Blog #6

1. Pick one of the quotes from Socrates ("The Words of Socrates") and agree or disagree.

"He is richest who is content with the least." I disagree with this quote because although the word "richest" doesn't always necessarily have to be associated with money, I don't think that it means you're happiest with the least. Being happy with what you have and being happy with the least are different things. Also, it usually never happens that someone is actually happy with what they have. It is human nature to always want something more.

2. What is justice to Plato?

Plato describes justice as being whatever the strong decide it is. He says that whatever is in their best interest, is just. I don't agree with this because I don't feel like the strongest should get determine what is just and what is not.

3. What do you think about Plato's ideal republic (What are positive elements of it? Negative?)

Plato's ideal republic is an aristocratic state. The jobs and roles of people in society would be based on their intelligence, bravery, and strength. The lower people in society (which Plato thought was majority of the state) were called "producers" because they did the most producing for the state. The people in the middle (a large group of society but smaller than producers) were called Auxiliaries; they made up the army and the police. The highest group in society (a very small group) were called Guardians and they would be in complete control of the state. I think that Plato's ideal republic sounds pretty good; this way all the jobs get done well. The positive elements would be that every group would be fit for their role in society, so all of their tasks would be done well. However the negative elements are that aristocracy can be unfair because sometimes the highest class doesn't deserve to have the highest priority in everything.

4. What is your vision of an ideal state or republic?

My vision of an ideal state or republic would be for everyone to do what they wanted to do. There would be one or two rulers who got voted in by democracy. Each person would have a job/role that they played in society that would suit them well but everyone would be equal when it came to politics and owning land.

5. The Allegory of the Cave argues that the only thing standing in the way of knowledge is our insistence that the visual universe is reality. What does this mean?

The Allegory of the Cave was what Plato's theory about people who didn't understand what "Forms" were. People who didn't understand what Forms were, were compared to people trapped in a cave who couldn't move their heads. There was a fire behind them and puppetteers, so that all the people in the cave could see were the shadows cast by the puppets. Therefore, when they saw the shadow of an object, such as a book, they would talk to each other about the "book" they saw. However, they were not actually seeing the book, they were seeing the shadow of the book. What Plato tries to teach us here is that sometimes when we talk about objects, we aren't actually talking about the real thing; we are talking about the "shadow" of them.