Ancient philosophy a new history of western philosophy volume 1 (new history of western philosophy) ( PDFDrive ) 80

PYTHAGORAS TO PLATO

and ethics. These ramiWcations of the theory will be considered in later
chapters. But the Republic is best known to the world at large not for its
manifold exploitation of the theory, but for the political arrangements that
are described in its central books.
The oYcial topic of the dialogue is the nature and value of justice. After
several candidate deWnitions for justice have been examined and found
wanting in the Wrst book (which probably originally existed as a separate
dialogue), the main part of the work begins with a challenge to Socrates to
prove that justice is something worthwhile for its own sake. Plato’s
brothers Glaucon and Adeimantus, who are characters in the dialogue,
argue that justice is chosen as a way of avoiding evil. To avoid being
oppressed by others, Glaucon says, weak human beings make compacts
with each other neither to suVer nor to commit injustice. People would
much prefer to act unjustly if they could do so with impunity—the kind of
impunity a man would have, for instance, if he could make himself
invisible so that his misdeeds passed undetected. Adeimantus supports his
brother, saying that among humans the rewards of justice are the rewards
of seeming to be just rather than the rewards of actually being just, and
with regard to the gods the penalties of injustice can be bought oV by
prayer and sacriWce (2. 358a–367e).
We shall see in Chapter 8 how Socrates responds, through the remaining
books of the dialogue, to this initial challenge. Now, in the interests of
setting out Plato’s political philosophy, we should concentrate on his
immediate response. To answer the brothers he shifts from the consideration of justice, or righteousness, in the individual person to the larger
issue of justice in the city-state. There, he says, the nature of justice will be
written in bigger letters and therefore easier to read. The purpose of living
in cities is to enable people with diVerent skills to supply each other’s needs
by an appropriate division of labour. Ideally, if people were content as they
once were with the satisfaction of their basic needs, a very simple community would suYce. But in the modern luxurious age citizens demand more

than mere subsistence, and this necessitates more complicated political
arrangements, including a well-trained professional army (2. 369b–374d).
Socrates now presents a blueprint for a city with three classes. Those
among the soldiers best Wtted to rule are selected by competition to form
the upper class, called guardians; the remaining soldiers are described as
auxiliaries, and the rest of the citizens belong to the class of farmers and
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