Ancient Philosophy

Allen Jeffrey Gurfel

Critical Evaluation
Comment: This is an incomplete paper. There is no introduction or conclusion, so it is
difficult for the reader to grasp what thesis you will propose and what arguments are meant
to support the thesis.

n The !epu"lic Plato attempts to define #ustice and toward that end he descri"es a
perfect city. $is reasoning is that it would "e easier to see #ustice writ large in the city. A
perfect city is certainly #ust, therefore if we descri"e the perfect city we should "e a"le to
find #ustice contained in it. $aving found #ustice in the city, we can loo% for it, analogously,
in the individual soul. And so he descri"es the perfect city. &$ere and throughout, it would
"e "est if you provide references to the parts of the !epu"lic where these claims are made.'
(irst, the city must serve its citi)ens "y meeting their "asic needs, and this is "est done "y
assigning to each citi)en the tas% he is "est suited for. &*hat you say is true, "ut the way
that you state the point seems to downplay the Plato+s thesis a"out the original cause of the
city. t is "ecause we have "asic needs and that no one of us can meet these needs "y
ourselves that the city comes to "e.' ,ut this will give us only the most "asic city. n
creating the lu-urious city &*hy do you e-pect that your reader %nows what the
.lu-urious city/ is0', we will come into a need for other professions, such as trader,
doctor, and #udge. *e will also need a special class that will engage in war. This is the
guardian class. Plato descri"es the guardian class and provides outlines for their education.
(inally, we will need a ruling class whose tas% it will "e to preserve this system of
education. 1o in the perfect city we find three classes. There are the common people, the
guardians, and the rulers. ,y listing the virtues and conducting a process of elimination,
Plato locates #ustice in the functioning of each part in accordance with its role. &mprecise
formulation.' $aving found #ustice &"egin new paragraph' in the city he proceeds to loo%
for #ustice in the soul. The first thing to see is whether or not the soul has an analogous
tripartite structure with the city. $e finds that the soul does in fact have three parts. &Given
that you go on to 2uestion whether Plato is entitled to ma%e this and related assumptions, it
might "e appropriate to outline Plato+s arguments for these two %ey claims: 345 that the soul
has three parts and 365 that these parts are the same in %ind as the three parts of the
lu-urious city.' There is the desirous part, the spirited part, and the rational part. ,y
analogy to the city, Plato concludes that #ustice in the soul is for every part to play its
appropriate role. The ruling part is the rational faculty. Allied with the rational part is the
spirited part. Together the rational and spirited part rule over the desiring part of the soul.
There are several related pro"lems with Plato7s approach. &Are they pro"lems or
apparent pro"lems0'
(irst, it7s 2uestiona"le whether Plato7s approach ma%es any sense from the start.
&Too "rief. 8ou need to e-plain why this approach is .2uestiona"le/.' $e argues that in
seeing something written in small, not easily discerni"le letters it would "e helpful to loo%
somewhere else, somewhere with clearly visi"le letters. &This too needs ela"oration.'
1econd, it may seem an unfounded assumption that #ustice should "e found in the
structure of a person7s soul. There seems to "e another possi"le location for #ustice. t
may "e the case that #ustice consists in actions. &This is more or less what Cephalus and
Polemarchus suggest. To see why Plato re#ects this possi"ility, you ought to e-amine
closely the arguments that 1ocrates ma%es in this portion of the !epu"lic.' t is actions that
are #ust or un#ust in accordance with some principle, and the #ust person is the one who
performs #ust actions and avoids un#ust actions.
Third, it isn7t o"viously the case that #ustice in the city resides in each class doing
what it is suited for. Plato7s method of discovering #ustice "y a process of elimination
&Two comments: (irst, in your e-position of the argument a"ove, you did not show that
this is what Plato does. 1econd, it is not clear that this is a fair description of the argument.
All see is this line of thought: A perfect city will have the four cardinal virtues. *e
appear to have found three of them. ,ut there should also "e the fourth, namely, #ustice. 1o,
we should continue to search for #ustice, since if it is not present, then we %now that we
have not found the perfect city.' leaves something to "e desired.
These o"#ections might "e answera"le. &At the end of the day, are they0 am not
sure that understand your final position.' Plato may have the resources to answer them
already present in the te-t of The !epu"lic.
*ith regard to the first o"#ection, it seems one crucial assumption can put it to rest.
This assumption is as follows. f %now for a fact that the letters written large are the same
te-t as the small letters that 7m not readily capa"le of reading, then need only read the
large letters. t follows from my %nowledge that the te-ts are identical that the large letters
say the same thing as the small letters. ,ut does Plato have grounds for such an
assumption0 &Plato ta%es himself to have esta"lished that the city and the soul have the
same %ind of structure. 3This is why it is important to e-amine Plato+s argument for the
e-istence of the same %ind of tripartite structure in the soul 9 "ut, curiously, this is
something that you did not do.5 f A has structure 1 and any thing with 1 is #ust provided
that condition C o"tains, then if , also has 1, we may infer that , is #ust provided that C
o"tains.' :ay"e. f Plato holds that things are #ust in virtue of parta%ing in a (orm of
#ustice, he might "e forgiven for not su"scri"ing to the possi"ility of different senses of the
word .#ustice/. f he holds that dialectical reasoning is the royal road to %nowledge of
the forms, he is #ustified in applying such an approach in loo%ing for the structure of #ustice.
The predication .;is #ust/ implies that some similarity must e-ist. $e is ta%ing a sort of
ordinary language in loo%ing for what7s #ust. &8ou %eep stating that if we allow Plato to
assume <, then Plato can answer our o"#ection. 1o, will you allow Plato to assume <0'
*ith regard to the second o"#ection, if Plato can reasona"ly say that if #ustice e-ists
anywhere it must e-ists in either < or 8, and he is capa"le of saying that it does not e-ist
in 8, then he is #ustified in loo%ing for #ustice in <. The possi"ilities are two: #ustice can
"e in the soul itself or it can "e a feature of the person7s actions. f he can offer some
argument that #ustice is not a feature of the person7s actions, he can assume #ustice must
"e a feature of the soul itself. Perhaps we can loo% at his consideration of other possi"le
arrangements of the city and soul. $e finds in every case that alternate arrangements are
undesira"le and do not result in anything &actions0' li%e what we would call #ustice,
whether in soul or in practice. This suggests that the actions we would ordinarily call #ust
result from a certain organi)ation of the soul. & am not sure see how this will help Plato.
At the very least, you need to say more a"out how this argument would go.' $e can also
rely on a feature of the common use of the word .#ust/. *e call individuals #ust even
when they are not actively involved, in that moment, in some action we would call #ust.
&1ure. ,ut that is a rather wea% claim. assume that .we/ would not "e inclined to call
someone #ust if he never did #ust actions. =et us hope that Plato does not rest his claims on
this particular o"servation>' f an individual can "e #ust even when he is not engaged in the
performance of a #ust action then even at that time that individual must "e parta%ing,
somehow, in the (orm of #ustice. Therefore, we loo% for #ustice in the soul itself and not in
actions. & thin% a more promising argument is this: (red might do the right thing, "ut for
the wrong reason. f #ustice merely consisted in doing the right thing, then (red is #ust. ,ut
that seems to "e wrong. *e want (red to do the right thing for the right reasons. ,ut for
(red to do the right thing for the right reasons, (red might need to have the right sorts of
dispositions. ta%e it that something li%e this constitutes the intuitive "asis for virtue
ethics.' This is a good response, "ut there is one more. *e might "e #ustified in loo%ing to
the city7s structure in our search for #ustice, since it isn7t clear that there is any sort of
analog to individuals7 specific #ust actions present in the city. &Again, this does not loo%
promising, since it appears to "eg the 2uestion.' n loo%ing for #ustice, we have to loo% for
something apparently present in "oth the individual and in the city. ,oth don7t perform
actions, "ut "oth can "e #ust. Therefore, we loo% for #ustice not in actions "ut in structure.
The third o"#ection is difficult &for whom0 (or you0 (or Plato0'. f we grant Plato
that his city is fully descri"ed in the dialectic leading up to his listing &word choice' and
search for the four virtues, then we at least %now where to loo%. There is nowhere else to
loo%, in other words, if his city is fully descri"ed. ,ut it remains possi"le that some other
feature would emerge from the city descri"ed which would more appropriately called #ustice.
*hat it means to say .more appropriately/ however, is that we have some notion of
#ustice which we are relying on in loo%ing for #ustice in the city. This is of course a
pro"lem "ecause in the dialectic we do not, as yet, have any such notion to rely on. *e
rely on an ordinary language intuition. & am not sure follow this.' ,ut doesn7t Plato rely
on such an intuition in searching for all four virtues0 f we grant that the three "esides
#ustice are clearly defined and o"viously present in elements of the city, then the process of
elimination "ecomes more reasona"le. &1ee my comment a"ove. am not sure that Plato
infers that #ustice is each part playing its proper role "y means of .a process of
elimination./' t is not clear that this is the case. Perhaps in answering this o"#ection it
would "e "est to rely on a different approach. *e can admit a parallel "etween the city and
the soul as e-emplified "y the tripartite structure. *e can admit that #ustice is to "e sought
in structure as argued a"ove. Then we ma%e a reversal. Justice writ small, in the soul, can
serve to help us discover #ustice writ large, in the city. *e find this similarity and it
confirms that we are on the right trac% in our search for #ustice.
t occurs to me that there+s one more response to the third o"#ection ma%e in my critical
evaluation.
Addendum:
A perfect city must possess the four virtues. This is a premise grant Plato. *hen it comes
to loo%ing for #ustice, however, we ta%e on an e-amination of the fevered city, the
lu-urious city. ,ut, Plato tells us, &actually, it is his character 1ocrates who says this... is it
safe to infer that this is also Plato+s position0' as far as he+s concerned the perfect city is
present "efore the fever ta%es hold, "efore the lu-ury is introduced.
*e can conclude that this "asic city must also possess the virtue of #ustice. n my defense
of the process of elimination argue for a premise that would "e very useful to Plato?
namely, that the city as it is descri"ed in the dialectic leading up to the listing of the virtues
is fully descri"ed. &Am"iguous' That is, what+s "een said rightly comprises the entire scope
of our search for #ustice. *ith the additional elements &what are these0' present, this search
isn+t perfectly easy.
,ut consider the "asic city fully descri"ed. That is, what is said of the "asic city rightly
compromises &word choice0' the full scope our search for #ustice ought to sweep over. @e-t,
consider that there really aren+t so many places to loo%. Essentially, the entire ela"oration of
the city is that everyone does what he is most suited to. Therefore, we might suggest that
the search for #ustice in the "asic city ma%es things very clear. Justice consists in all
mem"ers doing their parts. There isn+t anywhere else to loo%. Com"ined with my argument
that the search for #ustice is rightly in structure and not in action, thin% we can offer Plato
a su"stantial defense in his location of #ustice in the proper functioning of each part of the
city. & wonder whether this would really help Plato. The .city for pigs/lac%s the
hierarchical structure of the lu-urious city. ,ut it is the lu-urious city that has the same
hierachical structure as the em"odied human soul.'
Grade: ,A