Examples Of Unjustice In Plato's Republic

Injustice is an ever-present vice in every man’s soul. The idea that differentiates one man from another is the “city” they are born in. Socrates in Plato’s Republic offers the concept of a city being able to influence its citizens and change their souls for better or worse. Once the citizens are unjust, their children will learn to be unjust. An unjust city also leads to it being tyrannical, as Socrates states, and under this tyranny, injustice thrives. Taking all of this into consideration leaves the reader with a clear understanding of what would happen to justice in an unjust city. It is impossible for a just soul to arise from a completely unjust city. Parents have a large influence on who their children grow up to be. Socrates asks,

Socrates is asking whether one is born with a certain constitution or if it is learned throughout life. Glaucon seems to agree that constitutions are learned throughout life and not just from “oak and rock”. If this is the case then to have a good soul and constitution, it is necessary to have both a positive parental figure and an environment to grow up in. Socrates tells a talk of a youth being influenced by his father and other men: “being brought up from youth by a thrifty father[... a]nd by associating with more sophisticated men, [...] he starts to indulge [...] and to adopt their form of behavior [. ...] But because he has a better nature [...] he is pulled in both directions and settles down in the middle” (572c). Human nature seeks to be eviler and commit injustices as this quote shows. The youth is raised in a not perfect but still great household, but between the outside influences and the “thrifty” lifestyle of the father, he still ends up worse than before. Despite the youth not liking his father's ways, the father was still able to influence his lifestyle showing that the parents play a major role in the outcome of their child’s beliefs. However, the father is not the

Socrates is talking about what education its children should get and says: “the beginning of any process is most important, especially for anything young and tiger [.] It’s at that time that it is most malleable and takes on any pattern one wishes it impress on it” (377b). The education that is provided by the city is very important in influencing the minds of the youth. If this government is good and just then the youth will grow up being more good and just, but if the city is unjust and the education is unjust, they will be unjust. The minds of the youth are “malleable” which makes them very susceptible to corruption by an unjust city. Socrates describes what a completely just city would need to actually be good: “If a city is to achieve the height to good government, wives must be in common, children and all their education in common, their way of life, whether in peace or war, must be in common, and their kings must be those among them who have proved to be best, both in philosophy and in warfare” (543a). This is what a city needs to be completely just, so it follows that the opposite would need to happen to have an unjust city. If instead, it was an unjust city, the influence over all the citizens would be so great that justice would not be able to occur. When the unjust city controls the education of the children, they will be manipulated into opposing justice. Socrates connects the city to the individual