Notes:

Justice exist in community and in an individual but it is easier to view justice in a bigger perspective: the
community. The meaning of justice is to be examined in a state first before going to the individual. State
is a settlement of helpers and associates that live together in one place. State can’t stand alone with one
person only as every man has many needs.

 A man gives something, but with an exchange, he is doing it because it is for his own advantage.
A state is composed of producers and traders. To sustain the growing need for resources, more
land is needed. The competition for resources results to war.
 To fight the war, an army is needed to protect the citizens. The army should have no other jobs
and dedicate most of their time to hone their skills, this will ensure the victory of the state.
 Rulers are also needed to watch over the commonwealth. They must possess the right
intelligence and ability. They must hold the interest of the state identical to its own. They must
have the conviction to always think for the best of the commonwealth. The ruler must be able to
uphold this conviction even in face of trail. The ruler who will not be able to reach the standard
should be rejected. Those who can reach, will be honored and be given the highest tribute.
o Auxillaries – enforce the decisions of the rulers.
o Rulers should be the most precious quality (as stated in his metaphor of gold)
 Next auxillaries (silver) then farmers and craftmen (iron and brass)
 The natural gift of the child should be followed even if their inclinations are different than their
parents. [[ example: bong bong marcos kay mayo sa sciences but gipugos sa iyang mother na
mufollow sa steps sa iyang papa]]
 We should be careful against Auxillaries who corrupts their power instead of being ally to the
people.
 Guardians shouldn’t have private properties, they should be given enough in order to continue
making them the perfect guardians ang discourage them from maltreating others. If they will
own private properties, they should give up their guardianship as they will become tyrants.
o The happiness of the state is greater than the happiness of the guardians.
o In essence, the guardians are tools of the state
 Rulers should determine the right size of territory as the larger the territory, the harder it is to
maintain unity.
 There should be education and nurture to create reasonable men, this will create a cycle of a
good system creating good men and good men creating better system, etc.
 Children should grow from a strict and well-disciplined environment as this will foster their
growth and restore the state.

The Republic

The Basis of Social Organization

 Justice exist in the community and the individual. It is easier to see justice in the macroscale.
 A state exists because no individual is self-sufficient, we have many needs.
 A state is composed of many people in order to work on satisfying our necessities.
 A man should work on a thing that he is naturally fitted to do.
 As the state grows bigger, there will be competition for resources, this leads to war.
 The noble guardian should be swift and strong, spirited and philosophic

Who Should Rule?

 The rulers should be the best.

 They should have the right intelligence and ability.
 The best interest of the state should be their own interest.
 They must be tested in both pain and pleasure and see if they will still be able to resist
enchantment.
 The rulers should be upheld in a strict standard and if they will not reach it, then they should be
rejected.
 Rulers have their souls made of gold and metals so they must not seek them.
 Auxillaries are made of silver and they should always be held in constant precaution to prevent
them from becoming tyrants that will savage tyrants just because they are stronger.
 Rulers shouldn’t possess any private property except the necessities.
 The happiness of the community is the only happiness that should matter for the ruler, not their
own.

The Function of Rulers

 The Rulers should be the one to determine the right size of state as too large could no longer
maintain unity among the community.
 Make sure that there is education and nature
 A community should have a good start to create a cycle of good system and good people.
 Children should grow up in a stricter bounds, and be disciplined as this will make them good
citizens. They will grow up with the spirit of order and reverence of law, repairing the broken
system that we have.
 In states with bad government, the citizens are forbidden to create a radical change in
constitution as this will no longer benefit their rulers. Instead, the flatterer of the corrupt rulers
will benefit.
 For the benefit of the commonwealth, religious authority should not be consulted as their
beliefs are not understood. The commonwealth should consult to the national divinity.

The Composition of a State

 For a state to be good, it must be wise, brave, temperate and just.

 The first quality to view in a state is its wisdom.
 o The form of knowledge that will be for the best possible conduct of the state is the art
of guardianship of the rulers.
o The wisdom of the state as a whole is due to the knowledge of the smallest part, the
rulers. The knowledge of the rulers are the only thing that deserves the name wisdom.
 Courage is another quality of the community.
o Braveness means possessing the power of preserving the state.
 Temperance is another quality that the state should have.
o Temperance is making the state the master of itself. The better part would rule the
worse.
o In inferior multitude, multifarous appetites and pleasures and pain is found in children,
women and slaves and free men
o The moderate and simple desires are found in the few people who are best educated
and have the best inborn disposition.
o The desires of the inferior multitude should be ruled by the superior few.
 Justice is the last quality
o It keeps the other three qualities are doing their own work.
o It makes sure that there is order and the tradesman, auxiliary and guardian will not
takeover other roles.

The Composition of the Soul

 A soul contains the three elements and to find justice in the individual, it must also be the same
with the justice of the state, making sure that the three qualities are in order.
 A just man will not allow the other elements in his soul to usurp each other’s functions.
 Injustice is like a disease where there is disorder of the elements.

The Three Waves

a.) Equality of Women

 Women should receive the same treatment as men
 Women are weaker than men
 Women guardian should possess the same qualities the men guardians possess.
b.) The Abolition of the Family
 There should only be common wife and common children, no parent should know their
own child (for rulers and auxillaries).
 Just as the ruler are able to give commands, they should be able to obey the laws.
 The ruler should be the one to associate the men to the women.
 There should be more marriage for the superior union than the inferior union because
only the better unions should be kept.
 The best state is the state that resembles a single person.
c.) Philosophers must be kings
 The philosopher should desire all wisdom.
 Knowledge is to know the truth about reality, and the power of knowing the real as it is.
 Belief is the power of believing.
 Guardians should be competent to guard the laws and ways of life in society.
  Philosophers have knowledge as their greatest point of superiority.
Is the Philosopher useless?

Is the Philospher-Kings impossible?

Plato forms: the ideal thing, the blueprint where we strive to achieve