Plato's R Justice and the City.docx

Plato's R, Justice and the city Friday, February 05, 2010 9:57 AM Lecture 7. Plato?s Republic.     Injustice as being conflicted. ?stronger than himself? (430e-431b) ?many mad masters? (329d)   Justice 4: Glaucon. ring of Gyges.   Justice 5: Adeimantus.   Admonition & transition. beware of schema! from justice to just person.   Healthy city.   Feverish city. origin of war. guardians. training. purging: on the way to the best city.   Noble lie.     Pasted from     Put hand out in binder Continuation of den of brigids--Thrasymachus How things are in a soul are similar how things are in a city Complete injustice is unstable because the stronger make mistakes and do not realize that there are indirect consequences to what they do. Just as injustice thwarts efforts of thieves it also harms the soul internally.--unjust is impossible--therefore the unjust man is not the happiest. The soul of the unjust man is divided within its self. Now we shift to an individuals soul.   Picture of the divided soul ?stronger than himself? (430e-431b)--book 4 Isn't this phrase ridiculous? Because one who is stronger than himself is also weaker than himself There is something with in someone that is strong and weak. ?many mad masters? (329d)--book 1 One is slave to his or her own desires--and theses desires are insane--the soul is divided with the many mad masters being the bad part of one's soul and a division between just Moreover, those many mad masters don't even work together--they are all against each other--in the unjust man's sole there is a division between the bad and worse. So..the unjust man would be unhappy b/c he would be distractible, unable to fulfill desires and ignorant to what would be to his advantage. A note on Socrates' argument His asssumptions are lofty--is reason unified? Or does reason multiply its self? The punch line: the unjust man is divided against himself b/c of conflicts and cannot even pursue a rational thought to its end and is therefore unhappy.   Justice 4: Glaucon--timocratic man--he represents honor b/c wants to give up his desire to be unjust. If justice is so beneficial then why is it so difficult and unpleasent--Glaucon thinks #3 is onto something? Ppl don't want to be just but they feel obligated. Tells a fable to prove his point Ring of Gyges--allows one to be invisible and do injustice If anyone could get away with injustice--if he or she knew that they could not get caught if they did injustice everyone could do it. Glaucon views justice as a compromise--everyone wants to be just and not get caught--but I do not injustice to be done to me. Justice is a social contract in which each person gives up the right to be unjust Quote from pg. 36-37-- Justice is way of conpromising between the benefits of injustice and the cost of being done injustice inflicted on one's self Glaucon's idea of justice is that it is the most stable possibility--it is not the most ideal--he does not see justice as good   Justice 5: Adeimantus.--oligarchic man Applies the idea of a good unjust man--just as one who has the ring of gyges but adds onto this?362e there is value in creating an appearance of justice even if in truth one is not a just person. The point is to exploit the problem of perception can do just things in the open but in private do unjust things Not everyone can have the reputation of being just--all aspire to it but only a few achieve     Gradual shift from the definition of justice to what the just person would do. This shift occurred in the middle of Thrasymachus' speech Sometimes when one wants to examine small letters on a small surface doesn't it help to examin then on a large surface--so lets examine a just city so we can examine a just sole. The Greek title of this book is: Politeia--which can be translated to regime or constitution--which can refer to both a person and a city. 369C-- lets make a city in speech.   Start with the healthy city Small population Division of labor for necessary tasks Fulfills the basic needs. But it has limits? The citizens try not to have to many children so that they don't go beyond their means. There are only fillable appetites--there is moderation and simplicity   Feverish city--the next model of the city Associated with luxury--need for more tasks But with more crafts people we will need more food In this city Eros is unbound--appetites we have here are unnecessary, they are boundless--cannot simply fill these appetites. This city has to annex land, begins to colonize and leads to tensions with neigbors which leads to the origin of war Origin of war is associated with unlimited desires and the city needs guardians Need to train these guardians in order to protect the city Soliders must have spiritedness but not be too spirited. Training starts in the youth with? and there is much censorship Gymnastics--so they can have strength Music--so they can have harmony within the soul Soliders must only be exposed to good examples therefore all poetry must be cencorsed--391e and 392 alikewise imitation must also be prohibited. The training of these guardians depends on virtue. 399e