MARIE CRIS VIACRUCIS SUAREZ Activity 1 Page 1 of 3

1. What do you think Plato wants to tell us about the ideal education in the
Allegory of the Cave?

The Allegory of the Cave presents a number of points about education.

Firstly, that the process can initially be a painful and uncomfortable experience,
however if persistent, it is extremely beneficial as it brings one closer to the truth.

Secondly, a student requires an authority figure to force him to learn, often by means
of compulsion. This is to account for the resistance a student may show to acquiring
new information.

Thirdly, those who reach an adequate level of knowledge and capability have a duty
to enhance the lives of others, in order to improve society. He should not teach
based upon self-interested motives.

Finally, teaching is more complex than simply passing on knowledge. The teacher
must attempt to ‘turn the soul’ of the student in order to maximize education.

2. What are the four virtues of rightly ordered society and the well-ordered soul?
Reader of the Republic is told that Plato’s intention in discussing the just state is to
illuminate the nature of the just soul, for he argues that they are analogous.

The state is the soul in the large scale, so to speak. For example, the divisions of the
state correspond to divisions of the soul. But since the soul is difficult to analyze,
then he first speculates on the state, and then rely on his speculations to illuminate
the nature of justice in the individual.
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Courage is the excellence of the spirited part, wisdom belongs to the rational part,
and moderation is the consent of all three about who should rule and who should
obey. Justice turns out to be the overall unifying quality of the soul.

The soul is held to consist of three parts, corresponding to the three classes in the
city. The lengthy argument for the tri-partition of the soul into a rational (logistikon), a
spirited (thumoeides), and an appetitive (epithumêtikon) part.

The difference between the rational and the appetitive part is easily justified,
because the opposition between the decrees of reason and the various kinds of
unreasonable desires is familiar to everyone. The existence of a third, a ‘spirited’ or
courageous part – different from reason and desire – is harder to prove.

This concludes the proof that there are three parts in the soul corresponding to the
three classes in the city – namely the rational part in the wisdom of the rulers, the
spirited part, which is manifested in the courage of the soldiers, the appetitive part,
which is manifested in the rest of the population, whose defining motivation is
material gain.

For, the just person not only refrains from meddling with what is not his, externally,
but also harmonizes the three parts of the soul internally.

3. How does Plato define the nature of justice? Is his definition of justice a good
one?
“To do one’s own business and not to be a busybody is justice.” This is the definition
of justice Plato offers.

The idea is that justice consists in fulfilling one’s proper role – realizing one’s
potential whilst not overstepping it by doing what is contrary to one’s nature.
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This applies both to the just state and to the just individual. In the just state, each
class and each individual has a specific set of duties, a set of obligations to the
community which, if everyone fulfils them, will result in a harmonious whole. When a
person does what he is supposed to do, he receives whatever credit and
remuneration he deserves, and if he fails to do his task, he is appropriately
punished.

Excess and deficiency of any kind are unjust.

A thief, for example, is unjust because he wants to have what is not his own. A
doctor who does not care about curing his patients of illnesses can be called unjust
because he is disregarding his proper role. A murderer acts unjustly since he
deprives his victim of that which rightly belongs to him, namely his life. In general,
unjust people either do not realize the virtues and duties proper to their situation in
life, or treat someone worse than he deserves.

4. Use Plato’s idea of justice in analyzing contemporary social issues.

5. Explain Plato’s relevance to the modern world.

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