Political Essay
ljj
PlatoApril1.pptxOutline of today’s lecture
The four views of justice
Socrates’ account of justice: right functioning of the human soul
the telos, and thinking teleologically
Looking for justice: the new method
What does the ideal city look like?
Justice as cooperative specialization
Justice as hierarchy/rulership
Justice in the individual: the tripartite soul
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Recap: the context of The Republic
Athenian democracy
Importance of sophists
The Socratic revolt
Socrates the “gadfly”
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The 4 views of justice in The Republic
1. Cephalus
Tell the truth and pay your debts
2. Polemarchus:
Giving to each his due
3. Thrasymachus:
Justice is the interest of the stronger
4.Glaucon: Compromise, contract
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Socrates’ account of justice:
right functioning of the soul (p. 50-52, 352-354)
Telos: purpose, function, goal
p. 51: “all things have a function…”
Telos (purpose/function) of the human soul (353 d)
What does it mean to think “teleologically”?
What is justice?
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Looking for justice, the new method:
City-soul analogy
369 a
What does the ideal city look like?
cooperative specialization(370a, c, 374 a)
Hierarchy/rulership (p. 138)
Myth of the metals 415a, p. 113
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Justice in the individual: the tripartite soul
3 parts of the soul (just like the city, p. 130: 435 b-c; p. 135: 440 e) :
Reason
spirit (thymos)
appetites
p. 137, 442 d: “The temperate man...”
p. 137: “the source of this behaviour is ….”
p. 138: “justice, like health….”
For Plato, justice = Higher parts of our nature should rule lower ones
p. 137, 443 d
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