Analysis Of ' The Republic Of Plato ' Essay

Analysis Of ' The Republic Of Plato ' Essay

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In, Book II of “The Republic of Plato” Socrates affirms there to be a true distinction between lies “to the soul” and lies “in speech.” As Socrates engages with Adeiamantus, his observation comes to fruition. Lies in the soul is the worst type of sorrow a man can feel comparable to other lying told or story telling. The purpose of this paper is to establish the difference between lies of the soul and lies in speech, why that separation is justified to be true, observe how lies in speech are effective in use, and illustrate these examples with an earlier discussion Socrates had with previous men, such as Cephalus in Book I.
When Book I begins, Socrates is walking home after a religious ceremony with his comrade Glaucon. There he is stopped and brought to the comfortable home of Cephalus, a wealthy metic father of Lysias, Euthydemus, and Polemarchus. Cephalus invites Socrates to his home, commenting on his lack of strength to ascend out of the Piraeus due to old age, his sexual appetite staunched by time and his desire for pleasures of mind. (328c) Socrates must descend to Cephalus and his children because ascenion, to what exactly, is out of the men 's power as we learn later as a main principle throughout The Republic.
Cephalus attributes his placidity in old age to his development of character. Ridding himself of the desires his once able body knew, he allowed his wealth to become his catalyst for appeasement of the afterlife. “For know well Socrates,” Cephalus says, “when a man comes near to the realization that he will be making an end, fear and care enter him for things to which he gave no thought before” (330d) Here is where justice enter The Republic. His reference to Hades and “ who has done unjust deeds here must...

... middle of paper ...

... engage both the working class and the educators and rulers, the lies to the soul cannot be vanquished within Socrates, Athens, or the reader themselves.
This city is heavily explained in book III of The Republic with Glaucon and Adeiamantus engaging Socrates, as this city would be taught that metals were mixed into their very beings that placed them into a class in the city. “in fashioning those who are competent to rule, mixed gold in at their birth, this is why they are most honoured.” (415a) This lie in the very beginning of ones birth will entirely shape the lives of those within the political regimes. Is this a lie to the soul that can truly benefit a just society? Or a lie in speech that will preserve the justice within a society without compromising goods? That answer, like most of Plato 's dialogue, is over the characters heads and into our own to ponder.

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