How Did Plato Influence The Republic

It is an undeniable fact that Plato greatly influenced Western Political Philosophy. Quote here. Through his works he was able to create the foundations of philosophy, and become what one can say to be the most studied individual in history. What I find particularly interesting is his work “Republic”, and how much influence that particular piece has had in our current political and philosophical world. Turns out, The Republic may arguably be the most important piece Plato left behind.

In order to understand why The Republic was such an important piece, one must first understand which political and philosophical thoughts were introduced and how these thoughts were presented. “Republic” consisted of 10 books. The first book opens with Socrates

Socrates discusses old age with Cephalus, and this eventually leads to the first core topic of “Republic”. What justice is. Just like in Plato’s earlier works, a Socratic dialogue is introduced and Socrates proceeds to ask these questions to the group of friends he was conversing with. He ultimately refuses every suggestion his friends offered due to the fact that each suggestion had some sort of contradiction. For example, when Cephalus gave his definition for what justice is, which was that justice essentially means living up to your legal obligations and being honest, Socrates defeats this definition by pointing out that if this is the true definition of justice, then if for some reason one was holding the weapon of a madman, that it would be unjust to not give the madman his weapon, even if it puts people around him at risk, which of course wouldn’t be the case. The statement that justice is actually just a limiter on human nature and no real benefit comes from following it is voiced out by Thrasymachus and the second core topic of “Republic” is presented, which is whether Justice is worthwhile. Socrates goes on to try and explain why justice is worthwhile through a long and complex chain of reasoning which

However, regarding the technical definition of justice, even Socrates himself was unable to formulate an answer, and thus the conversation ends in an “aporia”. At this point, Socrates, even with his masterful logical efforts, has only been able to advance weak arguments that favor justice’s worth. However, in their quest for a stronger understanding of what justice is , the party left behind traditional thinking on what justice is and are thus able to start with a blank slate. Book I presents not only the main arguments and tone of the rest of the work, but also introduces several principles that are needed in politics and philosophy, such as a constant connection to logic, and a doubtful mindset, and stresses the importance of blank slates, or the importance of having ones cup empty before filling it. The second book starts off with Socrates feeling that he adequately answered to Thrasymachus and is through with the discussion of justice. However, others are not satisfied. Glaucon, a young companion of Socrates present at the time, proceeds to state that all goods can be divided into three classes: things that humans want only for what the consequences those things will bring (such as medical treatment); things that we desire only for their own sake, such as joy; and, the highest class, things we desire both for their own sake and for what we get