LECTURE 3

From lecture 2 slides second last slides ( continuation of lecture 2)

Religion is a form of social and political control

Church of England the Queen is the head
The usa separate the state from religion
Henry Viii change the country religion from being a roman catholic to a
protestant overnight
Socrates is very much an ancient thinker
The chief way to get ppl to listen is persuasion (long term)not
coercion( short term)
This is why the state takes an active role in education ( to have a
standard thinking) e.g. Singaporean identity
Singapore has such deep difference ; we need social cohesiveness
What every state does is to create a sense of nationalism at an early age,
where does it come from , some say it is manufactured
There shld be an organic identity that transcends differences to foster this
sense of identity
But there is also an ideas that the state manufactured it

JUSTICE IN THE STATE AS MACROCOSMOF JUSTICE IN THE SOUL

Ring of Gyges : the view that Socrates wants to go into depth; why the individual
wants to be just, we need to ideftify from a big scale as a state/community becos
individual is harder to break down.
*what is justice in the state
1.
2.
3.

Man is naturally social beings; Ends of society are material wealth (369b-c)
Natural division of labour according to aptitude (370a-c)
City of pigs (the true city) (373a)
Ppl would want more goods and luxury (materialistic)
To a certin extent it is a form of corruption as we are moving away from
our most basic needs
4. Feverish city (373a -375a) -> ( as they always heat up) plato believe
that each person shld do one job and that he is most suited for
IDEAL STATE

TO pick out the best studensts at an early age

Do what u like and do something that u are good at
Something that is suited to yr identity effectively
The philosophers shld be allowed to rule

A LOOK AT CORPORATIONS:

Get workers to be more effective

Exploit ppl to buy into the system
Lots of money are spend on advertisement

Psychologically conditioned to believe it , whether true or not

Individuals by themselves cant be happy without the economy
Politics as a unity. NO notion of individual rights.

Platoss THREE CLASSES

1) Guardians (political leader): they should be nothing but guardians.
Wealth shld not be the priority of politics; Ghandi dont wished to be
tempted by possession. Guardians possesses no properties( like Spartans ;
dont wish to be corrupted ) ; no privacy (416e)
Politic is a science and the poor educated cannot embrace politics
2) Auxiliaries ( soldiers)
3) Merchants/Farmers: ( so a person who is a farmer, would not desire to be
a politician; not suited for politics)
PLATO FOUNDATION MYTH: THE MYTH OF METALS
Noble lie (414d -415d) ( a myth that is going to be told to all the people
within the state)
Happiness of the community over individual happiness (420b)
Criticism of democracy (420e-412a)
not a city (423a)
All things in common between friends (423e)
Sg, Govt tries to foster cohesiveness unlike closed cities like N.korea to
indoctrinate ppl on a mass scale on along period of time
Role of politics; is it possible to even have a state
And there many myths, there is this idea that history is written by the
victors. No country would talk abt the genocide in history. You dont
celebrate it (eg.japan)
German did acknowledge the atrocities of the holocaust tho.
china, korea has not made peace with japan
in turkey it is illegal to talk abt the Armenian genocide
When u give birth to an idea it is most often messy and we learn most
from failed ideas from philosophers
What u want is limited govt not mob rule which is simply giving power to
the ppl.
1. Now why would a state be just? Why would an unjust person would
want to be just?
2. Socrates says we are social beings thus we need each other . we are
natural social beings becos that is what we need to satisfy our needs
Your work is an expression of who u are:
-

Hitler used to say Germany over all. Hene community comes first, will
also get this in plato as well
Not a city . A polis is the greek word for state ( Athen was a polis , of abt
20 -60 thousand citizens and a slave class of 100,000 foreigners. ( now
maids to free our time)
We need leisure time in order to be human

Early stages of our education is paid for so that we can have the leisure
of studying and picking out the best later
For the city to even exist at all, u will need a certain degree of leisure

LECTURE 3 PROPER:
REPUBLIC ( BOOK IV TO VII) 4-8
The virtues of the just city:
1.
2.
3.
4.

WISDOM/REASON GUARDIANS ( more rational)

COURAGE /SPIRIT AUXILIARIES( more courageous)
SELF-DISCIPLINE ALL THREE CLASSES
JUSTICE THE RESULT
This is the first ever statements of the four cardinal virtues
Plato believe that u can change betwn the classes upwards and
downwards

COURAGE
The courage of ones convictions is true courage ( the soldier classes have
this the most or if not be tempted by wealth and other factors)
Honor before everything else.Die for my country
Courage (thumos)- the courage to retain a right opinion and not defer to
others ( 429d-430d)
WISDOM
WISDOM(Sophia /nomos)- still left undefined.All we need to know so far
is that it is the guardians form of knowledge and it is exercised for the
good of the ppl.
The virtues of the Just soul:
(441e,442b, 443d-e)
1. Wisdom/reason : actual knowledge of the guardian class
2. Courage: of ones convictions
3. Appetite:just having appetite is like being an animal, no eternal drive. If u
are addicted by your drives , pleasures, one would have control even if
they want to, they cant.Dont wanna be led by the belly.
The workings of all these tgt is a better state of mind.some may have more than
each factor. Every human shld have this.
In the timaeus, plato places these in the head, the heart, and the belly.

Opposites
Oppposites cannot exist tgt, they must be dominated by one
Their proper ordering guided by reason produces health ( a psychological
integrity or wholeness) and happiness (443d-e)
Aristotle criticises this and calls this excessive unanimity (????)
How do u know If somebody is gd?
Plato leaders are philosophers ; ( very extensive education regiment in
order to be a guardian) . it is not thru bloodlines, birth or wealth.
Their improper ordering produces sickness and disease and vice. It is
equated with paralysis and disorder (444b)
Why this order is healthy only become evident later in the book