Peter Kenz’s Reviews > The Republic of Plato > Status Update

People tend to ignore Plato's proposed shift in the approach to Justice -- and, why not, virtue. Whilst an act-centered approach, based on general rules of thumb, leads to moral complacency and skepticism, Plato proposes an agent-centered view, where Justice is to be understood as the harmony of one's spirit. It's a powerful message in a world where people tend to attach themselves to self-help recipes.

Been a while. Read books II-IV. The polis started small and healthy, but a "city of pigs". It grew, and in order to grow it needed warriors. An inflamed city. And the warriors purged everything unhealthy from the city. And the city is one. And the city is an individual. And justice, in the individual, is the justice in the city. Politeia is a book about justice, but also about political philosophy.

Book 1: Socrates is the destroyer of worlds. The killer of ideas. By bringing them to light, he eradicates common beliefs. By exposing the utmost consequences of the vulgar, he undresses us of our confidence. A dangerous task. The path is open for tyranny. Thrasymacus is the opportunistic rhetorician. He holds the scepter of real politics: for the non-philosopher, self-interest and the common good are irreconcilable.