The Republic of Plato-Book 8 & 9 PDF

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Summary and class discussion of Plato's The Republic, Books 8 & 9--> including themes about who is the most fit to lead, without democratizing ...

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The Republic of Plato--Book 8 & 9 Wednesday, October 18, 2017

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4:18 PM

Book 8: ○ Gives a typology of regime § Different ways that a city can be organized and the different souls that can come from the city ○ First book about Democracy ○ Gives geneaology of morality ○ Decline of morality begins § Even if it's the perfect city, it will decay □ Decay's because of children □ Won't be able to perfectly reproduction ® Without reproduction of species, the city can't persist and declines eventually ® Leaders of the city will fail to hit upon to begat children at the wrong time ◊ Gold parents = gold children ◊ Bronze =/= gold ◊ No mixed metal child § The most basic part of humanity cannot be out-wised by philosophy § Another type of decline is: □ "Everything that has to being decays" ® Because the city exists in time, it necessarily changes ® The ideal realm of the forms is in direct conflict with the reality of the world ◊ Can temporarily solve the conflict, but it will not last ○ The best forms of governance: § Aristrocracy § Timosity □ Comprised of a character of the oligarchy and the elitism of the top □ Dominated by the willful part of the soul ® Strives of competition and winning □ This regime loves war ® Militarized culture □ Glaucon is a good example of this type of regime

Timocratic societies tend to slide away from the love of honor to the love of property ® Leads to oligarchy Oligarchy □ Ruled by the wealthy few □ Also ruled by its necessary desires ® Citizens on wealth, but they exhibit control and restrain of their desires only tend to their necessary desires ® Necessary desires ◊ People who have had wealth for a long time and are used to using wealth for the necessary desires in life ® Restraint is only partial ◊ As a result, the oligarchial soul is in constant conflict internally Democracy □ Emerges when too much class division comes into the oligarchy ® Too many poor people and too little wealthy people ® Class division □ Dominated by a love for freedom ® Freedom is characterized as license ◊ Not a restrained kind of freedom, but unrestrained license in which citizens could do everything they want while bound by laws □ No longer ruled by necessary desires, but unnecessary desires ® Desire overthrows reason the more liberated a state becomes ® Highly chaotic □ In democracy, insolence is confused with good education ® Anarchy is confused with freedom ® Wastefulness is confused with necessity ® Shameless is confused □ Democracy is confused □ Main point: not really recognize the happiness or meaning of life, only to search and confuse for it ® There's no direction in democracy □ Describes it as "the fairest of the regimes"--ironically ® Democracy contains all of the regimes under its own ® Diversity within democracy creates space for philosophy □ Athenian Democracy was a golden age in comparison to its □

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other forms of governments Tyranny □ A degeneration of democracy □ Ruled by unrestrained/unnecessary desires and lawless desires □ Leads to the paradox of the tyrant ® Rules absolutely ◊ The tyrannical man is ruled by his own desires ® The tyrant is the most slavish and least free figure of tyranny ◊ Least independent of the people that he relies on ◊ Least happy man of all } "The most poverty ridden and insatiable" ◊ The real tyrant is a slave

§ The Just Man/Woman is the happiest person □ The just soul is the soul that has mastered itself and it is not dominated by its desires ® The free-est thanks to the self-mastery ○ The Just Life is Pleasurable § Pleasure is achieved through self-mastery § 3 different pleasures: □ Wisdom-loving life ® Philosophy ® Individuals with this soul gain pleasure from learning of wisdom □ Victory-loving life □ Gain-loving life ® Gets a pleasure from gaining things throughout life § Each pleasure is justified in its own legitimacy □ There's a disagreement ® Which way of life is the most important and right? ◊ 3 different proofs that the wisdom-loving life is the best: } Experience – Only lover of wisdom experiences pleasure of things that are insightful – Only the philosopher can experience the highest form of pleasure

pleasure } Prudent } Proof by argument – Only the wisdom loving life only makes arguments – Argue most wisely--best suited to judge others } The pleasure is permanent and forever ® Each pleasure is appropriate though ◊ Only the philosopher is capable of experiencing all forms of pleasure ◊ The just soul experiences the most pleasure and has the most well-rounded soul ◊ All of the other forms of pleasure only experience limited amount of happiness...