Socrates and Glaucon briefly review the traits of the ideal state. The salient points are that men and women should be equal in education and occupations. Further they should be governed by those rare individuals who are best at philosophy and war. These philosopher rulers shall not possess private property and shall accept their annual wages as sufficient for acting as Guardians of the state.

Adeimantus expresses interest in having Socrates expand on his previous allusion to four types of states or societies. The four are named as the Cretan or Spartan type, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. Socrates indicates that he will discuss those states as well as the corresponding individual character. He proposes to take each one at a time starting with the Spartan form and the competitive, ambitious man that is analogous to it. He will proceed through oligarch and democratic man to the worst, the tyrant, which will allow comparisons with the best man and the answer to Thrasymachus’ earlier assertions.

Socrates begins by indicating that social change happens when there is dissension among the ruling class. As long as the

The Oligarchic society is one in which all power, political and otherwise, resides only in the wealthiest citizens. The impoverished have no say or representation. The ambition of the Timarchic character eventually leads to a love of money, a desire to accumulate more. In this society wealth is the primary qualification for leadership and those in ruling positions legislate in order to preserve their status. Socrates likens that to having a ship navigated by the wealthiest crew member rather than the best qualified albeit poor one. The power invested in the wealthy leads to a schism dividing the state into the rich and the poor.

Before describing the tyrannical character Socrates feels a need to describe a third type of desire. He indicates that it is present when reason and humanity are sleeping and it is violent, brutish desire. According to Socrates that class of desire is most prevalent in our dreams.

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