In Plato’s search for the perfect “republic”, he decides that the basis of the society will be on four virtues. The first of these virtues is wisdom. Of the three classes, the gold souls posses the virtue of wisdom. The gold souls are the only class whose knowledge goes beyond the mere facts to the level of true wisdom. “…This class, which seems to be by nature the smallest, belongs a share of the knowledge that alone among all the other kinds of knowl

“We’ve now found, at least from the point of view of our present beliefs, three out of the four virtues in our city. So what kind of virtue is left, then, that makes the city share even further in virtue? Surely, it’s clear that it is justice” (432b). The fourth and final virtue in The Republic is justice. Justice is defined by Plato as minding one’s own business. Justice comes about when every person in the republic is doing what he or she is set to do. The shoemakers make only shoes, and the farmers only deal with agriculture. When everyone minds their own business and does what he or she does the work they are trained for, there will be no injustice. Justice is the trait that makes all the other virtues possible. Plato says that when wisdom, courage, and moderation have been obtained then the remaining has to be justice.

The four virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice are the foundation of Plato’s Republic. He not only revolves his society around them, but also his people. Plato tries to instill virtues onto certain classes, without thinking about what the “republic” would be like if he gave all people all the virtues. Virtue is something that individual people possess out of their own willingness to be virtuous. Virtues are not characteristics that can be isolated individually. They are complimentary. In order to have one, you must have the others.

The second virtue that Plato defines is courage or spirit. Courage is the preservation of the opinion produced by law, through education about what things are terrible, and what things are good. Courage can be found in the silver souls, or t

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