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Indianapolis : Hackett , 1992 . |
Cooper , John . β Plato β s Theory of Human Motivation . β History of Philosophy |
Quarterly 1 ( 1984 ): 3 β 21 . |
Korsgaard , Christine. β Self - Constitution in the Ethics of Plato and Kant . β |
Journal of Ethics no. 3 ( 1999 ): 1 β 29 . |
Sachs , David. β A Fallacy in Plato β s Republic . Philosophical Review 72 ( 1963 ): |
141 β 58 . |
Santas , Gerasimos . Understanding Plato β s Republic . Oxford : Wiley - Blackwell , |
2010 . |
In its 300 - plus pages, Plato β s Republic addresses nearly every topic under |
the sun: tyranny and democracy, feminism and abortion, Homer and carpentry, |
musical scales and solid geometry, immortality and the afterlife, and |
why we hate ourselves for screwing up. But all these issues come up in the |
context of answering one big question: How should one live? What is the |
best kind of life to lead? In particular, why should one live a life of justice |
if the wicked seem to be better off? |
The main claim in the dialogue is that justice is an excellence or virtue |
( aret Γͺ ) that brings eudaimonia , some integration of happiness, success, and |
contentment; one lives well if and only if one is a just person. Justice, on |
Just the Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Arguments in Western Philosophy, |
First Edition. Edited by Michael Bruce and Steven Barbone. |
Β© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2011 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |
204 Joshua I. Weinstein |
Plato β s account, is founded on how a person β s soul or psyche holds together, |
since only a person whose priorities are all straight can be counted on to |
behave properly. Also, only such a person can really live life to its fullest. |
The signifi cance of this argument extends beyond the fact that the |
Republic has been one of the most infl uential texts in the history of philosophy. |
Arguments of this general kind become more important as one becomes |
less confi dent that God rewards the virtuous and punishes the wicked. This |
argument had many successors in the ancient world and has been taken up |
in various ways in contemporary thought. (For a fuller introduction to the |
Republic and its main argument, see Santas. For a contemporary use of the |
Republic β s strategy, see Korsgaard.) |
The basic sketch of the argument is presented by Socrates at the end of |
Book 1, where he introduces the concept of ergon , the activity, work or |
function that typifi es a thing: |
And could eyes perform their function ( ergon ) well if they lacked their |
peculiar virtue ( aret Γͺ ) and had the vice instead? |
How could they, for don β t you mean if they had blindness instead of |
sight? [ β¦ ] |
So ears, too, deprived of their own virtue perform their function badly? |
That β s right. [ β¦ ] |
Come, then, and let β s consider this: Is there some function of a soul that |
you couldn β t perform with anything else, for example, taking care of things, |
ruling, deliberating, and the like? Is there anything other than a soul to |
which you could rightly assign these, and say that they are its peculiar |
function? |
No, none of them. |
What of living? Isn β t that a function of the soul? |
It certainly is. |
And don β t we also say that there is a virtue of the soul? |
We do. |
Then, will a soul ever perform its function well, Thrasymachus, if it is |
deprived of its own peculiar virtue, or is that impossible? |
It β s impossible. |
Doesn β t it follow, then, that a bad soul rules and takes care of things |
badly and that good soul does all these things well? |
It does. |
Now we agreed that justice is a soul β s virtue, and injustice its vice? |
We did. |
Then, it follows that a just soul and a just man will live well, and an |
unjust one badly. |
Apparently so, according to your argument. |
And surely anyone who lives well is blessed and happy ( eudaim Γ΄ n ), and |
anyone who doesn β t is the opposite. |
Of course. |
Justice Brings Happiness in Platoβs Republic 205 |
Therefore, a just person is happy, and an unjust one wretched. |
So be it. |
It profi ts no one to be wretched but to be happy. |
Of course. |
And so, Thrasymachus, injustice is never more profi table than justice. |
(Plato, 353b β 354a) |
P1. Every thing performs its activity or function ( ergon ) well if and only if |
it has its virtue or excellence ( aret Γͺ ). |
P2. The activity of the soul is to live; that is, one lives by the soul. |
C1. One lives well if and only if one has the virtue of the soul (instantiation, |
P1). |
P3. Justice is the virtue of the soul. |
C2. One lives well if and only if one is just (substitution, P3 into C1). |
P4. One who lives well is happy; one who lives poorly is miserable. |
C3. The just person lives happily, the unjust lives miserably (substitution, |
P4 into C2). |
This sketch leads into the main body of the dialogue, which elaborates, |
clarifi es, and defends these premises and conclusions (among many other |
things!) Even the seemingly innocuous P4 comes in for examination (578a β |
592b). Though one might also wonder about P2 (does one really live only |
by the soul and not at all by the body?), the main diffi culty in this argument |
is clearly P3: how is justice the specifi c virtue of the soul? Much of the |
Republic is devoted to explaining and defending this premise. |
The defense of P3 is based on an analysis of the human psyche or soul. |
In particular, a human being is shown to be full of confl icting impulses and |
abilities so that only by ordering and integrating them can a person be β at |
one. β Thus, for example, one can both feel a bodily thirst and simultaneously |
know (say, from a medical expert) that it would be bad to drink |
(439a β d). Confl icts such as this need to be resolved by the principle that |
each part of oneself does what it should and does not meddle in the business |
of the other parts. Deciding is the job of reason, not of thirst. This |
principle makes possible self - unifi cation and psychic health, and when it is |
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