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The Republic book X

summary

Socrates has now completed the main argument of The Republic; he has defined justice and shown it to be

worthwhile. He turns back to the postponed question concerning poetry about human beings. In a surprising

move, he banishes poets from the city. He has three reasons for regarding the poets as unwholesome and

dangerous. First, they pretend to know all sorts of things, but they really know nothing at all. It is widely

considered that they have knowledge of all that they write about, but, in fact, they do not. he things they deal

with cannot be known! they are images, far removed from what is most real. "y presenting scenes so far

removed from the truth poets, pervert souls, turning them away from the most real toward the least.

#orse, the images the poets portray do not imitate the good part of the soul. he rational part of the soul is

quiet, stable, and not easy to imitate or understand. $oets imitate the worst parts%the inclinations that make

characters easily e&citable and colorful. $oetry naturally appeals to the worst parts of souls and arouses,

nourishes, and strengthens this base elements while diverting energy from the rational part.

$oetry corrupts even the best souls. It deceives us into sympathi'ing with those who grieve e&cessively, who

lust inappropriately, who laugh at base things. It even goads us into feeling these base emotions vicariously.

#e think there is no shame in indulging these emotions because we are indulging them with respect to a

fictional character and not with respect to our own lives. "ut the enjoyment we feel in indulging these

emotions in other lives is transferred to our own life. (nce these parts of ourselves have been nourished and

strengthened in this way, they flourish in us when we are dealing with our own lives. Suddenly we have

become the grotesque sorts of people we saw on stage or heard about in epic poetry.

)espite the clear dangers of poetry, Socrates regrets having to banish the poets. He feels the aesthetic sacrifice

acutely, and says that he would be happy to allow them back into the city if anyone could present an argument

in their defense.

Socrates then outlines a brief proof for the immortality of the soul. "asically, the proof is this! * can only be

destroyed by what is bad for * . #hat is bad for the soul is injustice and other vices. "ut injustice and other

vices obviously do not destroy the soul or tyrants and other such people would not be able to survive for long.

So nothing can destroy the soul, and the soul is immortal.

(nce Socrates has presented this proof, he is able to lay out his final argument in favor of justice. his

argument, based on the myth of +r, appeals to the rewards which the just will receive in the afterlife.

ccording to the myth, a warrior named +r is killed in battle, but does not really die. He is sent to heaven, and

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made to watch all that happens there so that he can return to earth and report what he saw. He observes an

eschatalogical system which rewards virtue, particularly wisdom. For- years, people are either rewarded in

heaven or punished in hell for the sins or good deeds of their life. hey are then brought together in a common

area and made to choose their ne&t life, either animal or human. he life that they choose will determine

whether they are rewarded or punished in the ne&t cycle. (nly those who were philosophical while alive,

including (rpheus who chooses to be reborn as a swan, catch on to the trick of how to choose just lives.

+veryone else hurtles between happiness and misery with every cycle.

Analysis

In "ook *, $lato at last pits philosophy/based education in confrontation with traditional poetry/based

education. $lato has justified philosophy and the philosopher and now he displays them in relation to their

rivals%the people who are currently thought most wise and knowledgeable%the poets.

he myth, in appealing to reward and punishment, represents an argument based on motivations $lato earlier

dismissed. 0laucon and deimantus had specifically asked him to praise justice without appealing to these

factors. #hy is he now doing e&actly that1

llan "loom suggests that the inclusion of this myth is connected to the distinction between philosophical

virtue and civic virtue. $hilosophical virtue is the kind of virtue the philosopher possesses, and this kind of

virtue differs from the virtue of the normal citi'en. So far, says "loom, $lato has only shown that philosophical

virtue is worthy in itself. He has not shown that civic virtue is worthy. Since 0laucon and deimantus and

countless others are not capable of philosophical virtue, he must provide them with some reason to pursue their

own sort of virtue. #ith the contrast between philosophical and civic virtue in mind, $lato describes the

thousand year cycles of reward and punishment that follow just and unjust lives.

2et on our understanding of what makes any virtue worthwhile%its connection to the Forms%$lato has

sufficiently demonstrated the worth of both sorts of virtue. $hilosophical virtue might be more worthwhile

because it not only imitates the Forms, but aims at and consorts with them, but civic virtue is worthwhile as

well because it involves bringing the Forms into your life by instituting order and harmony in your soul.

"loom, though, also has another plausible hypothesis for why $lato included the myth of +r, and this one

coheres well with our understanding of justice3s worth. he myth of +r, "loom e&plains, illustrates once again

the necessity of philosophy. he civic virtues alone are not enough. (nly the philosophers know how to choose

the right new life, because only they understand the soul and understand what makes for a good life and a bad

one. he others, who lack this understanding, sometimes choose right and sometimes wrong. hey fluctuate

back and forth between good lives and miserable ones. Since every soul is responsible for choosing his own

life, every person must take full responsibility for being just or unjust. #e willingly choose to be unjust

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because of our ignorance of what makes for a just or unjust soul. Ignorance, then, is the only true sin, and

philosophy the only cure.