Platos Argument
Plato's argument for the benefits of a just life is intrinsically linked to his definition of good and its relation to people's desires. He begins by showing that when the objective of a desire is simple (e.g. quenching a thirst), the desire must be correspondingly simple. Since thirst is a simple desire, the man's objective must also be simplistic and should we assign an adjective to his objective, we would falsely complicate it. In addition, Plato believes that we would be seriously erring if we assign a value of good to a desire. In common use, the adjective good would denote something that is good in relation to others of its kind. We consider a drink good if it contains characteristics that we look for in a drink (e.g. pleasantness or taste). Plato takes this a step further and states that something that is good must not only be good in relation to others but it must be wholly good. Thus a drink cannot be truly good if evil results from it. This poses an i!nteresting question for Plato's readers namely, since no one wants bad things to happen to them, why do people engage in self-destructive activities? The answer lies in the fact that the only reason that we desire to drink is that we ant
es in a musical scale high, low, and middle. He binds together those parts and any others there may be in between, and from having been many things he becomes entirely one, moderate and harmonious". Since the aristocrat regulates the three parts of the soul, keeps them in order, unites them, and has experienced the pleasures of each, he is in the best position to determine what is best for the whole. Thus the man who leads a just or aristocratic life also leads the best life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ desires, he will act differently on different occasions and appear to endorse contrary principles. Plato holds, however, that rather than being principles, these are merely momentary enthusiasms. His soul shows no restraint or control and no structure or purpose to his actions. Above the democratic man are the oligarch and the timocrat. These types of men lead structured lives, both work towards a unified, selective goal: the oligarch for possessions, the timocrat for prestige. Plato ranks the timocrat above the oligarch because presumably the spirit that governs the timocrat is closer to reason than is the appetite (the mainspring of the desire for acquisitions), which governs the oligarch. Finally, at the top, comes the aristocratic or just life. Plato places the aristocratic life and the top because it is not dominated by the strength of any one particular desire that we accept as blatantly good. Rather it satisfies the capacities for all desires and in s! ddition, this cooperation cannot be merely a base desire, which fulfills the other base desires of the parts of the soul. Instead, it searches for a type of objective, which precedes any other one goal. We seek the good out by choosing between multiple possibilities and selecting the one closest to the type we seek. These choices are not objectives in and of themselves but work together to form the end result of a good life. But how we determine the end result of our choices and choose between our alternatives is determined by the kind of life we lead. In Book VIII, Plato provides us with an overview of four types of lives that people can lead. Plato also ranks the types of lives in descending order as to which is the most just (or will lead to a good life). The Democratic' must come low on the scale because he does not select out his desires. Rather he allows that all pleasures are equal an
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Approximate Word count = 1650
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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