Plato-The Republic

Plato : The Republic

The inquiry into the existence of soul has intrigued mankind since time immemorial . The Greek were masterly in their enquiry and understanding of the wonder and mystery which revolved around soul . This inquiry has fascinated great Greek scholars from Socrates and Pluto to modern 20th century philosophers . This is a question of deep rooted search and enquiry into the center of existence , universe and the relationships The Republic ' is Plato 's most famous work and is written like his other works in the form of dialogue . It is a

dialogue which takes place between Socrates , Plato 's teacher and mentor and other characters including Plato 's brother Glaucon , who asks stark and pertinent questions on the practice of ethics and justice . The dialogue leads to a very crucial question regarding justice , which is the crux of Republic the question : is justice good in itself or is fear of retribution /punishment only reason to be just (Price . The most remarkable feature of The Republic is the wide range of discussions which the dialogue covers beginning with the ethical content and moving on to politics , knowledge , the nature of reality , education mathematics , art and psychology . It is a very systematic development of related s , Socrates had clear idea of how these issues are related He clearly emphasizes the one cannot understand the value of justice-personal or political- until one understands what goodness or virtue is in reality and how it can be known (Price

The essence of the dialogue is in a very direct question put forth Socrates by Glaucon , where he uses the story of Gyges to put a very penetrating question : if you had the opportunity to grab wealth and power at everyone else 's expense , without any chance of retribution what reason could there be to pass it up (Price . It is in the answer to this question by Glaucon , that Socrates begins with his account of the soul . According to Socrates , the soul contains three elements : desire (things on material plane desire for food , sex material things , spirit (that which moves the material in the sense of spiritedness ) and reason ( that which governs intellect . He further elucidates on the characteristics of the healthy soul , in which reason (intellect ) rules the desires (passion for material experiences and things , with the aid of the spirit . Someone who possesses a healthy soul will be just both from inside and outside . He will be just from the inside as his decision is governed by reason (higher intellect ) which assures goodness and virtue , such person will also be just from the outside as he in the light of reason will not cheat or rob other Socrates , strongly advocates that one should want to have a healthy soul , just as one would want to have a healthy body . One would not want to be like Gyges- a chaotic individual , ruled by desires only , as this would lead to conflict and chaos (Price

Gyges is the shepherd who discovered a ring which...