Plato's Just City

Book Review # 104688

Law
Literature > Greek and Roman
Philosophy > Ancient Greek

Plato's Just City

This paper looks at 'The Republic' by Plato and discusses Kallipolis, Plato's just city.

1,680 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer studies 'The Republic' and notes that Plato discusses his belief that there were two kinds of justice: political justice - justice belonging to a group of people operating as a city or state, and individual justice - justice belonging to a particular man. The writer discusses that Plato's strategy in 'The Republic' is to first explain the primary concept of political justice and then to draw an analogous theory of individual justice. The writer concludes that Plato maintains that the just individual goes hand in hand with the just society and if one is convinced that the just society is presented by Plato's Kallipolis, that is how one should live one's just life.

From the Paper:

"Every state will require a class of warriors whom Plato calls the guardians. They have a military function. The auxiliaries are responsible for defending the city from invaders, and for keeping the peace at home. They ensure that the producers obey, and enforce the rules of the philosopher-kings. It is essential that guardians develop the right balance between softness and hardiness because they must not be bullies, nor can they be weak and ineffective.
"This leads us to how to properly educate a guardian. Plato states that nature is not sufficient to produce guardians. Nature must be amplified with education."

Sample of Sources Used:

Bookrags Staff. "The Republic". 2000. June 2 2008. <http://www.bookrags.com/notes/rep/>.
Curtis, Michael. The Great Political Theories. Vol. 1. New York: Harper Collins, 1981. 34-64.
Jowett, B. "Plato, the Dialogues of Plato Translated Into English with Analyses and Introductions." The Online Library of Liberty. 1982. Oxford University Press. 02 June 2008 <http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/767/93795>.
Nelson, Brian R. Western Political Thought: From Socrates to the Age of Ideology. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, Inc., 1996. 23-50.
Plato. The Republic (Sparknotes Literature Guide).. Ed. SparkNotes Editors. STG ed. Spark, 2003.