Plato's Republic: The Virtues
I. The Virtues
In Robin Waterfield's translation of The Republic,Socrates attempts to
give a definition of justice. At the end of Book II he began a detailed
description of the construction of a good city. The good city is a relation to
the human soul, and its four virtues. In the following paper I will discuss
the virtues, what they are and where they are found. Also discussed will be
the foundation, arrangement, and the interconnectedness with each one. Next
discussed would be the 3 "H's" and the understanding Aristotle has on the role
of happiness in the moral life. Lastly, I will discuss the experience that I
had that related to Leonitus.
The four virtues used by Plato are ...
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wisdom one must be resourceful, in which he/she has
obtained knowledge. Plato says, "… resourcefulness is obviously a kind of
knowledge… it's not ignorance which makes people resourceful; it's knowledge."
(428b)
The second virtue is courage, which is found in the military section of
the community. Courage is not the virtue of standing in front of a tank and say
it will not hurt me, that is stupidity. Courage is the ability to apply what
you have been taught: what is to be feared and what is not to be feared. Plato
relates retention to courage, "I'm saying courage is a sort of retention…the
retention of notion." (429c) The ability for one to retain what one has learned
is courage. "Ability to retain under all circumstances a true and lawful notion
about what is feared and what is not to be feared is what I'm calling courage."
(430b)
The next virtue temperance, is found in the workers of Plato's
community. Temperance, also known as self-discipline, is needed by ...
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is wise and looks
out for the whole of the mind, isn't it right for it to rule, and for the
passionate part to be its subordinate and its ally." (441e) As passion and
reason work together, passion is found in the military. The last part is
desire, which can be found in temperance, and is closely related to passion.
Desire is the temptation to do what is wrong, but self-discipline corrects it.
"…desirous part, which is the major constituent of an individual's mind and is
naturally insatiably greedy for things." (442a) Justice is again found in all
three parts of the soul, because when they all work together justly, the are
successful.
The virtues are arranged in a hierarchical ...
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"Plato's Republic: The Virtues." Essayworld.com. June 8, 2006. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Platos-Republic-The-Virtues/47178.
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