Platos Republic Essay - 1025 Words

Platos Republic In Plato’s Republic, Glaucon is introduced to the reader as a man who loves honor, sex, and luxury. As The Republic progresses through books and Socrates’ arguments of how and why these flaws make the soul unhappy began to piece together, Glaucon relates some of these cases to his own life, and begins to see how Socrates’ line of reasoning makes more sense than his own. Once Glaucon comes to this realization, he embarks on a path of change on his outlook of what happiness is, and this change is evidenced by the way he responds during he and Socrates’ discourse. The first change in character begins with Glaucon’s position on whether or not the unjust soul is happier than the just soul. This is seen in Book 4, 445b,†¦show more content†¦In Book 7, during Socrates’ explanation of the Allegory of the Cave, Glaucon’s changed perception is further revealed. When Socrates’ begins talking about the allegory at 515c, Glaucon describes Socrates’ image as being â€Å"strange†, where Socrates’ interjects to tell him that the people he is describing are â€Å"like us†. This seems to spark Glaucon’s interest even more. Glaucon shows his feelings at another point in Socrates’ story, when he speaks of how the cave dweller who had left the cave would rather suffer in the sun than be back in the cave, sharing the opinions of the other dwellers and living as they do. Glaucon’s comment is that he thinks the man would â€Å"rather suffer than live like that.† This remar k shows that he, although he does not say it outright, would prefer to live embracing knowledge and awareness then to live with what is familiar and comfortable. This is confirmed further, during 519d, when Socrates suggests that those who have made the ascent go back down to enlighten the other prisoners in the cave, and Glaucon opposes strongly, saying that an injustice would be committed â€Å"by making them live a worse life when they could live a better one†. Glaucon’s statement indicates fear – he worries about going back down to the cave or, returning to his former ignorance. This shows that Glaucon has not only embraced the idea of the cave, differing from his initial confusion, but he has alsoShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Platos Republic Essay458 Words   |  2 PagesPhilosophy is a Greek word meaning love of wisdom. Throughout Platos Republic, wisdom plays an important role. According to Plato, education is wisdom. In the passage, 518d, Plato discusse s the true meaning of education vicariously through Socrates. 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Plato lived through the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), in which much of Greece was devastated. This created poverty and political confusionRead MorePlatos Republic3750 Words   |  15 PagesBook I What is justice? Why should we be just? Cephalus - Justice means living up to your legal obligations and being honest. - Socrates - Its like returning weapon to a madman.. hell kill people. Polemarchus - Justice means that you owe friends help, and you owe enemies harm. - Socrates - we are not always friends with the most virtuous, nor are our enemies always teh scum of society Thrasymachus , sophist - Justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger-- it does not