... demos which means ''people'' and a verb, kratein, which means ''to rule,'' Its basic meaning is ''government by the people" or "rule by the ruled.'' Socrates quest for justice was written in the form of a dialogue by his student Plato, in Plato's Republic. Plato believed the Athenian democracy was on the verge of ruin and was responsible for Socrate's death. This encouraged him to write the ... Republic. In Plato's ideal society justice ruled. What is Justice? This is the question that Socrates wanted to find an answer to. According to the American Heritage Dictionary justice is the qual...

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Plato was one of the first to develop the concept of a political utopia. In The Republic, he attempts to define justice by using the character of Socrates in a debate. Plato then continues to outline the guidelines for a just society. Plato's utopia appears, at first, to be an excellent idea. However, after further examination, his perfect society is less than ideal. Several flaws are obvious ... when considering Plato's vision from a contemporary perspective. In addition ... you give people the right to choose rulers they will naturally choose the richer and smarter class. The question at th...

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... founder of political philosophy. The Republic is the first attempt to give a thorough and systematic account of how the common life of women and men ought to be structured. For Plato this means, above all, raising and answering the question of justice: what is justice and why should it be preferred to injustice? Answering this question would also mean describing injustice and showing why ... it is to be rejected. The Republic is more than a work on politics in our narrower sense of ... doing anything but building castles in the air. He is investigating as seriously as it has ever been ...

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... of the four bad kinds of people and the constitutions that correspond to them. By this examination, he hopes to finally compare the benefits of justice and injustice, and find out whether it is better to behave justly or unjustly. There are four kinds of bad cities, and individual traits that ... is defined by a disinterest in anything but money. This leads to a total dissolution of the Just constitution for several reasons: 1. Justice is gone because now those making lots of money-- traders, merchants, etc.--and the leaders are one and the same. The separation of roles that defined ......

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... natural philosophy. He believed that government officials should be "philosopher kings" so he developed a course of study mainly about abstract thought for their education that is found in Plato's Republic. The Republic discusses the nature of justice and the institutions of society. But it also deals with the whole range of human knowledge, the purpose and content of education, and the nature of science ... to Athens. In conclusion we can see that Plato was a very talented individual in history who helped create the basis of philosophy to this day. Plato wrote one of the most known piec...

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The Republic Summary In reading Plato's The Republic, learning to appreciate works from around 366 BC in sch a modern 21st Century world is a quite wonderful and informative privilege. Although we were not assigned to read the whole book, I have learned many ways in which Plato and Socrates think, among with the other characters. There are a handful of characters in this book, although not all are ... . Both brothers are favored equally and received much respect from Plato. Another character is Polemarchus, who is the son of the owner of the house the whole conversation takes place in, who is ...

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Book IX in The Republic by Plato is mainly an argument to prove justice is better than injustice. Throughout the first part of Book IX, Socrates speaks about tyranny and the tyrannical man. Socrates proves that a tyrannical man (unjust ... lives and therefore an aristocrat, being the just man, leads the happiest of lives. This is the first example that proves justice is better than injustice in Book IX. In the second part of Book IX, The Republic, Socrates provides a second argument for the conclusion that life is better as a just man than as an unjust man. ... the better of him. Therefore, th...

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... I want to first understand is whether the holy is loved by the gods because it is holy, or holy because it is loved by the gods- (Plato 14). Socrates begins refuting the statement by certain examples. "Someone does not see an object because it is a seen object, it is a seen object ... lead object because somone leads it. Something is a carried object because someone carries it, someone does not carry the object because it is a carried object- (Plato 15). There is a certain distiction between carry and being carried, led and being led. The distinction is of cause and effect. The cause is ...

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... Forms Plato uses mathematics as his example in the dialogue with the boy, trying to demonstrate that he has some concept of the geometry of a square. Plato had hoped that this philosophical inquiry could yield similar results as what were later displayed in the Republic with his concept of justice by ... examining what was already latent in the boy. Through this concept of the Forms Plato tries to explain that we can only ... imitate the Forms through accessing them, a reason which late proved successful for not knowing what justice is, or what ... we are not trying to access the For...

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... dated, they all come from one of three periods; the early, middle or late periods. Plato also wrote some letters, but his dialogues are what made him great. His early dialogues such as Lysis, (a discussion of friendship), and Book I of the Republic (a discussion of justice) were dedicated solely to the memory of Socrates. His middle to late while still using Socrates ... in them reflected Plato's own philosophical development. These works include Gorgias (a consideration of several ethnical questions) and Meno (a discussion of knowledge). Some of ... his most famous works include; Symp...

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Book One of Plato's Republic begins with a scene that depicts two men, Socrates and Glaucon, walking on their way out of town to pray to the goddess Bendis and observe the festival ... begin to answer a question that he has no answers for. He then persuades Thrasymachus, who believes he has a good answer, to give his opinions on the meaning of justice. Thrasymachus states that, "just is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger." (338 B) Through this claim Thrasymachus asserts that he who is in power decides what is ... right and what is wrong. Socrates challenges that sometimes a ju...

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Exposition of Republic 352d-354a Socrates begins the argument on the basis of a statement from a past concession that "just people are clever and more capable of doing things, while unjust ones are not even able to act together." (351b). The purpose of this argument is to determine whether or not just people live better and happier than unjust ones. Socrates starts off by refuting Thrasymachus with such question, that just people do live better lives, and that it is quite obvious. The whole argument is important to Socrates because he feels that it is concerned with the way people ought to liv...

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... them live more unjustly. Therefore, harming someone, even your enemy, would be unjust because it creates more injustice. He also disagree with Thrasymachus" statement that justice is "nothing other than the advantage of the stronger" (Republic 338c). These are examples of Socrates response to someone else's idea. Socrates never opens with his own ideas. He merely questions the ideas of others, and ... more appropriate for you to answer, since you say that you know and can tell us" (Republic 337e). He also says that not only does he not know what justice is, but he is also "incapable of ...

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... better man to be harmed by a worse I believe that it is far worse to do what he is doing now, trying to put a man to death unjustly" (Plato, AP. Pg. 54). To Socrates pursuing a just life gave him happiness, the freedom to express the truth with out feeling afraid of what was to happen, because ... 's aware of his "ignorance". He tells us "I am wiser than he is to his small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know" (Plato, AP. Pg. 42). If he were to pretend to know something when he didn't know it, then he would be making a fool out of himself. In the "Apology ... keepi...

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... with others. Therefore the case that human beings have always had certain behavior that is not affected by circumstances is true. Plato, as a student of Socrates, documented the views and arguments of Socrates in The Republic. Socrates' arguments presented in The Republic were very convincing and logical. His opinions not only examine the essence of human behavior but also lay a foundation to ... modern day politics and society. One key argument that proves to be relevant in modern day is Socrates' view of what justice is. On book one of the republic Socrates' argues with Polemarchus abo...

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... (the just man who appears unjust) does live well. In the process Socrates must also supply a positive definition of justice that will resist scrutiny. You might want to notice that here, among other things, we are getting our first major hint that the Republic, is an expanded and revised version of the Apology. Socrates himself is exactly such a man: one who is ... again. The problem being posed is a very tall order, and you should remember that the rest of the Republic is a detour and device to answer this question, as well as Thrasymachus" position. Plato will answer this question by ...

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... one speaker. He didn't show much interest in the Democracy. One of his best work was known as, The Republic which demonstrates his idealism, and its political consequences. Plato advocated in public education. He believed that education in astronomy and mathematics was important and a way to sharpen their ... the city-states. He wrote an essay, Politics, which was about the behavior of people towards their city-states, ethics, theory of justice and the rule of law etc. Aristotle was indeed the developer of the processes of scientific observation and experimental approach with materials. ...

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In the first book of Plato's The Republic the topic being discussed is "what is justice for the individual?- From this common foundation, the conversation is expanded to a broader level with the explanation and definition of morality and traditional society. Plato's aim throughout this discussion is to understand social and political solidity on a basis of moral resolutions that every man should live by. ... Until the entry of Thrasymachus, Socrates' associates have accepted his philosophical suppositions as a process rather than a viewpoint, as Socrates has been offering positive solutions an...

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... stronger. Another aspect of Athens that affects the western civilization is the philosophy of the time. Some of the great philosophers in Athens, besides the law giver, Solon, were Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. Socrates was a very ugly, but very wise man. He would go around asking questions that was simple to answer and explore those answers with further questioning until the questions ... was the pupil of Socrates and when he was put to death, Plato was infuriated. Plato was perplexed that Socrates, whom is just, was put to death for injustice. He felt the citizens of Athens could not cr...

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... that men were ignorant, but there was an essential difference. The Sophists believed knowledge to be impossible, but Socrates saw it as an attainable goal. Most men when asked what justice or courage was replied by enumerating instances. Socrates then pointed out that this was only the first of two necessary stages. To discover was ... to discover the common quality by right of which they are called just. This, the "form" of justice, expressed in a definition, will be the answer to the question: "What is justice?" The method is inductive, and its outcome was to reduce all virtues, inclu...

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In Plato's Republic, Socrates defines a democracy though the discussion of six important characteristics. The freedom of speech, and license to do what ever they may desire, allows for individuals of a democracy to have ... share in ruling under the constitution, and for the most part assigning people to positions of rule by lot," there is no requirement to rule or to be ruled (557a). Plato's Socrates also finds it important for there to be sophistication among the people in the city -- this is perhaps a plug for Socrates, as ... Plato found him to be admirably calm as he faced his eminent...

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... definition of justice when he says, "Minding one's own business". In Plato's Republic, Socrates was asked by his friend Glaucon what were his ideas of a perfect and just city and how it could be attained. Throughout the text, Socrates and his companions had been getting close to what "justice" really was ... and in essence had been going through a process of elimination of what "justice" ... and are aimed at creating the perfect living environment, individually as well as collectively. Now coming from an individual basis, the idea of justice in that "minding one's business" is the found...

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In The Republic by Plato, we find the Allegory of the Cave, a symbolic story, told by Socrates, which asserts that all humanity starts out in ignorance and is eventually pushed to seek further knowledge. Socrates ... front of the fire is a roadway with people walking across with objects to cast shadows with the fire. These objects are cutouts, consisting of the shapes of animals and plants. Plato is describing the Cave as the world as we are taught children. The cutouts represent our religious morals and the morals taught by our parents. They also represent our images ... will never come to...

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... born to the fullest extent possible or see the light of the sun (473d-473f).? Socrates says this while defending the facets of an ideal city in Book V of the Republic by Plato. In stating this, Socrates puts himself in peril of bearing the harsh condemnation of the rulers of his city. He must bolster his view immediately. In rationalizing his accounts ... , they should increase their mental exercises (498b).? However, this contradicts an earlier view that true philosophers are educated from early childhood to behave in accordance to wisdom, moderation, courage and justice, the four virtu...

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