Interlocutor
persons taking part in dialogue.
Cephalus (father of Polemarchus)
Rich and respected elder of the city. Free of sex and worrying of things that used to enslave him. Believes Justice: Living up to legal obligations and being honest.
Socrates rebuttal with: If you return a weapon to a madman, you owe the madman his weapon
Glaucon
friend of Socrates, engages in most of the dialogue with him.
Polemarchus
Notion of justice: You owe friends and harm enemies (popular strand of thought). Socrates rebuttals: Reveals inconsistency as our judgement concerning friends and enemies is fallible. This could lead us to harming the good and helping the bad. We are not
Thrasymachus
Sophist. Justice is the advantage of the stronger. This moreover a deligitmization of justice. It does not pay to be just. To act just is to benefit other people, not the one who acts just. He believes it is a convention imposed on us and it is best to ig
BOOK I Comparing Point: Poets, artist, musicians
Changes throughout the Book, and in Book IX he exiles them, but then regrets it.
Justice
The highest class of good, good in the sake of what it is and what comes from it (like seeing or being healthy). There art two kinds of justice. For the city state and for the individual. Thus, since the city is bigger, he constructs the polis before tack
Glaucon's classes of good
Good 1: Joy with no benefit
Good 2: Good in the sake of what it is and what comes from it (justice).
Good 3: Beneficial (money, healthy treatment).
The Ring and Gyges (Book II)
Gyges of Lydia falls into hole, finds a hollow bronze horse, and a corpse with gold rings. Turns the ring toward himself and becomes invisible. Kills king, seduces wife. Injustice is more profitable than justice. If no one gets caught, everyone will act u
Guardians
Must have speed, spirt, and strength along with primary education in music and art. Spirited like dogs (Book II). Should be "god-fearing and godlike as humans can be" (Book II). Should fear slavery more than death and not read lamentations or be afraid of
Views on poetry and art
In Book II - Respects and loves Homer but should not be used in education as it gives a bad image of what gods and heroes are like. Normalizes bad behavior. Glaucon suggests adding this as a law.
In Book III - no lamentations, should not fear death. Makes
Eros
the proper love between a boy and a man that motivates them to ascend to the heights of knowledge.
Just Soul
a just soul pursues the desires that are right, and is determined by the desires he looks to fulfill
Authoritarian Perspective
In Book III, Socrates introduces the Noble Lie. they are given no input when the state determines what life they will lead. A citizen's fate�producer, warrior, or ruler�is decided at an early age, and no provisions are made for individuals to shift classe
Medical Treatment (Book III)
Only cure those who can be cured. Mentally ill must be put to death.
The Noble Lie or Myth of Metals (Book III)
o all citizens were born out of this earth
o each citizen has a certain sort of metal mixed in with his soul
o in the souls of the most fit to rule, there is gold
o in the auxiliaries (or guardians that remained warriors) there is silver
o in the souls of
Living Style for Guardians
o Live in the same housing provided by the city
o Receive no wages and cannot hold private property or wealth
o They live off taxation of the producing class
o They cannot actually hold earthly gold or silver
o If rulers are permitted to acquire private p
Civic Courage (IV)
the right beliefs about what is to be feared and not feared
Justice in the Individual
Based on the structure of the soul.
The Three Parts of the Soul (IV)
In Book X, Socrates claims the soul is immortal.
o Rational - lusts after truth (Rulers or true guardians)
o Spirited - lusts after honor (Auxiliaries)
o Appetitive - lusts after everything else including food, drink, sex, money (Producers)
Happiness (IV)
� The goal is not to make everyone outstandingly happy at the expense of other, BUT to make everyone as his nature allows
�This will be accomplished if everyone in it practices the craft which his natural aptitude is highest
Virtues
Wisdom, Courage, Moderation, Justice
Education (IV)
Must be law abiding in games. "Good education and upbringing, when they are preserved, produce good natures, and useful natures, who are in turn well educated, grow up even better than their predecessors both in their offspring and in other respects, just
Moderation
A kind of order, the mastery of certain kinds of pleasures and desires. People use the phrase "self-control". Master of oneself. The desires of the inferior many are controlled by the wisdom and desires of the superior few (106)
UNLIKE COURAGE AND WISDOM,
Injustice
The worst thing you can do for a city. It is someones nature to be what they are. Doing one's own work is justice. Civil war in the soul is anger.
Women (V)
There can be female guardians because they are equal to the city, but not as stronger. Assigned lighter task. Sacred marriages are the most beneficial. Promiscuity is impious. Women in their peak for 20 years. Supply visits and milk to children. Men for
Marriage
The rulers will decide but guardians can be with as many women as they please.
Genocide of Children
In Book V believes children who are made outside o the lottery guildelines should be stowed away.
Kinship (V)
Must call each other by their kinship names if born on 7th and 10th month. Every animal fights better in the presence of their young.
Philosopher (VI)
Glaucon interjects that they are useless and Socrates surprisingly agrees. Ship analogy. � A philosopher loves truth more than anything else ("philosopher" means "lover of truth or wisdom"); his entire soul strives after truth. This means that the rationa
The Sun - The Good (VI)
o Finally, the sun is responsible for causing things to exist (to "come to be") in the visible realm. The sun regulates the seasons, it allows flowers to bloom, and it makes animals give birth. The Good, in turn, is responsible for the existence of Forms,
The Line - Knowledge Broken into Four Parts (VI)
o TOP 2 Lines Access to the Intelligible
o BOTTOM 2 Lines Access to the Visible
� Understanding - use purely abstract science
� Thought - relies on hypothesis, reason, assumptions
� Belief - contact with real things believes that they real things in the w
The Cave - The purpose of education and Form of Good (VII)
When the prisoner's eyes have fully adjusted to the brightness, he lifts his sight toward the heavens and looks at the sun. He understands that sun brings everything into existence
�GOAL OF EDUCATION - drag every man as far out of the cave as possible
�To
Aristocracy (VIII)
Best virtuous philosophers in charge. Wisdom in the Good. Reason in the Soul. Wisdom and Virtue.
Licentious
Occurs in democracy in Book VIII. To know no limits. No compulsion.
Thumos
Spirit
Timocracy
o To satisfy the bad faction, the rulers will distribute all the land and houses in the city as private property among themselves, and enslave the producers as serfs.
o The rulers will still be respected and the warring-ruling class will not take part in
Oligarchy
o As the love of money and wealth grows, the constitution will change so that ruling is based entirely on wealth. Whoever has wealth and property above a certain amount will be allowed to take part in ruling, and whoever has less than this will have no sa
Democracy
o The insatiable desire to attain more money leads to a practice of lending money at high interests.
o The impoverished sit idly in the city hating those with wealth and plotting revolution
o The rich, in turn, pretend not to notice the dissatisfied masse
Tyranny
o The insatiable desire for freedom causes the city to neglect the necessities of proper ruling. The drones stir up trouble again
o . In response, the poor revolt. The leader of this revolt�the drone who stirs up the people�becomes the tyrant when the poo
Necessary Desires (Book VIII)
are those we cannot train ourselves to overcome, the ones that indicate true human needs (e.g. the desire for enough sustenance to survive
Unnecessary Desires
are those which we can train ourselves to overcome (e.g., desire for luxurious items and a decadent lifestyle).
The Tyrant (Book IX)
In Plato's own life he has only seen tyrants rule, thus he is very critical of them. Shows why it pays to be just.
o The tyrannical man is a man ruled by his lawless desires. Lawless desires draw men toward all sorts of ghastly, shameless, criminal things
Three Types of People
Honor Loving
Profit Loving
Truth Loving
Only the philosopher has felt all three.
King vs. Tyrant (IX)
lives 729 times more happy than a tyrant.
Beast, Lion, Human (IX)
� Socrates presents two refashioned portraits of the just and unjust man to replace the false portraits outlined in Book II. He asks us to envision that every human being with three animals inside of him: a multi-headed beast, a lion, and a human
o In the
Myth of Er (X)
o Only x can destroy x
o The Myth of Er
Er is warrior killed in battle, he does not really die but is sent to heaven
They are then brought together in a common area and made to choose their next life, either animal or human. The life that they choose will
Aporia
Aporia is the Greek term for the state of helplessness�the inability to proceed�that ends all of Plato's early dialogues. Through his pointed questioning, Socrates succeeds in showing that his interlocutors have no appropriate definition for the topic und
Elchenus
Elenchus is the Greek term for Socrates's method of questioning his interlocutors. In an elenchus he attempts to show that their own beliefs are contradictory, and thus to prove that they do not have knowledge about some topic about which they thought the
Epistemology
The branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge, belief, and thought. Epistemological questions include: What is knowledge? How do we form beliefs based on evidence? Can we know anything?
Intelligible realm
Plato divides all of existence up into two parts: the visible realm and the intelligible realm. The intelligible realm cannot be sensed, but only grasped with the intellect. It consists of the Forms. Only the intelligible realm can be the object of knowle
Tripartite soul
According to Plato, the human soul has three parts corresponding to the three classes of society in a just city. Individual justice consists in maintaining these three parts in the correct power relationships, with reason ruling, spirit aiding reason, and
Visible realm
Plato divides existence up into two realms, the visible realm and the intelligible realm. The visible realm can be grasped with our senses. It is comprised of the world see around us�the world of sensible particulars. The objects which comprise the visibl