranging triangles the areas a2
+ b2 and c2 can be shown to be the same.
The area of the outer square never
changes, and the total area of the four
right triangles is the same at both the
tetraktys
beginning and the end, therefore the a mystical symbol, “source of the roots
black area at the beginning, a2 + b2, must of ever-flowing nature”
equal the black area at the end, c2.

29. he was considered obscure, even by
contemporaries
famous for asserting change as the
basis of the cosmos-panta rhei kai
ouden menei (everything burns,
nothing remains)
but he is also known for hodos ano
kato-(the upward-downward path)
another first principle of the cosmos
Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἐφέσιος was the Logos. Its meaning is arguable
—Hērákleitos ho
Ephésios
c. 535 – c. 475 BC

30. he describes two views of reality. In
"the way of truth", he explains how
reality (coined as "what-is") is one,
change is impossible, and existence is
timeless, uniform, necessary, and
unchanging--his first principle
In "the way of opinion," he explains the
world of appearances, in which one's
sensory faculties lead to conceptions
which are false and deceitful
These ideas strongly influenced the
w h o l e o f We s t e r n p h i l o s o p h y , Παρμενίδης ὁ
perhaps most notably through its Ἐλεάτης
fl. early 5th century BC
effect on Plato

31. not to be confused with Zeno of Citium
founder of the Stoic school member of the Eleatic School founded by
Parmenides, his erotes. Aristotle called him
the inventor of the dialectic
449-Plato describes a visit to Athens by
Zeno and Parmenides, at a time when
Parmenides is "about 65," Zeno is "nearly
40" and Socrates is "a very young man"
best known for his paradoxes, which
Bertrand Russell has described as
"immeasurably subtle and profound"
Achilles & the tortoise: In a race, the
quickest runner can never overtake the
slowest, since the pursuer must first reach
Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεάτης the point whence the pursued started, so that
c. 490 – c. 430 BC the slower must always hold a lead
Zeno shows the Doors to Truth and Falsity (Veritas et Falsitas). Fresco in the Library of El Escorial, Madrid.

32. Polis-irreconcilable
differences

33. B. Polis - irreconcilable differences
1. Citizens and “others”
2. Sparta, Athens et al.
a. experience and theory
b. metropolis and colonies
3. Persian Wars, 490-79 B.C.
4. Periclean Athens
5. Peloponnesian War, 431-04 B.C.
Justice & Power, p. 3

34. “Citizens” and others
each of the more than 1,000 poleis had its own definition
of who was a citizen
none enfranchised slaves, females or minors
resident aliens (metoikoi) were usually excluded as well
in Athens, the largest polis, birthplace of democracy,
estimates place the number of polites (citizens) at
40-50,000 out of a total population of several hundred
thousand
political participation was only one of the irreconcilable
differences

35. barbaroi--the ultimate other
our word “barbarian” comes from the Greek
it’s how they mocked the “incomprehensible speech” of
the savage non-Hellenes. cf. our “blah, blah, blah”
even enlightened philosophers had no doubts of Greek
racial and cultural superiority to other ethnicities

36. the two most famous of the many different
and fractious Greek poleis
Sparta-the way of war
their struggle for hegemony will ultimately
destroy Classical Greece
a tragedy of “irreconcilable differences”
Athens-the light of reason

37. a journey of only a day or two might take a Greek through several different
states whose laws and customs were different from those of his native polis
these different experiences explain why he might think about and theorize
(θεωρειν-theōrein) about which might be the better state
could this be why political philosophy began in Greece rather than Egypt,
Mesopotamia -- older, more “advanced” societies?
Greeks began to send out settlers in the 8th century. These colonies had to
develop their own constitutions
they would take some elements from their “mother country” (metropolis). New
experiences required them to theorize about how best to frame government to
meet local condtions

38. war-unifier or divider?
war against a common enemy can bring tremendous unity
within an alliance system and within each state
a prolonged war, however, often produces conflict over
strategies, even internal dispute over whether to continue
the fight or seek “peace at any price.”

39. Persian wars-490-479 BC
Persia,then the greatest empire in the
world, decided to conquer the divided
Greek states
490-amazingly, the Athenians
defeated the first attack at Marathon
480-479--Xerxes returned with a huge
force to punish them
the Athenian navy at Salamis, then the
Spartan-led land forces at Plataea
once again drove the Persians off
this David-Goliath moment created the
pride and self-confidence which
produced the Golden Age of Classical
Greece

40. Age of Pericles
the Parthenon with its famous
statue of Athena was financed by
the wealth of the Athenian empire

41. Age of Pericles
Athens and Sparta shared the victory over
the Persian Empire
but Athens soon began to reap greater
rewards
Pericles, the leader of Athenian democracy,
led the building program which attracted
the wonder of all Hellas
the arts flourished under state patronage
but the rivalry with Sparta was fed by the
growth of Athens’ power. The Delian
League against Persia became the Athenian
Empire the Parthenon with its famous
statue of Athena was financed by
431-Sparta and her allies declared war
the wealth of the Athenian empire

42. Age of Pericles
Athens and Sparta shared the victory over
the Persian Empire
but Athens soon began to reap greater
rewards
Pericles, the leader of Athenian democracy,
led the building program which attracted
the wonder of all Hellas
the arts flourished under state patronage
but the rivalry with Sparta was fed by the
growth of Athens’ power. The Delian
League against Persia became the Athenian
Empire the Parthenon with its famous
statue of Athena was financed by
431-Sparta and her allies declared war
the wealth of the Athenian empire

43. Peloponnesian War-431-404 BC
the war began with each system of allies using
their asymmetrical strengths, Sparta on land,
Athens at sea
421-415--after an uneasy truce, Athens
launched the disastrous Sicilian expedition
413-405--despite its crippling failure, Athens
survived and fought on until Lysander
destroyed her fleet at Aegospotami
this long “war like no other” in its ruthless
brutality left the Greek states exhausted,
disillusioned, divided internally, ripe for
political extremism, and prey to external
“...to the music of flutes Sparta powers like Persia and Macedonia
made Athenian captives tear down
their walls”--Xenophon

44. Socrates, an Athenian citizen of humble means, fought in the early
land battles as a foot soldier. Plato, who would become his disciple,
an Athenian aristocrat, was born a few years after the war began. He
fought as a cavalryman in its last battles. Both tasted the bitter
defeat, the disillusionment of this war which ended the Golden Age.
Both experienced the political upheavals which replaced democracy
with a pro-Spartan oligarchy, the Thirty Tyrants led by Plato’s uncle.
It was soon overthrown by a vengeful democracy which would put
Socrates to death in 399 BC.

45. Plato

46. Plato Πλάτων, Plátōn
428/27 BC – 348/347 BC

47. II. Plato
A. Discipleship
1. early life
2.Socrates
a. Socratic method
b. “know thyself”- anamnesis
c. Apology, Crito, Phaedo
B. Travels
C. Academy, 387 BC - 529 AD (!)
1. dialogues vs. treatises

48. His early years were filled with the education of his social
station--private tutors, ‘music and gymnastic’. There is a
tradition of his success as an athlete, experimentation with
poetry. His name may refer “to the breadth of his
shoulders, his brow, his style. He is said to have become a
disciple of Socrates at the age of twenty, some eight or nine
years before Socrates’ death.”
Paul Shorey, What Plato Said, p. 1

49. Athens was by modern standards a small and gossipy city. Plato
would have had abundant opportunity to observe the piquant
contrast between the strange uncouth figure, the barefoot begging
chatterbox, the butt of Attic comedy, and the magic of the man’s
words, his power to deal with his interlocutors as he pleased, and to
compel everyone who approached him to render an account of his
soul and view his opinions in the light of reason...the irony that
enabled him to mingle with the world yet not be of it, the feigned
defective memory that introduced the demand for dialectic in place
of long speeches of rhetoric, the professed ignorance that served
to provoke joint inquiry.
Shorey, pp. 10-11

50. Athens was by modern standards a small and gossipy city. Plato
would have had abundant opportunity to observe the piquant
contrast between the strange uncouth figure, the barefoot begging
chatterbox, the butt of Attic comedy, and the magic of the man’s
words, his power to deal with his interlocutors as he pleased, and to
compel everyone who approached him to render an account of his
soul and view his opinions in the light of reason...the irony that
enabled him to mingle with the world yet not be of it, the feigned
defective memory that introduced the demand for dialectic in place
of long speeches of rhetoric, the professed ignorance that served
to provoke joint inquiry.
Shorey, pp. 10-11
The School of Athens (detail), Raphael, 1511

51. “He did not profess to know or teach anything. ‘I am like
the midwife whose function I exercise on the minds of
others.’...His function, he said, was like that of the
physician who purged men’s minds of their false
conceits; it was like that of the midwife who assisted in
the delivery of their true and more considered
thought….He himself had no body of doctrine to
impart….In respect of method...Plato confirms
Aristotle’s statement that there are two things that may
be rightly attributed to Socrates, inductive argument
and the quest for definitions. His philosophical dogmas:
“no man willingly does wrong
“virtue is knowledge, all wrongdoing and error is ignorance
“it is better to suffer injustice than to do it”
Shorey, pp. 12-13

52. “know thyself”- anamnesis
Socrates’ theory of education was based on his belief that every
person has innate knowledge. The teacher’s role is not to “pour”
facts into empty vessels. Rather it is to draw out that knowledge
through skillful questions which aid the learner to remember
(ανάµνησις -- anamnesis) that which she already knows[Plato is the
first recorded master to allow a woman to enter his Academy].
Thus Socrates practiced that Delphic motto--”know thyself” (γνόθι
σεαθτόν--gnothi seauton). He also said the unexamined life is not
worth living (ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ -- ho de
an•ex• EH•tas•tos BI•os ou bi•ōh•TOS an•THRŌ•pō--Apology, 38a)

53. Apology, Crito, Phaedo
These three “biographical” dialogues narrate the famous “sin
against philosophy” committed by the vengeful Athenian democracy
in 399 BC. The Apology takes the form of Socrates’ speeches to his
accusers who charged him with blasphemy and corrupting the youth.
In Crito Socrates gently refuses this disciple’s offer of an escape. He
must remain true to his principles and obey the laws of his polis. The
Phaedo is a moving “last class” with his disciples. The night of his
execution is spent in a dialogue on the nature of death. “Be of good
cheer, no harm can come to a good man in life or death.”

54. Apology, Crito, Phaedo
These three “biographical” dialogues narrate the famous “sin
against philosophy” committed by the vengeful Athenian democracy
in 399 BC. The Apology takes the form of Socrates’ speeches to his
accusers who charged him with blasphemy and corrupting the youth.
In Crito Socrates gently refuses this disciple’s offer of an escape. He
must remain true to his principles and obey the laws of his polis. The
Phaedo is a moving “last class” with his disciples. The night of his
execution is spent in a dialogue on the nature of death. “Be of good
cheer, no harm can come to a good man in life or death.”
The Death of Socrates, Jacques-Louis David, 1787

55. Shocked, disillusioned and grieving the death of his master, Plato
left Athens for nearby Megara. From there he may have travelled to
Egypt, the source of wisdom and mystery for the Greeks. He
definitely travelled to the Greek colony of Syracuse.
“T this period belongs his first Sicilian visit at the court of the
o
elder Dionysius, and the story that he was sold into slavery
on the island of Aegina by the Spartan ambassador Pollis, at
the instigation of Dionysius, and ransomed by one Anniceris
of Cyrene. He may or may not have taught at Athens during
these twelve years.”
Shorey, p.1

56. Academy
This school, which he located on his estate north of Athens, near
the grove of the hero Academus, gives its name to every later such
institution of higher learning. It would endure for some nine hundred
and sixteen years (387 BC-529 AD) a record unequalled by any such
later school!
“The forty years of residence, teaching, and writing at Athens that
followed were interrupted by his two visits to the court of Dionysius
the Younger in Syracuse. Otherwise little is known of these forty
years of his life, except conjectures about the dates of his writings
and a few anecdotes of his relations with contemporaries.”
Shorey, p.2

57. Republic

58. Republic

59. Republic

60. III. Politeia (Republic), 365 (?) [recent scholarship-350s] BC; bks., x, pp. 397
A. Bk I -- Introduction: defective definitions of justice
1. conventional morality
a. Cephalus
b. Polemarchus
2. cynical “realism”
a. Thrasymachus’ argument
b. Socrates’ refutation
Justice & Power, p. 3

61. In Book i Socrates describes how
the gathering turned after dinner to
examine the thesis question of The
Republic: What is justice?
Cephalus remarks how his wealth
frees him to “make offering due the
gods [and pay] debts which he owes
to men.”
“Well said, Cephalus, I replied; but
as concerning justice, what is it (η
δικαιοσυνη, το τι; hē dikaiosyne, to ti,
literally: the justice. it what?)---to
speak the truth and to pay your
debts---no more than this” asks
Socrates.
Powers, J & P, p. 1

62. Polemarchus’ Definition
...Πολλ’ δ’ ἄλγεα δυσµενὲεσσι,
χαρµατα δ’ εὐµενέτῃσι
...POL’ D’AL•gĕ•a dus•men•E•e•si,
CHAR•ma•ta d’eu•men•ET•ē•si
...many pains to enemies,
joys to well-wishers
Homer, Odyssey, bk vi, 184-185
In other words, the traditional Greek definition of justice:
doing good to those who do good to you, getting even
with your enemies-- as old as the Homeric tradition.

63. Then, after Polemarchus offers his definition, “Socrates
expresses his dissatisfaction with both these conventional
approaches and through a series of questions, points out their
shortcomings.
Unable to contain himself, Thrasymachus scornfully breaks in
to develop his famous definition of justice as that which is to the
advantage of those in power:
‘Justice is the interest of the stronger.’ “
op. cit., pp. 1-2

64. “What’s the matter with you two, Socrates? Why do you go on in this
imbecile way, politely deferring to each other’s nonsense? If you really
want to know what justice means, stop asking questions and scoring
off the answers you get. You know very well it is easier to ask questions
than to answer them. Answer yourself, and tell us what you think
justice means.”
Plato, The Republic, F.M. Cornford, trans. Oxford University Press, 1945 quoted in J & P: Reader p. 1

65. Socrates craftily maneuvers Thrasymachus into giving his
definition--
“Listen then, Thrasymachus began. What I say is that ‘just’
or ‘right’ means nothing but what is to the interest of the
stronger party….Don’t you know, then, that a state may be
ruled by a despot, or a democracy, or an aristocracy?
“Of course.
“And that the ruling element is always the strongest?
“Yes.”
op. cit., p. 2

66. “Well then, in every case the laws are made by the ruling party in its
own interest: a democracy makes democratic laws [in the interest of
the Many who control a democracy], a despot autocratic ones, and
so on….That is what I mean: in all states alike ‘right’ has the same
meaning, namely what is for the interest of the party established in
power, and that is the strongest.
“Now I see what you mean, said I; whether it is true or not, I must
try to make out.”
op. cit., p. 2
Socrates then attacks the definition with a series of dialectical
propositions: Well, if X, then Y?-OK-And if P, then Q? Well, I
guess so-Then it must follow that R is S, &c., &c.

67. Socrates gets him to agree that no ruler will study what is in his own
interest, rather what is good and proper for his subjects:
“At this point, when everyone could see that Thrasymachus’ definition of
justice had been turned inside out, instead of making any reply, he said:
“Socrates, have you a nurse?
“Why do you ask such a question as that?
“Because she lets you go around sniffling like a child whose nose wants
wiping. She hasn’t even taught you to know a shepherd when you see one, or
his sheep either.
“What makes you say that?
“Why you imagine that a herdsman studies the interests of his flocks of
cattle, tending and fattening them up with some other end in view than his
master’s profit or his own; and so don’t you see that, in politics, the genuine
ruler regards his subjects like sheep, and thinks of nothing...but the good he
can get out of them for himself… “[and much more in this cynical vein]

68. “Having deluged our ears with this torrent of words, as a man at
the baths might empty a bucket over one’s head, Thrasymachus
meant to take himself off; but the company obliged him to stay and
defend his position. I was specially urgent in my entreaties.”
op. cit., p. 6
Socrates, once again, gets the better of the sophist Thrasymachus,
much to the delight of Plato’s brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus and
the host Cephalus’ son, Polemarchus. Thrasymachus departs and
Socrates proposes to continue the search for the definition of this
most precious quality justice.
Which brings us to Book ii

69. III. Politeia (Republic), 365 (?) [recent scholarship-350s] BC; bks., x, pp. 397
A. Bk I -- Introduction: defective definitions of justice
1. conventional morality
a. Cephalus
b. Polemarchus
2. cynical “realism”
a. Thrasymachus’ argument
b. Socrates’ refutation
B. Bks II-IV -- two cities
1. growth of the typical or “natural” polis
a. division of labor
b. luxury --- cause of war
2. the ideal (just) state
a. government --- “machinery” or people?
b. guardians CAUTION! two usages
1. attributes
2. education, censorship, & propaganda
a. stages: 20, 30, 35, 50 years
3. “careers open to talent”
4. myth of the metals
3. justice discovered --- the four virtues in
a. state
b. soul
c. individual Justice & Power, pp. 3-4

70. III B -- two cities (poleis)
Socrates suggests that it will be easier to see what justice is by
looking at it writ large, justice in a just state, not justice in an
individual or in his dealings with other individuals. Just as with
an eye chart, we start with the big letters at the top, then work
down. So let’s imagine a state coming into being and see if we
can find justice in it.

71. growth of the “natural” polis
Socrates gives a remarkably modern description of
how cities grow out of people’s need to come
together in order to enjoy economic benefits
each makes or does that which he is best suited for
then they exchange goods and services
all do better than as if each tried to meet all his needs isolated
“in the state of nature”
so the polis prospers. With this comes luxury
Socrates deplores that there will need to be more people to
cater to the “unhealthy desires” of this swollen state

72. “The country which was large enough to support the original inhabitants, will
now be too small. If we are to have enough pasture and plow land, we shall have
to cut off a slice of our neighbors’ territory; and if they too are not content with
necessities, but give themselves up to getting unlimited wealth, they will want a
slice of ours.
“That is inevitable, Socrates.
“So the next thing will be, Glaucon, that we shall be at war.
“No doubt.
“We need not say yet whether war does good or harm, but only that we have
discovered its origin in desires which are the most fruitful source of evils both to
individuals and to states.”
op. cit., p. 11

73. “That will mean a considerable addition to our community--a whole army, to go
out to battle with any invader, in defense of all this property and of the
citizens….
“Why so? Can’t they defend themselves?
“Not if the principle was right, which we all accepted in framing our society.
You remember we agreed that no one man can practice many trades or arts
satisfactorily.
“True.
“Well, is not the conduct of war an art, quite as important as
shoemaking? ...We gave each man one trade, for which he was naturally fitted; he
would do good work, if he confined himself to that all his life….”
Ibid.

74. III B 2-the ideal (just) state
Socrates pretends to have stumbled upon the principle of
justice in the state with this need to have those who are ideally
(by nature) intended to be warriors. He calls them Guardians.
But before we follow his imaginary creation of the just state it is
well to review our own notions about government. The modern
tendency is to equate government with its “machinery,” its
constitution; what kind of legislature, executive, judiciary,
bureaucracy….Plato is now going to focus on the people who
fill those “slots.”

75. Guardians (φυλακοι,phylakoi)
The rulers, Plato’s words harken back to his image of the good
king as shepherd of his people (Homer’s anax andron
Agamemnon), must be ideally (by nature) suited to the job.
They will be the best citizens, possessed of all the virtues--
wisdom, courage, temperance, and JUSTICE.
But, be aware, he begins by talking about the rulers’ function
of guarding the people--warriors. Later he will discuss what we
call the civil authorities. Like our American constitution, Plato
will place these civil guardians in authority over the military
ones. The civil he will call Guardians in the strict sense, the
military, he will call Auxiliaries.

76. “I suspect then, we may find what we are looking for in this way. I take it that
our state, having been founded and built up on the right lines, is good in the
complete sense of the word.
“It must be.
“Obviously, then, it is wise, brave, temperate, and just.
“Obviously.
“Then if we find some of these qualities in it, the remainder will be the one we
have not found.”
Ibid.

77. B.2.b.1-attributes-the four (pagan) virtues
wisdom
“...a passion for knowledge and understanding….the same thing as
philosophy--the love of wisdom” (φιλειν + σοφια = φιλοσοφια)
courage
“...the same temperament as a well-bred watch dog...quick sense to
detect an enemy, swiftness in pursuing him, and strength, if they have to
fight when they have caught him.
“...the right conviction about the things which ought, or ought not, to be
feared…”cf. Pericles
temperance
moderation in all things--(µη δεν αγαν, may den agan)
justice
the definition we seek...more will be revealed….

78. Education-Sparta & Athens
Physical and mental education combining the best of both
societies: the rigor of Sparta and the cultivation of reason
which characterized Athenian schooling. Boys and girls will train
together, ala Sparta. As in Sparta, strict censorship will exclude
ideas which might conflict with the mindset which this education
is to produce. A series of tests will weed out the weak and
cowardly. Only the strongest, bravest and best will make the
“first cut” at age twenty. They become Auxiliaries, the warrior
Guardians.

79. Education-Sparta & Athens
Physical and mental education combining the best of both
societies: the rigor of Sparta and the cultivation of reason
which characterized Athenian schooling. Boys and girls will train
together, ala Sparta. As in Sparta, strict censorship will exclude
ideas which might conflict with the mindset which this education
is to produce. A series of tests will weed out the weak and
cowardly. Only the strongest, bravest and best will make the
“first cut” at age twenty. They become Auxiliaries, the warrior
Guardians.

80. further refinement
From age thirty to thirty-five the Auxiliaries are instructed in
philosophy to discover the wisest among them (“philosophy is
wasted on the young”). Those who don’t make the second cut
remain warriors. The best (hoi aristoi) of the best are further
groomed to become, like the Spartan Gerousia, the ruling
oligarchy. At age fifty these Guardians in the strict sense
become the ultimate authority in this ideal state, Plato’s
Republic. (Res publica is a Latin word. The Greek term is
Politeia.)
This selection through education will produce what the
French revolutionaries called “careers open to talent.” Other
nineteenth century states also adopted civil service exams to
replace corrupt job-filling with the principle of merit.

81. the myth of the metals
Glaucon objects. Wont those who don’t get the top positions
be envious? Socrates responds: our goal is to do what’s best
for all, not just make a few happy. But he offers a “harmless”
fable, propaganda delivered in the education process. After
several generations it will become accepted as fact:
we are all born from the Earth (autochthonous)
within each of us our souls are either golden,
silver, or some baser element
if we accept this fate, all will be well
if we do not, terrible calamities will ensue

82. justice discovered!
In the state wisdom is to be found in the Guardians, courage
in the Auxiliaries, temperance in the acceptance of every citizen
of his place and responsibilities--“the better part ruling the
worse.”(p. 19) So justice must be what’s left. This was our first
principle--division of labor--according to each person’s innate
vocation. “...this minding of one’s own business, when it takes a
certain form, is actually the same thing as justice….”
“Justice admittedly means that a man should possess and
concern himself with what properly [according to nature]
belongs to him.”
op. cit, p. 21

83. in the polis
wisdom - found in the Guardians
courage - the Auxiliaries
temperance - these two controlling the
Many (hoi polloi)
justice - each “having” and “doing”
according to his nature

84. in the soul (ψυχη, psychē)
wisdom - σοφια, sophia
courage - θαρσεω, tharseō
temperance - σοφροσυνη, sophrosynē
justice - δικαιοσυνη, dikaiosynē

85. in the individual
wisdom - found in the mind, brain
courage - the heart
temperance - when the brain rules the
passions and the appetites

86. Passion
Reason
Silver
in the individual
Gold
Appetite
baser metal
wisdom - found in the mind, brain
courage - the heart
temperance - when the brain rules the
passions and the appetites

87. in the individual
wisdom - found in the mind, brain
courage - the heart
temperance - when the brain rules the
passions and the appetites
justice - each organ “having” and
“doing” according to its nature

88. III. Politeia (Republic)
C. Bks V-VII -- “...philosophers become kings…”
1. life among the Guardians and Auxiliaries
a. communism - goods and wives
b. near equality of women
c. eugenics - abortion & festivals
2. the cave - Plato’s theory of ideas
D. Bks VII-IX -- degenerate types of city & man
1. causes of decline
a. timocracy
b. oligarchy
c. democracy
d. tyranny
2. the argument concluded --- three proofs
E. Bk X -- supplement
Justice & Power, p. 4

89. τα τον φιλον κοινη (the things of friends [ought to be] common)
Guardians and Auxiliaries will live simply--no gold and silver things, no luxury
they will take their meals in common messes, like the Spartan syssitia
the women will also be held in common, as with their children
coming together for procreation is done at periodical festivals, pairing is apparently
by lot
actually the rulers rig the lottery,mating the best with the best to promote eugenics
each child is taught to regard every Guardian as father or mother; they
are raised in common nurseries (day care centers?) so that the Guardian
women can attend to “higher” matters
as in Sparta, children with birth defects are exposed to die
these bizarre practices apply only to the rulers. The Many live as in other
poleis

90. III.C.1.b -- near equality of women
Plato’s view was quite “countercultural” for a Greek of that
time
“Socrates after some demure and deprecation of ridicule
expounds:
“women have the same capacities as men though usually in
lesser degree
thus women of the Guardian class should share in the
education of the males
they should even share their occupations! soldiering or ruling
based on merit
quotes from Shorey, p. 177

91. “What do we mean by philosophers...
and what is the higher education that will develop their native
powers and fit them to be guardians of the state? By true
wisdom [that which philosophers love] Plato meant thought,
abstract ideas, general conceptions---a systematic and
coherent philosophy of life such as can be achieved onlt
through the severest discipline of the higher mental faculties.
All this is expressed in the terminology of the Platonic doctrine
of ideas. Universals, ideas, notions, are treated as
things….They belong to the world of true being and
unchanging reality. The particulars of sense which the world
thinks so real are imperfect copies of the idea and hold a place
midway between true being and absolute non-being or nothing.
Shorey, p.178

96. The relationship of appearance to reality in Plato’s worldview can perhaps
be best grasped in the context of mathematics. A ring...or the perimeter of
a hoplite shield might seem to the casual observer to be a circle, but these
round objects are not circles in the same sense that the locus of all points
in a given plane equidistant from a given point is a circle. They only look
like circles; if you were to put them under a magnifying glass you would
see that they were not circles at all, merely objects vaguely circular in
appearance that bring to mind the Form of the circle. Only the circle
depicted in the mathematical definition is a circle. Some people might say
that these concrete objects are real circles whereas the geometrical concept
is imaginary, but Plato is not one of these people. For Plato, only the
concept is real. The tangible objects are debased copies, feeble imitations
of the ideal Form.
Pomeroy et al. Ancient Greece, pp. 389-390

97. Plato’s brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, become so excited
by the discussion that they implore Socrates to help them
begin to build this ideal just polis.
He brings them down to earth with what is the most famous
excerpt from the dialogue:
“And I said: Cities will have no respite from evil, my dear Glaucon, nor
will the human race, I think, unless philosophers rule as kings in the
cities, or those whom we now call kings and rulers genuinely and
adequately study philosophy, until, that is, political power and
philosophy coalesce, and the various natures of those who now
pursue the one to the exclusion of the other are forcibly debarred
from doing so. Otherwise the city we have been describing will never
grow into a possibility or see the light of day.
Republic, trans. G.M.A. Grube, bk v, sect 473d

98. Philosopher kings are the rulers, or Guardians, of
Plato's Utopian Kallipolis (beautiful city). If his ideal
city-state is to ever come into being, "philosophers
[must] become kings…or those now called kings
[must]…genuinely and adequately
philosophize" (The Republic, v. 473d).
Wikipedia

99. III. Politeia (Republic)
C. Bks V-VII -- “...philosophers become kings…”
1. life among the Guardians and Auxiliaries
a. communism - goods and wives
b. near equality of women
c. eugenics - abortion & festivals
2. the cave - Plato’s theory of ideas
D. Bks VIII-IX -- degenerate types of city & man
1. causes of decline
a. timocracy
b. oligarchy
c. democracy
d. tyranny
2. the argument concluded --- three proofs
E. Bk X -- supplement
Justice & Power, p. 4

100. States-the cyclical theory
best
worst

101. States-the cyclical theory
Hesiod’s
Five Ages
best aristocracy
GOLDEN
timocracy
SILVER
oligarchy
BRONZE
HEROIC
democracy
worst tyranny
IRON

102. Book viii-defective poleis
The first step down the path of corruption is timarchy on the
Spartan model. Reason no longer rules but the spirited part is
in control and the army dominates. War and victory are
therefore the things that are prized. The guardians still protect
the state against outside enemies, but they now rule harshly
and demand some private property [for themselves]. The arts
are neglected and education degenerated. Men love money, but
secretly. The next stage is oligarchy (plutocracy) where this
love of money openly dominates, a wealth qualification for
offices is instituted, and there are great disparities.
G.M.A. Grube, p. 193

103. Book viii-defective poleis (cont.)
So in the corresponding individual character love of money is
supreme, and both reason and spirit are enslaved to it. This still
requires control of appetites, but of the wrong kind. In democracy, the
next stage, there is no control at all and all desires are equal. There is
a rich vein of broad irony in the description of democracy and the
democratic man, and Plato is obviously enjoying himself.
As excessive love of money destroys oligarchy, so excessive love of
liberty destroys democracy and leads to dictatorship where there is
no freedom at all.
Dictatorship comes about through the people choosing a champion
who grasps all power for himself with the help of the unsuspecting
populace who vote him a bodyguard. In this last stage of degeneration
the very worst passions are in command of the state.
G.M.A. Grube, pp. 193-194

104. Democratic Man Comes to Power
“Often a poor man, spare and suntanned, stands in battle next to a
rich man who is pale for lack of sun with much superfluous flesh, and
sees him panting and at a loss. Do you not think that he would
consider that it is through the cowardice of the poor that people like
that are rich, and one poor man would say to the other as they met
privately:”These men are at our mercy; they are no good.” --”I know
very well that they do this.”
“...so a city [which is sick with the love of money] needs but a small
excuse and, as one side [of the class war] brings in allied from an
oligarchic city or the other from a democracy, the city is ill and fights
itself, and sometimes a revolution occurs even without outside help.”
--”Most certainly.”
Plato, Republic, G.M.A. Grube, trans., p. 206

105. After describing the ills of tyranny in bk. ix, Plato explains that
these abuses lead “the best” (hoi aristoi) citizens to overthrow
the tyrant. They now reestablish aristocracy and the cycle
( Gk. kyklos, circle) begins again.

106. Book ix-why philosophers should rule
There are three lives, the philosophic, the ambitious, and the
appetitive, and each man believes his own life to be the most pleasant.
The philosopher, however, is the best judge because he has some
experience of the others’ pleasures, whereas they have no experience
of his. Moreover the means of judgement --- intelligence and
reasoned discourse --- are peculiarly his.
G.M.A. Grube, p. 219

107. Book x is often described as an addendum. It gives a more
detailed argument for the ban on “imitative poetry”, it offers
what Grube calls an unconvincing argument for immortality,
and concludes with the myth of Er:
“an elaborate and vivid picture of the soul’s thousand-year
journey from incarnation to incarnation to incarnation, is atale
of rewards and punishments after death, which completes the
case for justice and makes a fitting ending to the whole
Republic.”
Grube, p. 239

108. Criticism

109. "The safest general
characterization of the
European philosophical
tradition is that it consists of
a series of footnotes to
Plato." (Alfred Nor th
Whitehead, Process and
Reality, 1929).

110. IV. Criticism
1. Aristotle to Popper
2. Utopia - static vs. dynamic concepts
3. realism
4. model or blueprint?
5. historical parallels
6. Plato in Sicily
7. Voltaire at Potsdam
Justice & Power, p. 4

111. Beginning with Plato’s most famous student, Aristotle, hardly any
writer on the topic of politics has failed to make reference to The
Republic. Perhaps the most frequent criticism is the difficulty bordering
on impossibility of coming close to this goal of staffing the government
with philosopher kings. Twentieth century Austro-British philosopher
Karl Popper goes even further. He sees in Plato’s utopia the roots of
modern fascism. He dislikes the Spartan elements and the “banishment
of the poets” as antithetical to his preferred “open society.”

112. Utopia
Although the term dates from the sixteenth century the
Republic is a utopian vision. If the utopian philosopher sees
his “New Jerusalem” as a static perfect concept, he runs up
against historical reality. As Heraclitus said, “Everything
‘burns’ [changes] nothing remains [stays constant].”
But Plato seems to deal with this reality in his cyclical theory.
As Jefferson puts it later about what he called the tree of
liberty, it needs periodic ‘watering’ with the blood of patriots
and tyrants.

113. Realism
Another recurring criticism of the Republic is that it can’t
work. Perhaps it would be more philosophical to say, as
Gandhi did about Christianity, it’s a really attractive
suggestion but it’s never been tried. T say something isn’t
o
realistic begs the question.

114. Model or Blueprint?
At several points Plato has Socrates dash the hopes of
Glaucon and Adeimantus. He is offering a model for
understanding justice, not a constitution to be applied to a
new colony.

115. Historical Parallels
Will Durant draws an interesting parallel between the three
orders of the Republic and the three estates of medieval
Christendom: clergy, nobility, and third estate. Not exactly a
perfect constitution but it did endure for a millennium. Doesn’t
that speak to the realistic question!

116. Historical Parallels
Will Durant draws an interesting parallel between the three
orders of the Republic and the three estates of medieval
Christendom: clergy, nobility, and third estate. Not exactly a
perfect constitution but it did endure for a millennium. Doesn’t
that speak to the realistic question!

117. Philosophers as Political Consultants
The cynical school of critics point to Plato’s disastrous
attempts to help the tyrants of Syracuse “attain the element
of philosophy.” Likewise Voltaire was invited by the
enlightened despot Frederick the Great to his court at
Potsdam. At first, all went well. Then the two became
estranged and Voltaire had to beat a hasty retreat. Countless
other examples from history could be found where
philosophical idealism and the rough and tumble demands of
ruling are hard to combine.

118. Last Word
Perhaps the quest for justice has something in common with
the quest for the Holy Grail. Twain mocked such knight
errantry as “grailing.” But the last hundred years have offered
some pretty dreadful examples of what a more “realistic”
amoral approach to government produces.
Let’s keep refining our search for justice and give Plato praise
for beginning the quest.

119. clipping from the Indian Hill High School paper, Chieftain, in the late ‘70s (?)