Plato -- the Republic Why Term Paper

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His argument is that the two extreme sides are opposed by nature hence they exist in a state of "civil war." The third part of the soul is identified as the "spirited part" which is "far from being [appetitive], for in the civil war in the soul it aligns itself far more with the rational part" (Plato: book IV).

The healthy soul is the one where reason, assisted by spirit, rules over desire, be it for food, sex, etc. A healthy soul - according to Socrates - means that the individual is just inside and out, in the sense that on the one hand, the individual will be ruled by reason thus he will be just on the inside, and on the other, he will be just on the outside because someone who is ruled by reason cannot rob or cheat: "Both together will they not be the best defenders of the whole soul and the whole body against attacks from without; the one counseling, and the other fighting under his leader, and courageously executing his commands and counsels?" (Plato: book IV). Also, Socrates claims that similarly to a healthy body, a healthy soul is something we should all strive for. Moreover, he provides a definition of virtue as the well-being of the soul "Then virtue is the health and beauty and well-being of the soul, and vice the disease and weakness and deformity of the same?" (Plato: book IV)

Socrates does not impose his vision upon us; he is merely challenging the way we perceive the surrounding world, raising some questions regarding the legitimacy of democracy as opposed to Plato's ideal state as well as the connections between the structure of the soul and of the ideal city: "Must we not then infer that the individual is wise in the same way, and in virtue of the same quality which makes the State wise?" (Plato: book IV)

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The Republic. The Internet Classics Archive. Web site: http://classics.mit.edu//Plato/republic.html.....

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