Political ambitions and disillusion toward Athens and the mechanisms of the polis bring Plato to a reflection concerning the world, the human and the living.
With his socratic dialogue Republic, Plato reaches the peak of his philosophical research, by providing the LINEEGUIDA to the building of a new reality based on justice and ruled by philosophers.
The present work will try to give a
The Republic is one of Plato’s most important works. Even if it still does not give definitive solutions (au contraire, …show more content…
However, studying the reality of a single soul would not be helpful or convenient because its reality is too small and exclusive; for this reason, Socrates operates an analogy between soul and city. According to Socrates, in fact, a city can be just or unjust in the same way that an individual can be: they represent micro and macrocosm. ‘[I]f you call a thing by the same name whether it is big or little, is it unlike in the way in which it is called the same or like?’ ‘Like,’ he said. ‘Then a just man too will not differ at all from a just city in respect of the very form of justice [justice itself?], but will be like it.’ ‘Yes, like’ …show more content…
This principle, based on division of labour, is essential for a city to be efficient. As the city, the soul is tripartite in: rational, spirited and appetitive; also in this case each part only carries out its own tasks.
These specific competences are balanced, both in the soul and in the city, thanks to the principle of harmony and cooperation which is identified with Justice. However, the two principles are insufficient since a person can suit them without leading a good or valuable life. Therefore, to guarantee a just world, it is necessary to set a higher goal, shared by the community and toward which everyone must work: the good. Justice to be such requires good purposes and good reasons. But, people must know what good is, and the only way to tell right from wrong is using philosophy.
In conclusion, philosophers are the ones who can help individuals to reach the knowledge and recognise what are good and justice, but most of all to develop the awareness that being just is worthwhile for the soul. Philosophers must lead the city (the macrocosm) to work on each soul (microcosms) and create political and social