Platos Republic: THe Virtues

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Plato's Republic: THe Virtues

Plato's Republic: THe Virtues

I. The Virtues

    In Robin Waterfield's translation of The Republic,Socrates attempts to
give a definition of justice. At the end of Book II he began a detailed
description of the construction of a good city. The good city is a relation to
the human soul, and its four virtues. In the following paper I will discuss
the virtues, what they are and where they are found. Also discussed will be
the foundation, arrangement, and the interconnectedness with each one. Next
discussed would be the 3 "H's" and the understanding Aristotle has on the role
of happiness in the moral life. Lastly, I will discuss the experience that I
had that related to Leonitus.
    The four virtues used by Plato are prudence, courage, temperance, and
justice. Plato relates the virtues to a community, which is made up of the
rulers, army, and workers. Now the base line is the workers, and they do not
try to blend with the army as the army doesn't blend with the rulers. When all
of these do their own job, the community becomes one.
    The first virtue to be discussed is prudence. Prudence, also known as
wisdom, is found in the rulers. "The people who have it are those rulers…"
(428d) In order to have wisdom one must be resourceful, in which he/she has
obtained knowledge. Plato says, "… resourcefulness is obviously a kind of
knowledge… it's not ignorance which makes people resourceful; it's knowledge."
(428b)
    The second virtue is courage, which is found in the military section of
the community. Courage is not the virtue of standing in front of a tank and say
it will not hurt me, that is stupidity. Courage is the ability to apply what
you have been taught: what is to be feared and what is not to be feared. Plato
relates retention to courage, "I'm saying courage is a sort of retention…the
retention of notion." (429c) The ability for one to retain what one has learned
is courage. "Ability to retain under all circumstances a true and lawful notion
about what is feared and what is not to be feared is what I'm calling courage."
(430b)
    The next virtue temperance, is found in the workers of Plato's
community. Temperance, also known as self-discipline, is needed by the
workers, so that they do not desire to be in the ruler's position. It is seen
that each position has its own importance in the community, and for the
community to function correctly each one must agree on their position in life.
Pla

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