Women And Children In Plato's Republic

The introduction to the fifth book of Plato’s Republic begins with a number of interlocutors including Polemarchus, Adeimantus, Glaucon, and Thrasymachus expressing their discontent with being cheated them out a very important section of Socrates’ perfect description of the just city. Glaucon partners in resolution with the other interlocutors requesting his explanation of shared wives and children. He tells Socrates that any reasonable person would want to listen to his argument for the upbringing of women and children. Glaucon insists that Socrates sheds light on “what the common possession of wives and children will amount to for the guardians and how the children will be brought up while they’re still small” (Plato 124 [V. 450c]). He negates

He recognizes that women are inferior to men in almost all regards, but was unable to identify an act that divided the natures of men and women for Socrates. He turns his focus towards determining the plausibility of Socrates’ portrayal of women and children belonging to men, and whether it is optimal for the city. With the discussion of women not permitted to live privately with men with no parents knowing their offspring, Glaucon is quick to point out the obvious disputations. He acknowledges that the helpfulness may not be controversial but the possibility of producing a city with these descriptions surely would be (Plato 132 [V. 457d]). Following Socrates’ aforementioned assertion that men and women should campaign and guard the city together, Glaucon is convinced of the city’s considerable fighting power but warns of the considerable dangers in defeat such as losing the women and children. This, he argues, the city will never be able to recover from (Plato 141 [V. 467b]). Glaucon goes on to say the distinguished auxiliaries during the campaign will be allowed to kiss any individual of their choosing without consent, reasoning that they will be more eager to showcase their acts of valor. Glaucon is “convinced that a city of the sort Socrates has described would be the best one, but wonders whether or not it could ever really come about” (Plato 122 [V.