Good Man vs. Good Citizen - Plato

A detailed Summary of Good Man vs. Good Citizen - Plato

Good Man v. Good Citizen: Plato's View

When Plato writes about the struggle between the "good person" and the "good

citizen" in The Last Days of Socrates, there seems to be an overlapping of the two because

they are so closely related. Socrates says that "[A man] has only one thing to consider

in performing any action; that is whether he is acting justly or unjustly, like a good man

or a bad one" (Apology, 28 b-c). It seems that, even when considering whether or not

to be a good citizen and follow orders and laws without exception, one must decide

whether or not his actions will be just. This is refuted, however, when Socrates says

in Apology, 28d "When a man has once taken up his stand, either because it seems best

to him or in obedience to his orders, there I believe he is bound to remain and face the

danger, taking account of death or anything else before dishonour" and in

Apology, 29b that "to disobey my superior, whether god or man, is bad and

dishonourable." By this reasoning, being a good man would require following the

orders, not only of the gods, but of earth

a good citizen in order to be a good and honourable person through the words of

My opinion follows closely with Plato's. My view having been shaped by a free,

Socrates saying "[It is] more just and honourable to submit to whatever penalty my

argument with Crito support these ideas of dishonour and justice with regard to being

of a State is not attempting to be a good person or a good citizen. Socrates, in his

than that, I believe a person who lives in a nation should always submit to its laws.

It seems Plato feels that one should follow the laws of a State in which he

worse than an attack on a person's own parents (Crito, 50d-51d). In addition, when

Approximate Word count = 737
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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