THE REPUBLIC

by Plato
 The longest of his works with the exception of
the laws and is certainly the greatest of
them.
 No other shows an equal knowledge of the
world, or contains more of those thoughts
which are new as well as old, and not of one
age only but of all.
 The greatest metaphysical genius whom the
world has seen.
 The Republic is to be found the original of
Cicero’s De Republica, of St. Augustine’s
City of God, of the Utopia of Sir Thomas
More, and of the numerous other
imaginary States which are framed upon
the same model.
 The Republic of Plato is also the first treatise upon
education, of which the writings of Milton and
Locke, Rousseau, Jean Paul, and Goethe are the
legitimate descendants.
 Like Dante or Bunyan, he has a revelation of
another life; like Bacon, he is profoundly
impressed with the unity of knowledge; in the
early Church he exercised a real influence on
theology, and at the Revival of Literature on
politics.
DIVISIONS
 DIVISION 1
Contains a refutation of the popular and
sophistical notions of justice, and concluding, like
some of the earlier Dialogues, without arriving at
any definite result. To this is appended a
restatement of the nature of justice according to
common opinion, and an answer is demanded to
the question–What is justice, stripped of
appearances?
 DIVISION 2

Includes the remainder of the second

and the whole of the third and fourth
books, which are mainly occupied with
the construction of the first State and the
first education.
 DIVISION 3
Consists of the fifth, sixth, and seventh books, in
which philosophy rather than justice is the
subject of query, and the second State is
constructed on principles of communism and
ruled by philosophers, and the contemplation
of the idea of good takes the place of the
social and political virtues.
 DIVISION 4

The perversions of States and of the

individuals who correspond to them are
reviewed in succession; and the nature of
pleasure and the principle of tyranny are
further analysed in the individual man.
 DIVISION 5

The conclusion of the whole, in which the

relations of philosophy to poetry are finally
determined, and the happiness of the
citizens in this life, which has now been
assured, is crowned by the vision of
another.
BOOK 1
Socrates is telling the story of his night in the
Piraeus, the port of Athens. To upper-crusties like
Plato, going down to the Piraeus was slumming.
Not only do adventurers, explorers, pirates,
sailors, foreigners, decadents, democrats all
hang out on the docks, it was the demands of
the lower citizen class, essential to naval power
as rowers that drove Athens to empire,
democracy, and then defeat.
 CEPHALUS
The old rich man, was historically a “metic”, a
resident alien with economic dealings but no
political rights. He thinks justice is meeting
obligations: telling the truth and paying your
debts, in short, obeying the law and keeping
your nose clean, so that your economic activities
are not hindered. This is cramped and private
view of justice correlated with his metic position:
economics, not politics.
 POLEMARCHUS
The aggressive young man, was historically a
leader of resistance against the Thirty and ended
up being killed by them. He follows the poet
Simonides in thinking justice is doing good to
friends and harm to enemies. Here we see a
mini-Socratic dialogue, as Socrates gets
Polemarchus to see the conflict hidden in his
poetically-inspired opinions.
After admitting the errors of judgement can
occur, Polemarchus amends his theory so that
harming bad people is okay. But this just
makes them worse, Socrates shows, so the
practice of justice is now in the uncomfortable
position of making some people more unjust.
 THRASYMACHUS
He argues from the perspective of non-shareable goods or
society as a zero-sum game, while Socrates argues from
the perspective of a common good for the city, so that the
better the city; the better everyone will be, not just the
ruler.

He also examines the actual behavior of rulers with regard

to physical necessities and luxuries, while Socrates
examines how rulers should behave in order to produce
justice.
BOOKS 2-4
 THE CHALLENGE: DEFINE JUSTICE
The life of perfect injustice is preferable to that of
the tortured and despised just man with a
reputation for evil.

“Soul”: the Greek is psyche, something like “life

principle” or “living spirit”.

Platonic: Soul has parts, so it is not quite a

substantial unity
 KEY TO THE REPUBLIC: HARMONY OF UNITARY
BODY/SOUL/COMMUNITY/COSMOS

To ensure that most people in a community act

predictably, according to customs, is the goal of
traditional politics, which above all was a
cultural/corporeal politics: shaping the character
of the citizens by philosophical direction of the
customary arts and physical activities of the
people.
 STATEGY OF MACROCOSM and
MICROCOSM ANALOGY

Socrates wants to model the politics of the

city on the principles of nature. The key is
unity: the famous trio of the Greeks: the
identity of the True, the Good, and the
Beautiful.
 NECESSITY: THE HEALTHY CITY

Socrates begins with a community that

provides only basic biological needs. Since
no one person is biologically self-sufficient,
a city of farmers and artisans with simple,
healthy bodies is founded on the principle
of meeting biological needs.
 DESIRE: THE LUXURIOUS CITY

Desire brings us to consider the luxurious city, the

city of class differences. Plato is very clear on the
economic origin of war: it arises when a city has
“surrendered itself to the limitless acquisition of
wealth and overstepped the boundaries of the
necessary”.

Limitless desire is a sort of fever that leads to

political conflict and war.
 DISCIPLINE: THE PURGED CITY

Two main training techniques can instill disciplined

harmony in the body and souls of the guardians,
blending gentleness and harshness, and thus
turning them from warriors to soldiers: arts and
physical training.

A beauty-attuned soul for Plato is an erotic soul,

but this Platonic love is a little too neat for some
Greeks and some Greek scholars.
A harmonious energy flow, properly
channeled, is a regime of the body, a body
politic.

Training techniques modify the body in

predictable ways. Nurture can impact nature.
Body processes are hence at least amenable
to change via discipline.
 HARMONIOUS UNITY: THE JUST COMMUNITY

Socrates now ignores the merchant class of the

feverish city and posits three classes:

 Farmer/Artisan
 Soldier
 Ruler

A “noble lie” is to preserve the class system, but

this is a meritocracy, not a hereditary system.
BOOK 5
Republic 5 has provoked amazing resistance to its
demonstration that the just community must
include:

 Equality of Education and Responsibility for

Women
 Communal Child Rearing

To the objection that it is “natural” to want to know

one’s biological children, we can point out that
similar to sibling relations, parentage is a social
relation, not biological.
a. RIDICULE - e.g. the ugly, man-hating feminist

b. DISTRIBUTION vs MEAN & HIGHEST RANK - “Do

you know of any occupation... Physically
weaker creature than man.”

c. NATURE vs NURTURE – e.g. Female Olympic

athletes who are stronger and faster than all
but a few men, and are now stronger and
faster than past male champions.
BOOK 6
 THE PHILOSOPHER’S BODY
Philosopher – as one whose passions flow toward
knowledge

The daily bodily needs of the citizen are to be met by

the labor of others so that the citizen is free for
politics, war, and for Plato highest of all, philosophy.

When the system of meeting bodily needs is in place

and working well, it fades into the background,
hidden behind the important things.
 THE GOOD

The Good is the meta-principle of systematic

function enabled by proper part/whole relations. It
doesn’t explain things, but explains how principles
explain things.

 “What good is something?”

 “How does it help the system work, what larger
whole does this part fit into?"
 THE ANALOGY OF THE SUN AND
THE GOOD

Socrates gave Glaucon two images.

First: As the sun is to light and the eye and

the thing seen, so is the Good to truth and
being and intelligence and the thing
known.
 THE DIVIDED LINE

Second: The divided line has four parts,

divided into two main sections. It concerns
both mental activities and their objects. The
two main sections are opinion (“the visible”) at
the bottom and knowledge at the top. From
the bottom, the four parts are imagination
and belief, and thought and understanding.
BOOK 7
 THE CAVE
1. The screen
2. The chained prisoners
3. The projection room with its barrier,
puppets, puppet masters, and fire for light
source
4. The path out of the cave
5. The reflecting pool outside
6. The objects outside
7. The sun as outside light source
BOOKS 8-10
 ORIGIN OF DISCORD

There is no entry into history from an investigation

of principles. It would have been better if he drew
a map of principles rather than construct a
progress or decline narrative, because principles
are not historical: principles of cities can be near
or far from justice on the map of principles, but
only cities decline, not principles.
 GENESIS AND STRUCTURE OF THE
UNJUST CITIES
Poverty is not a problem to be overcome for class
production systems, but the very source of wealth
for the few.

The democratic character also reflects self-

organization. Plato’s formula is that all desires are
equal. The genesis is fascinating.
IONby Plato
The Ion is the shortest, or nearly the shortest, of all
the writings which bear the name of Plato, and is
not authenticated by any early external
testimony.

The dramatic interest consists entirely in the

contrast between the irony of Socrates and the
transparent vanity and childlike enthusiasm of
the rhapsode Ion.
The theme tells us that rhapsodists are very
precise about the exact words of Homer, but
very idiotic themselves.

The Ion, like the other earlier Platonic Dialogues,

is a mixture of jest and earnest, in which no
definite result is obtained, but some Socratic or
Platonic truths are allowed dimly to appear.
Ion involves two speakers: Socrates, who is
usually Plato’s mouthpiece in the dialogues, and
Ion.

The latter is a rhapsode, a curious mixture of

actor, poet, singer and literary critic, who recites
and praises Homer’s epics in public
performances.
 ION’S ARGUMENT
His skill is restricted to Homer, and that he knows
nothing of inferior poets, such as Hesiod and
Archilochus.

He brightens up and is wide awake when Homer

is being recited, but is apt to go to sleep at the
recitations of any other poet.

Ion believes that poetry involves a special

knowledge and Socrates does not.
Ion is delighted at the notion of being inspired,
and acknowledges that he is beside himself
when he is performing; his eyes rain tears and his
hair stands on end.

Ion claims that he can speak well and interpret

everything about Homer.

Reason leads to ideas, but the poet only copies

shapes, he does not use reason.
 SOCRATES’ ARGUMENT

The rhapsode is not guided by rules of art, but is

an inspired person who derives a mysterious
power from the poet; and the poet, in like
manner, is inspired by the God.

He compared the poet and their interpreters as a

chain of magnetic rings suspended from one
another, and from a magnet.
 SOCRATES’ ARGUMENT
Socrates is of opinion that a man must be mad who
behaves in this way (he is beside himself when
performing) at a festival when he is surrounded by
his friends and there is nothing to trouble him.

He would be able to speak of any poet, because

all poets deal with the same subjects. Ion’s gift of
word when speaking of Homer “is not an art, but an
inspiration; there is divinity moving you”.
by Aristotle
Aristotle defines poetry as a means of
mimesis or imitation by means of
language, rhythm, and harmony.

Tragedy serves to arouse the emotions of

pity and fear and to effect a catharsis of
these emotions.
Aristotle’s Poetics can be read as a response
to Plato’s attack on art.

None of the works of Aristotle that we have

today were actually published by him,
because all of it have been lost.

The Poetics, in true form, was likely a much

longer work than the one we have today.
The main focus of the Poetics is on Greek tragedy.
Though the tragedies likely evolved out of religious
ceremonies celebrating the cycle of the seasons,
they became increasingly secular.

Though the Poetics is not one of Aristotle’s major

works, it has exercised a great deal of influence
on subsequent literary theory, particularly in the
Renaissance which was later turned into strict
laws.
Aristotle proposes to approach poetry
from a scientific viewpoint, and he
pointed out the different kinds of poetry.

 Epic Poetry
 Tragedy
 Comedy
 Dithyrambic Poetry
All of these kinds of poetry are mimetic, or
imitative, but there are significant
differences between them.

1. The means poets employ.

2. The objects that are imitated.
3. The manner of representation.
Aristotle suggests that it is human nature to
write and appreciate poetry. We are by
nature imitative creatures that learn and
excel by imitating others, and we naturally
take delight in works of imitation.
Aristotle suggests that we can also learn by
examining representations and imitations of things
and that learning is one of the greatest pleasures
there is.

Tragedy and comedy are later developments

that are grandest representation of their
respective traditions: tragedy of the lofty tradition
and comedy of the mean tradition.
He lists four innovations in the development
from improvised dithyrambs toward the
tragedies of his day.

Dithyrambs were sung in honor of Dionysus,

god of wine, by a chorus of around fifty
men and boys often accompanied by a
narrator.
1. Aeschylus reduced the number of the chorus
and introduced a second actor on stage.
2. Sophocles added a third actor and also
introduced background scenery.
3. Tragedy developed an air of seriousness, and
the meter changed from a trochaic rhythm to
an iambic rhythm.
4. Tragedy developed a plurality of episodes, or
acts.
Aristotle says that comedy deals with people
worse than us ourselves. He defines the
ridiculous as a kind of ugliness that does no
harm to anybody else.

While both tragedy and epic poetry deal with

a lofty subjects in a grand style of verse.
Aristotle notes three significant differences
between the two genres.
First: Tragedy is told in a dramatic, rather than
narrative form.
Second: The action of a tragedy is usually
confined to a single day and is much
shorter than an epic poem.
Third: Tragedy has all the elements that are
characteristic of epic poetry, it also some
additional elements that are unique to it
alone.
 TRAGEDY
 It involves mimesis.
 It is serious.
 The action is complete and with
magnitude.
 It is made up of language with the
“pleasurable accessories” of rhythm
and harmony.
 These pleasurable accessories are not
used uniformly throughout, but are
introduced in separate parts of the
work.
 It is performed rather than narrated.
 It arouses emotions of pity and fear and
accomplishes a catharsis.
 SIX PARTS OF TRAGEDY

 Mythos or Plot  Diction

 Character  Melody
 Thought  Spectacle
Aristotle suggests, the most powerful
elements in a tragedy, the peripeteia and
anagnorisis.

He ranks the remainder as follows, from

the most important to least: character,
thought, diction, melody and spectacle.
Aristotle elaborates on what he means when
he says that the action of a tragedy is
complete in itself and with magnitude.

Similarly, a tragedy must be of a moderate

length so as to be taken in by the memory.
The longer the play, the greater the
magnitude.
In insisting upon the unity of plot, the author
makes it clear that he does not men that it is
enough to focus the plot on the life of an
individual. Rather the poet must select some
series of events from a character’s life and craft
them into coherent whole.

As a medium that arouses pity and fear, tragedy

is most effective when events occur
unexpectedly and yet in a logical order.
Aristotle introduces the concepts of peripeteia
(reversal from one state of affairs to its
opposite) and anagnorisis (change from
ignorance to knowledge).

In chapter 12, he discusses the quantitative

elements of tragedy – the different parts of
performance: Prologue, Episode, Exode,
Parode and Stasimon.
The best kinds of plot are complex plots that
arouse fear and pity. He thus concludes that
three kinds of plot should be avoided.

First: Plots that show a good man going from

happiness to misery.
Second: Plots that show a bad man going from
misery to happiness.
Third: Plots that show a bad man going from
happiness to misery.
A good plot consists of the following four
elements:

1. It must focus on one single issue.

2. The hero must go from fortune to misfortune
rather than vice versa.
3. The misfortune must result from hamartia.
4. The hero should be at least of intermediate
worth, and if not, he must be better-never
worse- than the average person.
The best kind of plot is of the third alternative,
where anagnorisis allows a harmful deed to be
avoided.

The second best case is where the deed is done

in ignorance.

The third best is the case where the deed is done

with full knowledge.
Aristotle turns his attention toward the character
of the tragic hero and lays out four requirements.

1. A good character will have a good moral

purpose.
2. The good qualities of the hero must be
appropriate to the character.
3. The hero must be realistic.
4. The hero must be consistent.
Aristotle thinks it clear that the lusis or denoument,
should arise out of the plot and not depend upon
stage artifice.

Aristotle recommends that the poet should keep

all the distinctive characteristics of the person
being portrayed but touch them up a little to
make the hero appear better than he is.
Aristotle distinguishes between six different kinds of
anagnorisis.

1. There is a recognition by means of signs or marks.

2. A recognition contrived by the author
3. Recognition prompted by memory
4. Recognition through deductive reasoning
5. Recognition through faulty reasoning on the part
of the disguised character.
6. Recognition that is naturally a part of the logical
sequence of events in the play.
Aristotle makes seven final remarks about how a
poet should go about constructing a plot.

1. The poet should be sure to visualize the action

of his dram as vividly as possible.
2. Try acting out the events as he writes them
3. Outline the overall plot of the play and only
afterward flesh it out with episodes.
4. Every play consists of desis, or complication,
and lusis, or denouement.
5. There are four distinct kinds of tragedy, and the
poet should aim at bringing out all the
important parts of the kind he chooses.
6. The poet should write about focused incidents,
and not about a whole epic story.
7. The chorus should be treated like an actor, and
the choral songs should be an integral part
of the story.
Aristotle turns his attention toward thought
and then diction. He defines thought as
everything that is effected by means of
language.

Thought is closely linked to rhetoric, and

Aristotle points to the more thorough
discussion to be found in his writings on that
latter subject.
Aristotle divides the subject of diction into
eight parts:

1. Letter 5. Noun
2. Syllable 6. Verb
3. Conjunction 7. Case
4. Article 8. Speech

He is concerned less with written language

and more with spoken language.
Aristotle distinguishes four ways metaphor can be
used.
1. The genus species, where a more general
term is used instead of a specific term.
2. The species to genus relationship, where a
more specific term is used in place of a
general term.
3. The species to species relationship, where one
specific term replaces another.
4. Metaphor from analogy
Aristotle concludes his discussion of diction with
a few remarks on style. A poet should aim for a
middle ground, expressing himself with clarity but
without meanness.

Poetry can e spiced up by the use of foreign or

strange terms, metaphor, or compounded
words. However, these devices should be
applied in moderation.
Aristotle turns his attention to epic poetry.
While the mimesis of tragedy is in actions
told in a dramatic form, the mimesis of
epic poetry is in verse told in a narrative
form.
He noted similarities between tragedy and epic
poetry.

1. Epic poetry maintains the unity of a plot.

2. It must share many elements of tragedy.
3. It should either be simple or complex.
4. It should deal primarily either with character or
with suffering.
5. It can also feature peripeteia and anagnorisis.
Two notable dissimilarities between epic poetry
and tragedy.

First: Length
Second: Epic poetry should be narrated in heroic
meter, while tragedy is normally
spoken in iambic meter.
Aristotle cautions against an overenthusiastic
use of elaborate diction. While it is pleasing
when there is no action to recount, and no
character or thought to reveal, ornate diction
can often obscure these more important
elements when they are found together.
Aristotle addresses a number of the criticism
that can be leveled against poetry.

1. The accusation that the events depicted are

impossible.
2. Not all poetry is meant to describe things as
they are.
Aristotle considered tragedy as superior over epic
poetry.

1. It has all elements of an epic poem and has also

music and spectacle, which the epic lacks.
2. Simply reading the play without performing it is
already very potent.
3. Tragedy is shorter, suggesting that it is more
compact and will have a more concentrated
effect.
4. There is more unity in tragedy.