Plato’s RepublicEditions and Documentation

http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=767&chapter=93807&layout=html&Itemid=27

Marked with section numbers and brief summary on the right.

The edition we adopted has recordings online http://www.archive.org/details/platos_republic_0902_

librivox1 for recordings.

Listen to the recording at least once.

A Prologue to the whole book Book I is a “prologue.” As it introduces the reader to the

characters of the dialogue, it establishes the basic questions of the Republic: What is justice, and why should someone prefer to be just rather than unjust? Most important, it acquaints us with both the person and the method of the philosopher Socrates.

Prologue 1. a preliminary discourse; a preface or introductory part of a

discourse, poem, or novel. 2. an introductory speech, often in verse, calling attention to

the theme of a play. Prologue vs. epilogue; prelude vs. coda in music

Prologue vs. Epiloguesynonyms vs. antonyms

a great way to expand vocabulary

Prologue--a preliminary discourse; a preface or introductory part of a discourse, poem, or novel; an introductory speech, often in verse, calling attention to the theme of a play.

Highlight the word prologue and right click to see synonyms!

Epilogue--1. a concluding part added to a literary work, as a novel.

2. a speech, usually in verse, delivered by one of the actors after the conclusion of a play.

The Setting

The setting is the Piraeus, the port of Athens, somewhere around 410.

A. The Piraeus was a stronghold of the democratic opposition to Tyranny.

B. The setting already suggests a major issue of the dialogue: Is democracy worth fighting for, even dying for?

C. Because it is a seaport, the Piraeus is filled with foreigners. It thus raises a second basic question: Is diversity a desirable quality of a city?

The first dialogue is between Socrates and Cephalus (328d−331d)page 4 in the course reader

A. Cephalus warmly greets Socrates. B. Socrates responds (rather rudely) by asking him what it is like to be old and

near death. He also asks him what is the best thing about being rich. C. Cephalus says he does not mind being old. The erotic madness of youth has

passed. D. Cephalus is not afraid of death, because he has always told the truth and paid

back his debts. E. From these casual remarks, Socrates extracts a definition of justice from

Cephalus. It is, he says, telling “the truth and giving back what a man has taken from another” (331c).

F. Socrates then refutes this definition of justice with a counter-example. If you borrowed a knife from a friend and the friend became insane, it would not be just to return the knife to him or to tell him the truth. (Socrates pushes the limit here)

G. The key question that emerges is: What is justice itself? This will be seen to be a very difficult question to answer.

Socrates as a GadflyEthos of his community

perhaps the most historically accurate of Socrates' offenses to the city was his position as a social and moral critic. Rather than upholding a status quo and accepting the development of what he perceived as immorality within his region, Socrates questioned the collective notion of "might makes right" that he felt was common in Greece during this period. Plato refers to Socrates as the "gadfly" of the state (as the gadfly stings the horse into action, so Socrates stung various Athenians), insofar as he irritated some people with considerations of justice and the pursuit of goodness. His attempts to improve the Athenians' sense of justice may have been the source of his execution.

Greece was in trouble: internal—with Sparta (Civil War); external—with Persians (against outside invasion);

Socrates and Polemarchus The second dialogue is between Socrates and

Polemarchus (331d−336a). A. Polemarchus rescues his father from Socrates’s

refutation. B. Cephalus leaves (with a smile on his face) to

perform some religious rituals: He is not a philosopher. C. Polemarchus proposes that “it is just to give back

what is owed,” which he then amends to “give to everyone what is fitting” (332b). Socrates refutes this definition.

Thrasymachus’ RelativismWhat’s problem with relativism?

The central debate of Book I takes place between Socrates and Thrasymachus, who is a Sophist. Thrasymachus teaches rhetoric, and he is a relativist. His definition of justice is “the advantage of the stronger” (338c), by which he means justice is determined by the ruling body. For example, in a monarchy, what is advantageous to a king would be counted as just. In a democracy, whose name literally means “rule by the people,” what is advantageous to the majority is just.

There is no absolute, universal, or objective definition of justice. What is counted as just varies from regime to regime.

Sophist

1. ( often initial capital letter ) Greek History . a. any of a class of professional teachers in ancient

Greece who gave instruction in various fields, as in general culture, rhetoric, politics, or disputation.

b. a person belonging to this class at a later period who, while professing to teach skill in reasoning, concerned himself with ingenuity and specious effectiveness rather than soundness of argument.

2. a person who reasons adroitly and speciously rather than soundly.

Relativism

noun Philosophy . any theory holding that

criteria of judgment are relative,  varying with individuals and their environments.

Tyranny of the MajorityJohn Stuart Mill

The phrase "tyranny of the majority" originates with Alexis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America, where it is the name of an entire section (1835, 1840) and was further popularized by John Stuart Mill, who cites de Tocqueville, in On Liberty (1859).

A straw man

A straw man is a component of an argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.

To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet un-equivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.

Thrasymachus’ definition of justice

Thrasymachus, a Sophist, enters the scene. He defines justice as “the advantage of the stronger” (338c).

A. Justice is whatever is advantageous to the ruler. B. In a democracy, justice is whatever is

advantageous to the people. C. There is no absolute definition of justice; it is

relative to the regime. D. Rhetoric is often defined as the art of persuasion

and goes hand in hand with relativism.

Socrates’ Refutation

Socrates refutes Thrasymachus (339a–340a). His first argument against the Sophist is the following:

A. Thrasymachus believes that it is just to obey all laws. B. He agrees that sometimes rulers make mistakes. C. A mistaken law is one that is not advantageous to the

ruler. D. Because Thrasymachus has agreed that it is just to obey

all the laws, he is committed to saying that it is sometimes just to obey laws that are disadvantageous to the ruler.

E. Thrasymachus has contradicted himself: Justice both is and is not advantageous to the ruler.

Cleitophon’s Revision

Cleitophon offers his assistance: Justice, he proposes, “is what the stronger believes to be his advantage” (340b). – a more subjective view

This is a significant revision of Thrasymachus’s position, because it eliminates the possibility of making mistakes. Cleitophon is a radical relativist.

Thrasymachus rejects Cleitophon’s suggestion because he thinks the ruler is like a “craftsman” (340e) who has real knowledge. (The Greek word for “craft” is technê, which can also be translated as “art.”)

Socrates presents a second refutation of Thrasymachus

Socrates presents a second refutation of Thrasymachus (341c–342e).

A. The ruler is like a craftsman. He has a technê, a “craft” or an “art.”

• B. All craftsmen are directed toward and seek the advantage of the object of their craft.

• 1. The doctor cares for the sick.

• 2. The pilot cares for the sailors.

• 3. Therefore, all craftsmen are “naturally directed toward seeking and providing for the advantage” (341d) of the object of their technê, not themselves!

Injustice is superior to justice

Thrasymachus changes his position: Injustice is superior to justice. It is more powerful than justice. Being unjust is the way to bring advantage to oneself. (See 344c.)

A. This a radical challenge to the goodness of justice.

B. It raises a fundamental question: Why be just when, if you are unjust, you can benefit yourself? What is the value of justice?

The third refutation of Thrasymachus

Socrates presents a third refutation of Thrasymachus (345e–346e).

A. Ruling is like a craft or an art (technê). B. Craftsmen receive wages for their work. C. This implies that their work is not simply for their own

advantage; they demand wages in order to be rewarded for their work. No art generates its own advantage. (See 346e.)

D. Rulers receive wages. E. Therefore, ruling benefits those who are ruled, not the

rulers.

Hint on your summaryhttp://www.archive.org/details/platos_republic_0902_librivox1

for recording At the Narrative Level: Use the Six W’s to

contextualize the text and to orient yourselves.

The first half of page 1 offers such information as the themes of the dialogue, and participants.

Write your summary here:

Contextual Information

When Book I opens, Socrates is returning home from a religious festival with his young friend Glaucon, one of Plato’s brothers.

Ironic situation: A torch-race on horseback in honor of the

goddess; Why is it a novelty? What’s so dangerous?

Got Waylaid (page 1)by force (of the stronger)

On the road, Socrates and his companions are waylaid by Adeimantus, another brother of Plato, and the young nobleman Polemarchus, who convinces them to take a detour to his house.

There they join Polemarchus’s aging father Cephalus, and others. Socrates and the elderly man begin a discussion on the merits of old age. This discussion quickly turns to the subject of justice.

“And are you stronger than all these? for if not, you will have to remain where you are” (Course Reader 1). Playful but heavy-handed.

Conversation & Journey (2)Reason by analogy

“… the more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm of conversation.”

“I replied: There is nothing which for my part I like better, Cephalus, than conversing with aged men; for I regard them as travelers who have gone a journey which I too may have to go, and of whom I ought to enquire, whether the way is smooth and easy, or rugged and difficult” (2).

Metaphor (page 2)

Men of my age flock together; we are birds of a feather. (the subject/the predicate)

The curtain of night fell on somewhere. Midnight 《子夜 》 is a novel written by Mao

Dun published in 1933. The title refers to the political situation in China, the darkest moment in history.

Patrimony (page 3)

noun, plural -nies. 1. an estate inherited from one's father or

ancestors. 2. any quality, characteristic, etc., that is

inherited; heritage. 3. the aggregate of one's property. 4. the estate or endowment of a church,

religious house, etc.

Reason by analogy

… “the makers of fortunes have a second love of money as a creation of their own, resembling the affection of authors for their own poems, or of parents for their children, besides that natural love of it for the sake of use and profit which is common to them and all men” (3).

Old age, wealth, reflectionsuch topics lead to justice

“… when a man thinks himself to be near death, fears and cares enter into his mind which he never had before; the tales of a world below and the punishment which is exacted there of deeds done here were once a laughing matter to him, but now he is tormented with the thought that they may be true: either from the weakness of age, or because he is now drawing nearer to that other place, he has a clearer view of these things; suspicions and alarms crowd thickly upon him, and he begins to reflect and consider what wrongs he has done to others” (3).

What is justice? (4)Restorative Justice

Simonides (a minor Greek poet): Speak the truth and pay your debt;

Justice is to return what is due; Socrates’ challenge: Justice is more than just

return what is due.

Cephalus vs. SocratesContradict by shifting to another context

or extending to another scenario

Cephalus, a rich, well-respected elder of the city, and host to the group, is the first to offer a definition of justice. Cephalus acts as spokesman for the Greek tradition. His definition of justice is an attempt to articulate the basic Hesiodic conception: that justice means living up to your legal obligations and being honest.

Socrates defeats this formulation with a counterexample: returning a weapon to a madman, better yet, to a murderer!. You owe the madman his weapon in some sense if it belongs to him legally, and yet this would be an unjust act, since it would jeopardize the lives of others. So it cannot be the case that justice is nothing more than honoring legal obligations and being honest.

Socrates shifted a conceptReason vs. Fallacy

To return what you own to someone;

This falls into restorative justice;

To return a weapon to a murderer is a different situation;

Socrates did not offer the scenario how we got this weapon from the murderer in the first place. After the murder, the murderer is no longer entitled to his weapon. The law will override his ownership of the weapon.

Justice is to do good to a friend, evil to an enemy. (page 5)

Says Polemarchus quoting Siꞌmonides, 556?–468? b.c.,  Greek poet: justice is the art that gives good to a friend, evil to an enemy. (challenge this definition)

Reason by analogy: Physician/pilot/

Greek Traditional View of Justice

Traditionally, the Greek conception of justice came from poets like Hesiod, who in Works and Days presents justice as a certain set of acts that must be followed. The reason for being just, as presented by the traditional view, was consideration of reward and punishment: Zeus rewards those who are good and punishes those who are bad.

Should we harm our enemies?What if we are on the wrong side of history?

Socrates reveals many inconsistencies in this view. He points out that, because our judgment concerning friends and enemies is fallible, this credo will lead us to harm the good and help the bad. We are not always friends with the most virtuous individuals, nor are our enemies always the scum of society. Socrates points out that there is something incoherent in the idea of harming someone (even if our enemy) through justice.

If we are ignorant of human nature, can we tell who are our friends and who are

our enemies?

“But see the consequence: --Many a man who is ignorant of human nature has friends who are bad friends, and in that case he ought to do harm to them; and he has good enemies whom he ought to benefit” (8).

Stiff application (paralysis in James Joyce’s words) of the rule that we should do good to our friends and do harm to our enemies could be consequential.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+21&version=NIV

in the Old Testament New International Version: eye for eye, tooth

for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise (Exodus 21).

King James Version: Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

How to react to violence?How to right a wrong?

What is the logical consequence if responding to violence with violence?

Two wrongs won’t make it right. Review Jesus’ teaching in the New Testament: [38] Ye have heard that it hath been said, An

eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: [39] But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Mathew 5)

Justice (utilitarian view 6-7)

Socrates: You think that justice may be of use in peace as well as in war?

Is justice something that is useful? If it is, it is useful always for something else. Then the definition is shifted to something external.

Justice has its criteria, independent of utilities. Autonomous vs. heteronomous Heteronomy: the condition of being under the domination of

an outside authority, either human or divine. Autonomy: freedom, independence, free of external

influences, out of your own free will, your own choice;

By shifting terms,Socrates led us to such a definition:

Now justice seems an art of theft! (7) By adding words, by shifting contexts; Look for inconsistencies and contradictions;

Real vs. seemingreal vs. appearance

Plato talks so much on the distinction between the real and appearance. This has something to do with his insistence on seeking the truth.

Seeming: in appearance but not necessarily in actuality: with seemingly effortless ease

Allusion to Homer (7)

Auꞌtolycus, the maternal father of Odysseus. Classical Mythology: a thief, the son of Hermes and Chione, and the grandfather of Odysseus. He possessed the power of changing the shape of whatever he stole and of making it and himself invisible as if he wore a magic ring.

Utilitarianism is a form of ConsequentialismShould we Do the right things in the wrong way?

Justice is an art of theft to be used for the good of friends and for the harm of enemies. (7)

Meaning is determined by consequences. Deng Xiaoping (1904 – 1997): It doesn’t matter whether it

is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it catches rats, it is a good cat.

It doesn’t matter how rats are caught. British--Taking over Hong Kong as a result of the first

Opium War in 1939. Does it matter if the means by which a goal is

accomplished is not ethical?

Intentionalism

Irony: A surgeon wanted to save a patient; but the patient

died on the operation table; Unintended consequences Premeditated murder is the crime of wrongfully

causing the death of another human being (also known as murder) after rationally considering the timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension.

Sillybillies (page 9)a name for someone, especially a child, who is

behaving in a silly way

Silly Billy was a type of clown common at fairs in England during the 19th century. They were also common in London as a street entertainer, along with the similar clown Billy Barlow. The act included playing the part of a fool or idiot, impersonating a child and singing comic songs.

The name is popular because of its nice rhyme and was used as a generic nickname for foolish people, especially those named William such as Prince William Frederick and King William IV.

Making ConcessionsRhetorical Function

“Polemarchus and I may have been guilty of a little mistake in the argument, but I can assure you that the error was not intentional” (9).

Granted…; however… It is true that…; however… Make a little turn, as a little creek is trying to

gather more water so that later it will rush forward with greater momentum…

Interdict 10 noun 1. Civil Law . any prohibitory act or decree of a court or an administrative

officer. 2. Roman Catholic Church . a punishment by which the faithful, remaining in

communion with the church, are forbidden certain sacraments and prohibited from participation in certain sacred acts.

3. Roman Law . a general or special order of the Roman praetor forbidding or commanding an act, especially in cases involving disputed possession.

verb (used with object) 4. to forbid; prohibit. 5. Ecclesiastical . to cut off authoritatively from certain ecclesiastical

functions and privileges. 6. to impede by steady bombardment: Constant air attacks interdicted the

enemy's advance.

Thrasymachus’ definition of justice (11)

Listen, then, he said; I proclaim that justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger.

Analysis is to take things apart. For Thrasymachus, justice is tied to interest

on the one hand; and to the stronger on the other.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun ... Mao Zedong (1893 – 1976)

Forms of Government (11)

Tyrannies Democracies Aristocracies--Origin:

1555–65;  (< Middle French aristocratie ) < Medieval Latin aristocracia  (variant of -tia ) < Greek aristokratía  rule of the best.

See more on the topic, read Republic VIII. http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html Translated by Benjamin Jowett (1817 – 1893)

I ask no quarter at your hand (13)

Quarter: mercy or pity, as shown to a defeated opponent (esp. in the phrases ask for  or give quarter )

Metonymy—associative in nature One thing for another "Hollywood" for American cinema, Whitehouse for the government; I am all ears.

Thrasymachus’ fallacy 16Something that prevails must be right!

Thrasymachus cited so many pieces of empirical evidence to support that justice is the interest of the stronger.

Reflect on the limitations of Empiricism!

But all this is reversed in the case of the unjust man. I am speaking, as before, of injustice on a large scale in which the advantage of the unjust is more apparent;

Page 19

Thrasymachus says that the life of the unjust is more advantageous than that of the just,

Tied to benefits/interests Warranted by the large number; Everywhere… But it doesn’t necessarily mean it is right.

Socrates: Justice is harmony 23

And this is because injustice creates divisions and hatreds and fighting, and justice imparts harmony and friendship; is not that true, Thrasymachus?

And is not injustice equally fatal when existing in a single person; in the first place rendering him incapable of action because he is not at unity with himself, and in the second place making him an enemy to himself and the just? Is not that true, Thrasymachus?

Persons in the dialogueGlaucon & Adeiꞌmantus

Glaucon (Greek: Γλαύκων; born circa 445 BC) son of Ariston, was the philosopher Plato's older brother. He is primarily known as a major conversant with Socrates in Republic, and the interlocutor during the Allegory of the Cave.

Plato's eldest brother. Adeimantus plays an important part in The Republic and is briefly mentioned in The Apology and the Parmenides. In The Republic, Adeimantus is noted for his concern for education

Persons in the Dialogue

Polemarchus, an Aꞌthenian philosopher. Plato's Republic is set at Polemarchus' house in the Piraeus, a seaport that was located next to their shield manufacturing store that employed 120 skilled slaves.

Cephalus, son of Lysanias from Syracuse (5th c.BC), a wealthy metic and elderly arms manufacturer living in Athens who engages in dialogue with Socrates in Plato's Republic. He was the father of orator Lysias, philosopher Polemarchus and Euthydemus.

Persons in the Dialogue

Thrasymachus (Θρασύμαχος) (ca. 459-400 BCE) was a sophist of Ancient Greece best known as a character in Plato's Republic.

"Thus, Socrates, injustice on a sufficiently large scale is a stronger, freer, and a more masterful thing than justice, and, as I said in the beginning, it is the advantage of the stronger that is the just, while the unjust is what profits man's self and is for his advantage.”

Persons in the Dialogue

Cleitophon is a character in the Republic who agrees with Thrasymachus’ assertion that “justice is the interest of the stronger” (Course Reader 12). When this assertion is challenged with the notion that perhaps the stronger does not know what is in his best interest, Thrasymachus and Cleitophon diverge. Thrasymachus asserts that he who is truly strong must know what is best; Cleitophon solves the problem by saying that justice is merely following the will of the stronger in all cases.

Setting: Piꞌraeus

a seaport in SE Greece: the port of Athens. 186,223.

Plato opens his Republic with the words, “I went down to the Piraeus yesterday.”  The first verb is “kataben,” from “katabaino,” meaning “I went down,” the same verb that is so prevalent in Book 11 of the Odyssey, in which Odysseus offers his blood and descends into the underworld.

Thracians

The ancient Thracians (Ancient Greek: Θρᾷκες, Latin: Thraci) were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe.

of or pertaining to Thrace or its inhabitants.

Reason by Analogyit is interdisciplinary in nature

Moving from one context to another context;

If something holds true in one context, but not true in another context, then it is not universal.

Reason by analogy is a way to test if a theory/claim holds water or not.

The Law of Contradiction

In classical logic, the law of non-contradiction (LNC) (or the principle of non-contradiction (PNC), or the principle of contradiction) is the second of the so-called three classic laws of thought. It states that contradictory statements cannot both at the same time be true, e.g. the two propositions "A is B" and "A is not B" are mutually exclusive.

Justice & Interest

“… and as the government must be supposed to have power, the only reasonable conclusion is, that everywhere there is one principle of justice, which is the interest of the stronger” (11).

Here Thrasymachus associated justice with interest, and interest are translated into benefits.

Aporia 疑难In Plato’s early dialogues, aporia

usually spells the end

1. Rhetoric . the expression of a simulated or real doubt, as about where to begin or what to do or say.

2. Logic, Philosophy . a difficulty encountered in establishing the theoretical truth of a proposition, created by the presence of evidence both for and against it.