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Comparing Socrates And The Guardians In Plato's Book V Of The Republic

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In Book V of the Republic, Plato exhibits the point of view of his teacher, Socrates, regarding sexual relations between the male and the female guardians in the context of an ideal city. Socrates teaching method was constituted by arguments on certain notions throughout which various opinions were presented while Plato was capturing them. The characters that take part in his book, The Republic, are Socrates, Cephalus, Polemarchus (son of Cephalus), Glaucon (brother of Plato), Thracymachus and Adeimantus. Through his discussions, Socrates implies that a city should be divided into three groups of people as not all people can be successful in all tasks. These divisions are the producers, the guardians, and the rulers. One of the topics that Socrates stresses, especially in Book V of the Republic, is this of the male and the female gender. Principally, he portrays the two sexes in relation to the responsibility of being a guardian of the city. Plato also presents the position of his teacher regarding the family structure of the guardians. Overall, Book V of the Republic is mainly focused on defining which were the relations between the two genders together with family structure of the guardians in the city, according to Socrates. It has been evident that Socrates is in favor of the idea of common property and in general of communal benefit. This means that, according to him, the common good of the city is attainable in the case that all …show more content…

Taking into account his position on the matter of family structure combined with the nature of sexual relations between male and female it can be presupposed that Plato’s teacher does not appear to be a feminist. In Book V of the Republic Socrates states numerous times that women should go through the same nurture and education as men (Olugbade, 1989). This education would include gymnastics, music and music. He recognizes

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He uses the example of ruling a city, where a government would change the rules and laws to best suit them, and as the rules are followed by those who act justly, the just would be acting in the favour of the stronger. Socrates objects to this and claims that humans will make mistake, as that is part of being human, and may

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In spite of this, it appears that he has no issue with women gaining political power and even insults the previous rulers of Athens by describing a typical Congress day as the men slandering “each other like men on benders, and then the police come along and sling out the drunks,” (18). Furthermore, the husbands of the women who gain power do not seem to hold issue with them ruling and only complain about the sexual implications of it. They worry that they will struggle with their sex lives, questioning, “suppose they put the pressure on and coerce us?”(35). There is no angry outcry against the women gaining power

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Socrates believes that justice benefits the just, but also benefits the city (other people) too. He is faced with a seemingly simple choice, escape Athens or remain in prison and be sentenced to death. Socrates’ central argument against escaping his circumstances is twofold. First, Socrates argues that “one must never do wrong.” (49b)

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According to Socrates there are two types of justice, the political justice and the justice of a particular man. As we know, city is bigger than a man. Socrates believes that it is easier to find justice at the political level which means in the city, thus he tries to define a just city from scrap, and will see in which stage justice enters. Also, Socrates tries to find justice in the city before finding justice in the individuals because individuals are not at all self-sufficient. We humans have similar needs such as food, clothing and shelter and in order to accomplish these goals human beings form unions, where each and every individual specializes in a field.

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