Plato’s Republic, Books VIII -IX
Here are yet more questions for you to think about (again, these are all just meant as jumping-off points for a wide-ranging discussion).
How do the regimes Socrates describes promote the moral characters that Socrates claims correspond to them?
What are the principles that lead to the transformation of each of these regimes into the next?
This is the crucial question: what about philosophy? What is the place of the philosopher in the regimes that Socrates describes? Of all of the regimes discussed in book VIII, in which one or ones is the Socratic life possible?
Do you see any parallels between the United States and the regimes described in book VIII?
Are any of these actual regimes just?
Socrates has some harsh words for the character of democratic people. Do you see any truth to his criticisms?
In what ways are the philosophical soul and the tyrannical soul alike? How does the presentation of education in the image of the cave add to our understanding of this question, and of the tyrannical soul more generally?
ANSWER
Plato’s Republic, Books VIII, and IX
Summary
Book eight begins with Socrates summarizing the features that make up a perfect state. Glaucon reminds Socrates that he promised to talk about the four principles that make up a less perfect state in the last meeting. Socrates argues that a flawed constitution gives an avenue for a series of inevitable and flawed successors.
A discussion on tyranny is presented in the first section of book nine by Socrates. It is not surprising that the tyrant is depicted as a slave to his passions. The tyrannical individual is a greedy individual who killed his parents and is mostly concerned about his bodily needs. Socrates goes ahead by insisting on how profitable and virtuous acknowledgment and practice of Justice is to the community.
Analysis
To understand book eight, it is crucial that one visit from a historical context. It is important to understand that Athens had experienced violent shifts from democracy to oligarchy in Plato’s lifetime. In the scrutiny done by Plato about a two-part flawed governance system, Socrates describes the constitution as terrifying.
A substantial part of book nine is mostly a continuation of book eight. Book nine continues to paint the harsh portrait of the tyrannical man. The tyrannical man’s image presented by Plato is oversimplified and biased.
Socrates argues that there is not much difference in the net impact on the punishment and detection or lack of it to an individual soul. He explains that an unjust person suffers whether they are detected or not, while a just person profits from the advantages of being good. Socrates applies poetry in Book nine as a strategical advantage to elucidate his points and express his views.
