plato - the republic - slide 1 plato’s republic fwritten ca. 385 b.c.; one of plato’s middle...

Plato - The Republic - slide 1

Plato’s Republic

Written ca. 385 B.C.; one of Plato’s middle dialogues.

The title is a bad translation of the Greek politeia, “political or public business.”


Plato’s Republic

1. Plato’s theory of the “origin of a city” (Griffith trans. 369b) What kind of theory is this?

• Anthropological?• Historical?• Rational?


Plato’s Republic

Are two principles which are the basis for the social character of humans• 1. No person is self-sufficient; all

have basic needs (369b).• 2. Each person is born with a

specific aptitude for some type of work (370a-b).– For Plato, talents or aptitudes are

natural.


Plato’s Republic

Summary formula of Plato’s theory of the origin of society• needs + aptitudes + specialization

+ exchange of goods & services = fulfillment of needs of all & happiness


Plato’s Republic

Transition to the next topic: the life of humans should go beyond a “city of pigs” (372d). • Humans desire luxuries• Leads to expansion • Leads to war• Need for an army


Plato’s Republic

2. The class structure of the Republic (1) The military - “guardians”

• Their education (376c-412b) - brief glance

(2) The rulers • The best of the guardians, older,

wiser, and concerned with the well-being of the whole society (412c).


Plato’s Republic

(3) Workers (“farmers and [other] skilled workers” 415a)

How is the authority of the rulers to be established? • The teaching of a myth - the myth

of gold, silver, iron & brass (415a) A class, not a caste system (415b)


Plato’s Republic

3. The virtues of the state (1) Wisdom (428b-429a)

• the virtue of the rulers• good judgment• general knowledge vs specialized

(tacitly suggested in the discussion about carpentry & farming, 428b-c)


Plato’s Republic

• very few have it (429a)• ultimately, wisdom is knowledge

of the Ideas (2) Courage (429a)

• the virtue of the military• knowledge of what is and what is

not to be feared (429b, 430b)


Plato’s Republic

(3) “Self-discipline” (Griffith trans. 430d); often called moderation or temperance (sphrosun) • the virtue of the workers • “mastery of pleasures and desires”

(430e)• “a kind of order” (430e) - the proper

order of the superior & inferior – on the level of the individual & of the

state


Plato’s Republic

• Plato’s attitude toward the workers– Cf. George Orwell’s 1984.


Plato’s Republic

(4) Justice (432b-d)• Each person ought to do that task

for society which fits his or her natural aptitudes . . .

• and not trying to do other people’s jobs for them

• Connection with Plato’s theory of the origins of the state (433a, reference is to 369b)


Plato’s Republic

• Justice in the individual -- the proper & natural order within the soul of its parts (444b-d)


Plato’s Republic

• Cf. Plato’s notion of justice to the modern Western notion– Plato emphasis is on duty of

citizens to the community & state. Focus is on the common good

– modern emphasis is on fairness in the distribution of rights & legal processes Focus is on the individual


Plato’s Republic

4. The three parts of the soul• The “rational element” (Griffith

trans. 439d)• The “spirited element” (441a)• The “desiring element” (439d)


Plato’s Republic

For Plato, just as it is important for the well-being of the state that each class does its job, so also it is important for the well-being of the individual that each part of the soul does it job.• What does this mean?


Plato’s Republic

Overview of topics 2, 3, & 4 • A series of parallelisms

classes virtues parts of the soul

rulers wisdom rationalmilitary courage spiritedworkers self-discipline desiring


Plato’s Republic

5. The status of women in the Republic Women in ancient Athenian Greece

• Their place was in the household– Only roles outside of the

household - priestesses, mourners at funerals, participants in religious festivals

• Strict division of occupations by sex


Plato’s Republic

• Uneducated; most were illiterate• Dowries

Plato• Occupations should not be based

on sex (451d, e, 452a-b, 454d-e, 455d-e)

• Hint that woman can be rulers (455d-e, 456a)


Plato’s Republic

• Woman guardians receive the same education as men (456b-c)

• In the Laws - abolishment of dowries

• But there are occasional misogynistic passages in the Republic (431b-c, 557c, 563b)

To the essay by Julia Annas on The Republic & feminism

plato - the republic - slide 1 plato’s republic fwritten ca. 385 b.c.; one of plato’s middle...

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