1. (a) Explain Plato’s view of justice in the soul and the state.
● “Justice is “the having or doing of one’s own and what belongs to oneself”
● Known as the macro-micro analogy
● Ties in with the ratio of components in people’s souls: appetite, spirit, and reason
● Appetitive souls most abundant, form the producing class
● Spirited souls second most common, form the auxiliary
● Souls ruled by reason rare, form the guardian class, most ideal soul as it is the JUST
soul
● Myth of the metals (bronze -> producing class, silver -> auxiliaries, gold -> guardians)
● Each class is linked to a cardinal virtue
● Controlling appetite is temperance
● Spirit, when channeled properly, can lead to courage
● Cultivating reason leads to access to the intelligible realm of the Forms, which results in
wisdom
● The ideal soul is the ideal state writ large
● Guardians take charge of state, make authoritative decisions on how to run it, ruled by a
singular or a group of “philosopher-rulers” that can perceive the Forms
● Justice in the city is when each of these groups (in the correct ratio) are working
seamlessly and cohesively in their places -> harmony
● I.e. a carpenter is making carpets
● Injustice is meddling in others’ business (i.e. if this carpenter suddenly decided he would
like to be a politician)
● Justice comes from within (each person voluntarily partaking in their preordained roles)
● City’s ontological status regards the construction of a just soul, not just a metropolis
(b) Evaluate Plato’s view of justice in the soul and the state.
PROS:
● Purple eyes analogy: i.e. if purple is the most beautiful color, we can’t just paint an entire
statue purple because it is not a true representation of a person and it would detract
from the whole
● Not everything must be beautiful, but rather functional and appropriate (which is why not
everyone may be a guardian)
● Each class is equally valued within the state - we cannot have justice if one class is
considered superior to the other because we require their harmony
● Analogy of the perfect chord
● Justice would lead to happiness -> happiness arises out of virtue
● Some people better suited for certain tasks, i.e. someone might have a natural proclivity
for baking (not everyone has the same level of natural talent in the same skills)
CONS:
● Guardians/Philosophers have desires, how can we be sure they won’t be corrupted?
● Would the philosopher actually be wise? Someone not wise but virtuous would be a
better ruler
● “Justice is “the having or doing of one’s own and what belongs to oneself”
● Known as the macro-micro analogy
● Ties in with the ratio of components in people’s souls: appetite, spirit, and reason
● Appetitive souls most abundant, form the producing class
● Spirited souls second most common, form the auxiliary
● Souls ruled by reason rare, form the guardian class, most ideal soul as it is the JUST
soul
● Myth of the metals (bronze -> producing class, silver -> auxiliaries, gold -> guardians)
● Each class is linked to a cardinal virtue
● Controlling appetite is temperance
● Spirit, when channeled properly, can lead to courage
● Cultivating reason leads to access to the intelligible realm of the Forms, which results in
wisdom
● The ideal soul is the ideal state writ large
● Guardians take charge of state, make authoritative decisions on how to run it, ruled by a
singular or a group of “philosopher-rulers” that can perceive the Forms
● Justice in the city is when each of these groups (in the correct ratio) are working
seamlessly and cohesively in their places -> harmony
● I.e. a carpenter is making carpets
● Injustice is meddling in others’ business (i.e. if this carpenter suddenly decided he would
like to be a politician)
● Justice comes from within (each person voluntarily partaking in their preordained roles)
● City’s ontological status regards the construction of a just soul, not just a metropolis
(b) Evaluate Plato’s view of justice in the soul and the state.
PROS:
● Purple eyes analogy: i.e. if purple is the most beautiful color, we can’t just paint an entire
statue purple because it is not a true representation of a person and it would detract
from the whole
● Not everything must be beautiful, but rather functional and appropriate (which is why not
everyone may be a guardian)
● Each class is equally valued within the state - we cannot have justice if one class is
considered superior to the other because we require their harmony
● Analogy of the perfect chord
● Justice would lead to happiness -> happiness arises out of virtue
● Some people better suited for certain tasks, i.e. someone might have a natural proclivity
for baking (not everyone has the same level of natural talent in the same skills)
CONS:
● Guardians/Philosophers have desires, how can we be sure they won’t be corrupted?
● Would the philosopher actually be wise? Someone not wise but virtuous would be a
better ruler
