Free Essays on Platos Republic

There are three questions that must be answered when talking about the tyrant that is described in Plato’s â€Å"Republic†. First you must explain the character present in the tyrant. Second you must describe the kind of life that a tyrant can be expected to live. The third and final question is why is the philosopher’s life a better life than that of the tyrant. What is the character of a tyrant? This is a question that Socrates answers very decisively. He says: â€Å"namely, that he is inevitably envious, untrust- worthy, unjust, friendless, impious, host and nurse to every kind of vice, and that his ruling makes him even more so. And because of all these, he is extremely unfortunate and goes on to make those near him like himself.†(580a.) Pretty much Socrates just describes the man that no one wants to be ruled by. A tyrant that rules is a man who scares the people he rules because he is a man with no conscious, and that is frightening when the person has so much power. The next question that must be answered is: What kind of life can a tyrant be expected to live? A tyrannical man can be expected to live one of two lives at any point in time. He can be a tyrant who is one of ruled or he can be a tyrant who is a ruler. If he is a type of one that is ruled, he is a man who will probably live his life committing petty crimes and offenses. He will: â€Å"steal, break into houses, snatch purses, steal clothes, rob temples, and sell people into slavery ¼Ã¢â‚¬ (575c) In this type of man’s private life, he is one: â€Å"who associates primarily with flatterers who are ready to obey him in everything. Or if he himself happens to need anything ¼ isn’t he willing to fawn on them and make every gesture of friend-ship, as if he were dealing with his own family.†(576a) So someone of a tyrannical nature is always: â€Å"a master to one manor a slave to another and never gets a taste of either freedom or true friendship.†(576... Free Essays on Plato's Republic Free Essays on Plato's Republic In Plato’s Republic, Socrates, Glaucon, and Adeimantus build and imaginary city. When deciding how to implement this city they realize that they must start with the children. They discuss how the children should be educated through muses, or music, and gymnastics. This leads them to discuss musicians and painters. Socrates discusses a theory of forms which states that the physical aspect of something is a particular, like human beings. But, what it is to be something is its form. In Book X of the Republic, Socrates said, â€Å"the painter, we say, will paint for us a shoemaker, a carpenter, and other craftsmen, although he doesn’t understand the arts of any one of them† (598c). Socrates claims that painters have no understanding of the form or what it is to be a good shoemaker. The ontological criticism of this would be that all painters do is create an image that is three times removed from the form. When a painter paints an object he paints the particular, or what he sees. The epistemological criticism of Socrates’ statement is that image-makers tend to not know the form. For example if a painter were to paint a shoemaker performing his craft of shoemaking he may capture a shoemaker who isn’t very good at his craft or paint a step not need in the shoemaking process. But, in Book V Socrates suggests that it may be possible for an image-maker to create an image close to the true form. He said, â€Å"Do you suppose a painter is any less good who draws a pattern of what the fairest human being would believe and renders everything in the picture adequately, but can’t prove that it’s also possible that such a man come into being†(472d). This suggests that it may be possible for a painter to paint almost perfect forms. If a painter were to paint a man more beautiful than he actually was then he would have painted the man closer to the form of beauty. He would have erased any imperfections of the particular and ... Free Essays on Plato's Republic Plato’s Republic Philosophers, economists, and novelists have written on the subject of the â€Å"perfect society† since the beginning of time. Theories vary greatly, yet some are surprisingly similar. During the late fifth century B.C.E., one of the most influential writers in Western society was Plato, an Athenian philosopher and teacher. Many aspects of modern Totalitarianism and Egalitarianism can clearly be seen in Plato’s Republic. â€Å" If woman are to have the same duties as men, they must have the same nurture and education;† in this manner Plato promotes equal education for all members of a nation, in order to achieve maximum productivity from society. Plato discusses the importance of equality of the sexes and specialized education to the stability and prosperity of the civilization in his dialogue. During Plato’s time, sexual equality in Athens, as well as equality in general, was an unthinkable concept. Men were thought to be superior in most tasks and were treated appropriately by society. â€Å"Full citizenship in Greece was normally confined to adult male landowners,† which excluded a large portion of society that consisted of women, plebs, (common people), slaves and those men who were free but did not own any land. Plato argued for the equality of the sexes on the basis of everyone’s unique contribution to society. â€Å"Are dogs divided into hes and shes, or do they both share equally in hunting.† Plato observes the superior physical ability and endurance of men, which separates the two different sexes. Women’s duties were confined to the house and the nursing of offspring, while the men carried out all other duties. Plato goes on to say that, â€Å"Men and women alike posses the qualities which make a guardian; they differ only in their comparative strength or weakness.† He also points out that not every aspect of society is centered on physical strength and endurance. Asserting that the gifts... Free Essays on Plato's Republic There are three questions that must be answered when talking about the tyrant that is described in Plato’s â€Å"Republic†. First you must explain the character present in the tyrant. Second you must describe the kind of life that a tyrant can be expected to live. The third and final question is why is the philosopher’s life a better life than that of the tyrant. What is the character of a tyrant? This is a question that Socrates answers very decisively. He says: â€Å"namely, that he is inevitably envious, untrust- worthy, unjust, friendless, impious, host and nurse to every kind of vice, and that his ruling makes him even more so. And because of all these, he is extremely unfortunate and goes on to make those near him like himself.†(580a.) Pretty much Socrates just describes the man that no one wants to be ruled by. A tyrant that rules is a man who scares the people he rules because he is a man with no conscious, and that is frightening when the person has so much power. The next question that must be answered is: What kind of life can a tyrant be expected to live? A tyrannical man can be expected to live one of two lives at any point in time. He can be a tyrant who is one of ruled or he can be a tyrant who is a ruler. If he is a type of one that is ruled, he is a man who will probably live his life committing petty crimes and offenses. He will: â€Å"steal, break into houses, snatch purses, steal clothes, rob temples, and sell people into slavery ¼Ã¢â‚¬ (575c) In this type of man’s private life, he is one: â€Å"who associates primarily with flatterers who are ready to obey him in everything. Or if he himself happens to need anything ¼ isn’t he willing to fawn on them and make every gesture of friend-ship, as if he were dealing with his own family.†(576a) So someone of a tyrannical nature is always: â€Å"a master to one manor a slave to another and never gets a taste of either freedom or true friendship.†(576...