Hello, I'm Dr. Anadale. I teach philosophy at Mount Saint Mary's University in Emmitburg, Maryland.
This video is a reflection on the political metaphor from Book Two of Plato's Republic.
We are told by Plato that to learn about justice in the soul we must first study justice in
the ideal city.
The city’s institutions and parts will then tell us something about what souls are like,
and how they can be just.
The first city Socrates describes is a simple city.
The citizens have simple homes and furniture, they drink rainwater, they eat berries and
acorns, and make only very basic baked bread.
They have no high culture; they are basically a community of communist vegetarian hippies.
All their needs are met, but they have no complex social institutions, no culture as
we know it.
Glaucon calls this “a city fit for pigs.”
Humans, he says, deserve more: relishes, desserts, properly cooked food, great buildings, manners
and culture, civilization.
Even when all of our material needs are met, there is something lacking in the ideal city.
Humans, he seems to say, have an ambition which transcends care for their physical well-being.
Socrates then describes the luxurious city, which will meet these higher wants, in addition
to basic physical needs.
He calls the city “feverish” though, in contrast to to the simple city, which is healthy.
Here, he says, we may find justice, but also injustice.
Now, the luxurious city is larger and more complex; it has far more specialization and
it has social classes.
Most importantly, the luxurious city relies upon institutionalized violence, which is
absent from the simple city.
It needs this in order to conquer its neighbors and secure resources, in order to defend its
greater wealth from invaders and robbers, and in order to police its much larger and
more diverse population, which have less in common with each other than the simple city’s citizens.
So there must be a social class which specializes in the use of force for the city's sake.
Their use of violence must be carefully directed, so that the city is not destroyed by it.
The next books of Republic are about forming the Guardians so that they will be able to
use violence well and not badly.
The main focus then is on educating and training the Guardians in virtue.
Let's pause right now and see if we can't apply some of these political insights to
the human soul, if we can.
It may be possible to meet the bare appetites of a human soul in a simple way, just as with
any animal, but there is something different about humans, Glaucon suggests: a longing,
an ambition for something higher.
This transcendent drive in the human soul is connected somehow with violence, which
may destroy the soul if it is not channeled and governed properly.
This requires training and self-control from a very early age.
Acquiring this self-control, then, is the central dynamic in a growing human self.
Learning to control its violent ambitious heart is a requirement for living a happy life.
So, I'll close with some discussion questions.
What is this tendency in human selves, that separates us from animals and at the same
time threatens to undo us completely unless it is made virtuous, and made to serve the
interests of the whole self?
Is it some violent part or instinct in the soul?
Is it connected somehow to self-consciousness or a desire for recognition by others?
That's my reflection on the political metaphor in Book 2 of Plato's Republic, with some discussion questions.
I look forward to discussing it with you later on. Thanks for watching today; goodbye.
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