POL 116 Platos Republic Midterm Study Guide

Identifications 1. virtue/arte - meant a fulfillment of purpose or living up to ones potential. It also meant the excellence of something. the act of living up to one's full potential , Aret is frequently associated with bravery, but more often, with effectiveness. The man or woman of Aret is a person of the highest effectiveness; they use all their faculties: strength, bravery, wit, and deceptiveness, to achieve real results. (http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GLOSSARY/ARETE.HTM) From Class: Justice can be a virtue of a person or a polis. Virtue/Arete means fitness for a task. Everything in this world has an arete such as a knife whose fitness is for cutting. Its a very nonmoral understanding of virtue; theres no good or bad. Justice is a virtue that allows a soul to do its task. What is the task of being human? Whats that fitness? Each human being was created to complete one task that he is properly fitted to do. And by doing that task to his greatest potential, he is virtuous. Also, dont forget to mention that Arete was originally founded/named after the greek god of war, Ares. It was originally also described a warrior. (Maybe just a fun fact to add) virtue: The greek word arete means a fitness for a task. Arete orginally means fitness for a task for a warrior. This means that everything has an arete. Even a knife has arete. The fitness of a task to cut things. Dont get mixed up with the word virtuous. The greeks saw everything in the universe to have a task.

2. art/techne - techne- body of knowledge capable of being learned It is the rational method involved in producing an object or accomplishing a goal or objective. Throughout the dialogues characters frequently cite techn as a way of illustrating important points in their philosophical conversations. Some crafts mentioned are medicine, horsemanship, huntsmanship, oxherding, farming, calculation, geometry, generalship, piloting a ship, chariotdriving, political craft, prophecy, music, lyre-playing, flute-playing, painting, sculpture, housebuilding, shipbuilding, carpentry, weaving, pottery, smithing, and cookery (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/episteme-techne/#2) - rhethoric: your capacity to argue in front of the crowds and persuade people. In Platos time, techne was being recognized as a skill. Techne is the body of knowledge consisting of principles that can be learned. Techne in Platos time, is the most obvious form of knowledge.

3. education/paideia -SHOULD BE PRESERVED ABOVE ALL. NO INNOVATION WHATSOEVER. surround the child with beautiful things at a young age and they will be able to recognize the good. 2 parts of of education: music and gymnastic. Music pertains to the soul, and gymnastic to the body. However gymnastics purpose is to provide a healthy body for the soul. this education is for the guardian class. it is important they are properly educated so that they do not exploit the citizens. they must also be educated so that they know who their friends are and who their enemies are. the best of the best among the auxillaries will rise and become philosopher kings. this is a person who has the finest mix of both education and paideia. a philosopher must have a foundation in paideia to recognize the good. child-rearing, education. It was a system of instruction in Classical Athens in which students were given a well-rounded cultural education. Subjects included rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, music, philosophy, geography, natural history, and gymnastics. Paedeia was the process of educating humans into their true form, the real and genuine human nature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paideia) From Class: Paideia means children. Its hard to get rulers to rule for the sake of its people. Education; shapes something that is unshaped into a form. Different types of Paideia such as music and gymnastic. Education in music, poetry and myth, perhaps speeches and it all pertains to the soul. Gymnastics pertains to the body as its physical education. Musical Paideia; criticism and critique of music, poetry. Subjects them to reason. what were told about the gods doesnt always make sense. Its not consistent with what gods are. Doesnt match standards of reason. its a demagnification and disenchantment of the world. Doesnt fit with reason thus not true. Paideia shows us how hard its to cultivate a leader.

4. moderation (as it pertains to the polis and to the soul) - it is one of the four key virtues appearing in the polis. Moderation is identified with the agreement over who should rule the city, and justice, finally, is its complementthe principle of specialization, the law that all do the job to which they are best suited. Moderation is described as a universal virtue in the city that forges an agreement among the classes about who should rule. It allows each individual in the polis to be content with his or her specific career and keeps them from attempting to do someone else work. It also allows the different classes of people to be content with their position in life and to agree that the wise Philosopher Kings should rule. Within the soul, moderation is a mastery of appetites, pleasures, and desires (Plato, 430e). (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2402344/moderation_and_courage_in_platos_republi c_pg2.html?cat=75)

5. courage (as it pertains to the polis and to the soul) - courage is found in the auxillaries. Courage- is the capacity to preserve the right opinions as taught by the law giver. The things that you should be most afraid of doing. doxa. It is the courage involved in preserving received opinion. (Andreia) In reference to courage in the city, Socrates states that "courage is a kind of preservation" (Plato, 429c). By this he means that it is the preservation of the belief system instilled in the citizens of the polis about what should be feared and fighting the things that are. This courage in the polis is located within the auxiliaries. Within the human soul, courage is located within the spirited part, and allows a human to defend his or her beliefs and what is right and just. "And it is because of the spirited part, I suppose, that we call a single individual courageous, namely, when it preserves through pains and pleasures the declarations of reason about what is to be feared and what isn't" (Plato, 442c) (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2402344/moderation_and_courage_in_platos_republi c_pg2.html?cat=75)

6. justice (as it pertains to the polis and to the soul) - The most important of the virtues is justice, which as he finally defines, is basically doing one's own work and not meddling in the work of others. Justice essentially unites all the other virtues and is universal in the polis. This means that each person in the city does the job that they were meant to do and everyone is left to their own devices. If everyone adheres to this idea of justice, the polis will be in harmony; the wise rulers will govern the auxiliaries and the auxiliaries will rule over the producers. Just as the just city is in harmony, the just soul will be as well when reason and will govern appetite. (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2402344/moderation_and_courage_in_platos_republi c.html?cat=75) 2 37:30 - Plato keeps emphasizing that justice is a form of techne in book1, or a knowledge that a ruler possesses. Justice is perhaps the overarching techne that a ruler possesses and that which organizes other technes. By trying to say that justice involves knowledge, justice can be captured in advance by some formula(this isnt true because socrates said that justice DOES involve knowledge, but that is also CANNOT be captured in advance by any sort of formula). Justice can be a virtue of a human being, but also can be a virtue for the polis. Justice is the virtue for the soul to do its task.

7. Thrasymachuss definition of justice - Thrasymachus, breaking angrily into the discussion, declares that he has a better definition of justice to offer. Justice, he says, is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger. Though Thrasymachus claims that this is his definition, it is not really meant as a definition of justice as much as it is a delegitimization of justice. He is saying

that it does not pay to be just. Just behavior works to the advantage of other people, not to the person who behaves justly. Thrasymachus assumes here that justice is the unnatural restraint on our natural desire to have more. Justice is a convention imposed on us, and it does not benefit us to adhere to it. The rational thing to do is ignore justice entirely. - aggressively condemns Socrates for failing to answer what justice means. Thras even brings up money, that socrates should pay him if he answers it right. However, Socrates responds that instead of paying him, he will suffer the consequences of learning. Thras says justice is advantage of the stronger By this, he means, that what people ordinary call justice means, it is the advantage of those in power. He is making a kind of sociological observation. Socrates is being descriptive, while Thras is being prescriptive. He states, when you look all the things that are just, all of these things are supported to help the interest of those in power. While Socrates is looking at the meaning of the word justice, Thrasymachus is looking at what the word Justice is implied to (he is essentially defining what justice is in the practice of Athenian common sense, while Socrates is more interested in the prescriptive definition of justic. Socrates says you dont actually have to have a concrete example of justice for the true meaning of justice to exist) . He can be compared with Marx (because Marx said that the ruling ideas are the idea of the ruling class; or those in power get to determine what is right, or in this case, what is just).

Socrates is looking for the essence of what justice is. and thrasymachus is more concerend with the examples and definitions of justice. example: there are many different kinds of bees. big small ect. but what is the thing that is common among all bees that make it a bess? This bee-ness is something that is in common with all other bees. Socrates is looking for the commanlity of justice in all things. this is one of the reason he uses to polis in speech and the method of the large letters to try and find what is common about justice. He was also furious because socrates shot down polymarchus because he is a student of thrysymachus. so he wanted to make a bold statememt to show that his teachings were worthy of payment because he was a sophist.

Correct but no entirely relavent but he did say that. I think Socrates believes he is on to something with his definition. Just look at his polis in speech. the first thing he talks about is the education of the guardians so that they dont exploit the people of the pols. he is worried about thrsymachus definition coming true in the polis.

2 52:30 8. The distinction between nomos (law) and phusis (nature) http://www.cicatrize.com/documents/pvsn.htm

From Class: Nomos (law); customary and legislative and polis laws

The customs or Laws of the particular polis, are not neccessarily in accord with the state of nature. They might diverge with what nature demands. Some greeks (sophist) exploited this distinction, to suggest that it was ok to take somewhat manipulative or disrespectful attitude to the laws of the polis because they were not neccessarily grouned in nature. Plato strived to bring the laws of the polis closer to the stance of nature. Bring closer to the demand of phusis. Demands of justice are not grounded in nature, they are grounded in law, this initial social compact. By nature, justice is not good, it is good because there are consequences of being just, and the law enforces you to be just. But in truth justice was as it seems something of this sort however, not with respect to a mans minding his external buisness, but with respect to what is withing, with respect to what truley concerns him and his own. He doesnt let each part in him mind other peoples business, or the 3 classes in the soul mettle with each other, but really sets his own house in a good order and rules himself.he arranges, becomes his own friend and harmonizes the 2 parts of nomos and phusis exactly like the 2 notes in the low and the high scales leaving the middle scale that of moderation. This is the explanation for below. Phusis (nature); (I missed her explanation) <-- She really didnt give one. It was more or less just nature, but I think the key point was that the Nomos might divert from what nature might demand - EXAMPLE: - Glaucon says robbing someone is good by nature, and naturally beneficial. You will get benefits from robbing someone (now the things we consider unjust). Since only the stronger men will benefit from robbing, at some point the weak will get together and create this compact and they make it unprofitable to rob somebody. They label things that are just and unjust. the things we call just (unprofitable now), may have been very beneficial in the state of nature (robbing someone when you have the strenght and power) Glaucon reinstates that justice is not good for oneself, but only good for the consequences. And these consequences are the consequences are artificially created by law. What he call justice right now, seem to be conventioal, it is a product of nomos. -Plato wanted to bring nomos and phusis together But for Socrates Phusis is stronger

Not every community did things in the same way Many saw difference and thought that maybe there was a difference in appealing to nature and questioning the law that rules one Huge development

9. The city of sows (or pigs) - When is building his just city, he calls it the healthy city because it is governed only by necessary desires. In the healthy city, there are only producers, and these producers only produce what is absolutely necessary for life. Glaucon looks less kindly on this city, calling it a city of pigs. He points out that such a city is impossible: people have unnecessary desires as well as these necessary ones. They yearn for rich food, luxurious surroundings, and art.

Short Essays 1. The method of the large letters - including problems with the method of the large letters, and the significance of Socrates false start (when commencing the method of the large letters) with the City of Sows (or Pigs). focus of large letters is that on man can only do one thing well problems: what if one man can do many things well? It creates unbalance in the polis and according to Socrates they shouldnt be a part of the polis in the first place significance of Socrates false start was that when beginning to describe the just polis in speech everyone had basic needs and Glaucos and adamantus criticized it for that particular reason because man cannot just be satisfied with basic needs.

2. The commonsense understandings of justice surveyed in Book One and the beginning of Book Two and the common features of these definitions. 2) 21:21 1) Cephalus: honesty--> religious laws and property laws--> paying back what is owed to other people and gods. As long as you follow the law and pay back, you are a just person. 2) Polymarchus: loyalty--> doing good to friends and harm to enemies--> loyalty to polis and obedience of the laws of the polis (drawn from idea of being a warrior and fighting for the other members of your polis) As long as your loyal to your laws of your polis whether is written or non written, you are just. 3) Thrasymachus: legality because laws are command of the powerful--> advantage of the stronger=justice, justice is whatever those in power define it as. Justice is what ever the law says it is.

--in all three, the law exhausts the demands of justice. In some way, all three definition think that law can exhaust the demand of justice. In book 1, all of the common sense of justice, try to confine the demand of justice to the requirement of the law (written or non written). What justice demands can be stipulated in advance, can be identified by pre given law, and as long as you conform to the law, you are just. Glaucon and Ademantus- justice is created by a social contract making people who have the contract the stronger. They also all focus on terms of whether or not they are profitable for a person, instead of trying to say justics is good for itself. They all connect with justice the settling of scores as well. they all thing that they law can exhaust the demands of justice, and that one can be done with justice if they can discharge their debts. According to Glaucon and Adeimantus, justice is not thought off of good for itself, but rather justice is thought of its consquences. Glaucon refers to the view of the many. Glaucon says people enjoy doing injustice. If you do unjust things, it will be good for you. Overall they think, that the bad in suffering injustice far exceeds the benefits you get from being unjust. There is nothing inherently good of doing justice. It is more important to avoid the injustice and face suffering due to others unjust actions. 3. The noble lie (the myth of the metals) and its purposes. Make sure to have an example of a contemporary or more recent noble lie. a. keeping the class system in status quo b. not telling bad stuff United States Govt Noble Lie: This is wrong: The noble lie is gold silver bronze and that stuff.... it is be good too. noble lie is good because golf is first, silver is second and bronze is 3rd. Gold is the best silver is the second best and bronze is the worst. Just like she was saying in class. 1. we have a sense of class hierarchy but exceptional people can jump classes. 2. We are all connected by our constitutional rights. Ideally, every U.S. citizen is afforded the same rights. 3. Our govt has manifested patriotism through national anthems, holidays like Independence day and our flag. This ties us to the land so that we will defend it against attacks 4. we are being deceived because our borders are really artificial ones. By nature, we are not born U.S. citizens, we are born as human beings who live on Earth. But because of the artificiall borders, we are afforded more rights and privileges than other people. The example of religion in a Christian community. We are all Gods children, and are therefore connected, however, each person is given a particular purpose in life to fulfull. Some people will be poor and work difficult, underpaid jobs, while others will be rich. The Christian religion encourages people to be accepting of the position they have been given in this life, because it is the afterlife in which they will be rewarded for not wanting for more than what God provided in their lives on earth.

4. The purpose(s) of the program of education/paideia Socrates proposes for the guardians and the distinctiveness of Socrates approach to education when compared to our modern approach to education. purpose(s) of the program of education/paideia created to show guardians how to be gentle to their own and vicious to their enemies thus shaping guardians into what was wanted it gives off a sense of pre-education a child should have being the innate knowledge of what is good showing that if a child has not been surrounded by beautiful and good things their education has already begun to struggle portrays difficulty in educating rulers - if you uphold paidiea and have no innovation within it, then you never change the ways of music, literature, etc, because if you change these, you will cause changes in all of society-- if you get education right and uphold it properly, then all other demands of the polis will fall into place as well ex. gaurdians wont care that they do not get to experience the wealth of money, or that they have to share their wives and children, because they will know their purpose and how their specific task falls into the polis as a whole 2 parts in paideia music and gymnastics music pertains to the soul (also in relation to justice it teaches social acceptance of the task needed to be done) while gymnastics to the fitness of the body (also to how well someone can perform their task) while socrates does address the issue of gymnastics as it relates to physical bodily health, he does so as to create a connection between how bodily health and gymnastic allows for a more vibrant soul Our modern approach to education different because children are now encouraged to be able to do many things and not just meant to do one task for the rest of their lives being able to do multiple things is praised in our society

5. The features of the just polis in speech and an account of any problems or internal tensions in the just polis in speech (when it is assessed on its own terms not according to modern standards). features In this polis they have basic needs they can provide for themselves Each chooses particular art from his natural ability No conflict in interest of individuals and common good Almost seems as if it governs itself (no need for laws when proper education is upheld) Seems as if this polis is suited more for animals than humans

account of any problems or internal tensions in it well Glaucon reminds Socrates that human desire surpasses bodily human desires inferring that humans arent just simple this eventually leads to socrates building a polis with deeper desire realizing the need for safety thus creating the warriors guardians the idea is that when you step beyond basic human needs it creates problems and issues; on separate now we need to be able to educate these warriors so they dont hurt their own which in itself also an issue (this is where paidiea comes in where warriors are taught to be just and have no desires beyond what is necessary. The noble lie helps this by 1) telling them that they already have silver running in the blood and therefore need not want for material wealth and 2) making them feel like those in the lower status metal groups are born from the same mother (earth) therefore making them akin to family)

6. The account of justice in the soul offered at the end of Book Four. What would such a just human being look like? What kinds of things would such a just human being do and not do? What is surprising or unusual about this picture of a just human being? And how does this account of a just human being differ from the commonsense understandings of justice offered in the earlier books of the Republic?

Justice is the relation to yourself o Refers to the soul You can be just person even if you didnt act/speak with others If you saw man being robbed one couldnt do a cops task to help the person because its not your task thus one is being just Injustice is meddlesomeness When your not doing ur own task In the end Glaucon says he understands now what justice is saying it is better to do justice if it pertains to soul