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Plato's Code Of Justice Analysis

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Canadians live in a society that is plagued with injustice, a society that always puts yourself before the other people. Our courts, which claim to hold to justice, do the opposite, promoting evil and punishing good. But this raise the question, what is justice? And what is the benefit of being just? It is these two questions that Plato tries to answer in his book, “The Republic”.

The quest to define justice leads the main characters of this book in a wild goose chase. It seems that Socrates (the mouthpiece of Plato in this book)easily refutes every attempt made for a definition. At this time the question is also raised, is it even beneficial to be just, because it seems that many unjust men are extremely well off, and the just …show more content…

He starts with the presupposition that every human has three-part to their soul. The first part, like the guardians of the city, is the part of the soul that want to know truth, your reason. The second part to your soul is the desire for honor, like the auxiliaries of the city. And the last part of the soul that Plato puts forward is the part of the soul that goes after evil desires and money, which is linked to the producers of his republic which are the most likely to desire these kind of pleasures. Plato then takes this idea and states that a just man is one who is ruled by the highest part of his soul, reason and the pursuit of truth, and that unjust men are led by honor, money or evil desires. Then through various analogies Plato shows that the only just men are the philosophers because they are the ones who have the best understanding of the forms (ultimate truth).

Finally Plato goes about trying to show why justice is beneficial. He says that each part of the soul has its own perception of pleasure, but the highest part, reason, is the part that will make you really happy, because it is the part of the soul that brings you the closest to the form from for good. Forms are truth, so if you are not reaching for the truth you will not have true happiness, because you are not connecting to the form for

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