Socrates Blueprint of the Just City as the Fostering Source of Just Souls

An Essay on The Republic of Plato

Socrates establishes that the just is more beneficial than the unjust in his first book. Showing that the just people possess wisdom, are able to trust one another, and lead virtuous lives, he then embarks upon the task of discovering what the just is and where it can be found. He decided as he spoke to Adeimantus that he would approach this task by first seeking the modes of activity that make a city just before seeking the just within the souls. Only then could he truly define justice in later books and solidify his argument that a just life is superior to one of injustice. Thus he had to examine the large-scale issues of labor, defense, education, story-telling, music, duty and leadership in order to grasp the notion of justice on a smaller, individual basis. Once this foundation had been described, it would serve as a window into the understanding of the nature of the just soul.

The first element that is described as part of Socrates’ “healthy city,” division of labor, is extremely important of the overall justice of the city. Labor, when divided properly according to the best ability of each person, brings a high degree of efficiency and quality in people’s crafts. Since a city is founded upon the needs of humans have for each other, it is best when each person focuses on what need they are able to satisfy best as opposed to taking on many endeavors less adequately. As Socrates says, on the basis of “One man, one art,” things becomes “more plentiful, finer and easier…” (Bloom, 370b) because this system would be the most reliable in meeting the needs of the city. Division of labor is a particularly important step toward discovering justice because it forms the definition of justice later given as “…minding one’s own business and not being a busybody” and dutifully fulfilling the function for which “his nature made him naturally most fit” (Bloom, 433a). There is a stress here on necessity and how the just will appear when luxury and every job apart from one’s true talent are eliminated. Thus practical labor is a fundamental part of the just city and it gives the reader insight into the system in which an individual soul functions justly.

The army is another element that Socrates describes as necessary for any just city because it protects property and wealth within the city from threats such as invasion. The theme of focusing on the art one was meant for comes up again in this topic, since Socrates indicates strict requirements for those who get chosen to guard the city. Those who guard must focus on their task completely and be denied any access to the luxuries and pleasures that may clash with their focus. Already it is clear that justice is found within the appointment of occupations in the city according to merit. It follows then that the a task as important as that of the guardian’s is given to those with special ability, knowledge, and training in that area. Otherwise the just city may easily crumble due to weak protection. The two requirements for guardians are to possess an unbeatable spirit and the moderation of a philosopher. With an animal-like spirit a guardian would make “…every soul fearless and invincible in the face of everything” (Bloom, 375b). With the gentle moderation of a philosopher the guardian would deliver the most loyal protection of Socrates’ model city. An army of specially trained auxiliaries led by guardians must be formed or else the existence of the just soul will be threatened.

At the core of any just city lies education, for it teaches people in the city how to fulfill their duties justly. With education especially, it is said that “…the beginning is the most important part…” (Bloom 377a-b), meaning that in the early stages of life beliefs and values are malleable and need special attention, just as crops require extra attention early on to ensure proper growth. Socrates starts off his explanation of education in a just system with the need to censor the tales that shape the souls of the youth improperly. The goal in education is to make teaching and conduct modeled after the unchanging godly virtue, and nothing else. Stories of gods behaving immorally, showing flaws, turning against each other, or acts of injustice that go unpunished are to be strictly forbidden. A restriction will be made, for example, on Homer telling stories of gods driven to evil, since what is heard at a young age is learned from and becomes “hard to eradicate and unchangeable” (Bloom, 378e). Such stories are lies anyways, Socrates maintains, and lies lead to ignorance, which in turn leads to lack of wisdom. Since a just city requires the wisdom in knowing how to best deal with itself, lack of wisdom would lead to the emergence of unjust trends. Also needed to be eradicated from education are stories that produce fear. Verses that speak of punishment in Hades, lamenting loss, excessive pleasure, greed, dishonesty and subversiveness are all detrimental to the minds of those who protect and inhabit the city. If any one of these things is exposed to the young people in the city, “…it’s not very likely that any one of them would believe these things to be unworthy of himself…” (Bloom 388d). For the most part, Socrates discusses that which ought to be forbidden in education as opposed to what should be promoted. He justifies this process of elimination, or the purging of all evils in the city to isolate the good, with the same logic he uses later in identifying the four good qualities of a just city. Recognizing the evils he mentioned would “suffice for the recognition of the thing looked for” (Bloom, 428a), ‘the thing looked for’ being the lessons in education that he encourages. Hence he feels that making complete restrictions in the institution of education will leave the city with only what will bring it justice. Socrates’ restrictions on education illustrates an important theme about the just soul: for a soul to cling on tightly to the just mode of conduct, the city must make such conduct natural enough to that person so that any other course of action would be considered foreign and shameful. Teaching the youth to follow the right examples in effect breeds just citizens.

The style of stories is important to acknowledge in forming the just city since it influences behavior as drastically as the content of stories does. Again, Socrates explains how to deal with this aspect of the city by eliminating that which leads souls to be corrupt. The two styles of stories discussed are simple narratives and imitations. Imitation, used by poets such as Homer and Hesiod, can possibly portray licentious behaviors realistically and therefore set an unjust and impious example to the people. This style of story-telling based on personal expression and opinion would inevitably lead to many different versions of justice discussed by writers. This would hinder the role of the city in instilling the one distinct notion of justice into the souls of its people. Also, imitations should not be allowed because by nature they produce poor accounts of stories. Since they involve imitating many things that a story-teller can not possibly be adept at presenting all at once accurately. Just as one man is best suited for one activity and not several, imitators are not “…able to imitate many things as well as one” (Bloom, 395a). Moreover, story-tellers have the tendency to accurately imitate the noble man and be unwilling to represent the unworthy one, since they only want to assume the role which will improve their personal image and avoid tarnishing it. Simple narratives, however, about hard work, endurance, and controlled desires are to be allowed since they involve straight-forward dialogues and descriptions. Only comedies and tragedies that involve too much personal expression by the writer must be restricted. When stories are told not involving the changes in harmonic mode and rhythm characteristic of misleading imitations, they are delivered correctly and in one accurate mode. If this rule is abided by, the people of the just city can listen to an unadulterated style of stories about “…what’s appropriate to them from childhood: men who are courageous, moderate, holy, free, and everything of the sort” (Bloom, 395c). Then men would best “harmonize with our regime” (Bloom, 397d-e), as Socrates puts it, and the just soul will best thrive in this condition.

Music should be carefully regulated for similar reasons to the regulation of stories, mostly because allowing all harmonies, expressions, and rhythms to be used would lead a souls in a city on the unjust path. Certain modes of the Ionian and Lydian should be instantly banned, since they involve too much “wailing and lamentations” (Bloom, 398d). These modes would cause too much drunkenness, softness and idleness and this would be especially damaging to the minds of the people, who are supposed to learn from the virtuous examples of the guardians. Rather than manners of song that display human weaknesses and shortcomings, only the styles of the Dorian and the Phrygian should exist. Their purpose should be to encourage two types of noble behavior. To promote the model example of courage, one form of music should “appropriately imitate the sounds and accents of a man who is courageous in warlike deeds and every violent work” (Bloom, 399a). Another mode should encourage the moderation seen in the “man who performs a peaceful deed, one that is not violent but voluntary,” (Bloom, 399b) and which should bring about an intelligent change of some sort. The restrictions on music resemble those on speech, and instruments capable of producing many tunes and harmonies, analogous to imitators, should not be allowed. These instruments would corrupt minds and interfere with the duty of the just city to make moderation and bravery the unquestionable norms for the just soul. His words imply that the modes of music drastically affect the nature of a person’s actions and behavior: “Hence, good speech, good harmony, good grace, and good rhythm accompany good disposition…” (Bloom, 400d-e). The youth need to pursue the appropriate aspects of music and speech “if they are to do their own work…” (Bloom, 400e). Thus being exposed to the just forms of music directly relates to all people fulfilling their duties and producing craft of highest quality, which Socrates defines as justice in his fourth book. From this correlation of a city’s music to the just soul it is easy to understand why Socrates places so much importance in supervising melodies.

Apart from what each person in the just city must witness with regard to music and speech, the method they approach their own crafts is also important. In each craft, Socrates says, “…there is a grace or gracelessness” (Bloom, 401a). He says that grace and harmony in one’s craft is akin to good dispositions, while the opposite is akin to bad disposition and a poor approach to a craft. Therefore, one must make a habit out of depicting virtuous things, for this will lead to gracefulness and proper development of the just soul. People who belong to any form of labor should be required, in the just city, to “impress the image of the good disposition” (401b) on their craft. Those who are incapable of doing this must not be allowed to practice their craft. This policy will lead to the finest rearing of the next generation as well, since achieving the goal of producing a city of highest quality craft will leave the youth with only the finest models to mold themselves after. Being reared on work of highest quality would train the young ones in a sense to delight in recognizing and producing the highest good and shunning that which is bad and inharmonious to justice. Again the theme arises that if a man’s talent lies elsewhere, then justice would deem it inappropriate for him to practice a task that he could not produce the finest quality in. “…if the fine dispositions that are in the soul and those that agree and accord with them in the form should ever coincide in anyone…” (Bloom 402d), then society is fostering a just approach to craft. For doctors, judges, and guardians, who are also expected to master their craft, Socrates lays down specific requirements. A judge must learn to make healthy judgments about the just by viewing it as naturally good and becoming “a late learner of what injustice is” (Bloom, 409b). Doctors, on the other hand, contrast with judges in the sense that they must become familiar with illnesses early on in their lives. In this way doctors and judges will treat and view unnatural elements from their proper perspective. Training for guardians, which is one of the most vital of tasks for the just city, must involve learning of philosophy and gymnastics, of which the latter looks “…less to strength than to the spirited part of his nature and for the purpose of arousing it…” (Bloom, 410b). Those who are “mixed with gold,” as Socrates uses to explain the ability level designated to each person by the gods, will be made guardians, and along with their training they must be made accustomed to the ways of the just. Possessions of guardians should be kept to a minimum to narrow their focus completely to the well-being of the city. The lessons that the next generation is reared upon are at stake on the performance of all of these professions in the city, so it is essential for the guardians of the just city to supervise poets, musicians and craftspeople in order to properly guide just souls.

Socrates has done what he set out to do: created the just city. As he said, “…first we’ll investigate what justice is like in the cities. Then, we’ll also go on to consider it individuals, considering the likeness of the bigger in the idea of the littler” (Bloom, 369a), and he does this very effectively. Socrates is very clear about who is qualified for what position and leaves very little ambiguity about what will be tolerated in a just city and what will be embraced. He concludes his description of the just city by stating that anything that is inharmonious is crude since it consists of elements that diverge from the one that is necessary. He also points out that legislation for politics and commerce should not go beyond the basic since the guidance of guardians would address the intentions of these laws. Finally, he addresses the need to limit the size of the just city for effective administration. With the model he has given, the wise, courageous, moderate and just would characterize the city, and lawful opinions of what is right and wrong would be fostered in citizens. The guardians would represent the wisdom in the city, soldiers would symbolize bravery, literature and education would represent the moderate, and the duty that each man has to his own art represents the just. Under these conditions all souls, “the weaker, the stronger and those in the middle” would “…sing the same chant together” (Bloom, 432a) and be united in the same desire to seek the just.

Since every part of the city he has made is virtuous and organized according to necessity, the city is a just city where just souls can be discovered. His overall goal was to define and praise justice by itself and in relation to injustice, and he wisely chose to do this within the context of a just and harmonious city. The end result is a city that would be very hard to create and one that would become somewhat of a dictatorship. However, it educates the youth and operates in such a way that it methodically eliminates what causes injustice in souls. Plato’s republic, whether or not it’s feasible, is a remarkable achievement as a text because of the depth in which it considers things, and because it creates a blueprint for the society in which just souls flourish.