Article summary
Abstract
The Republic opens with an inquiry into the nature of justice, a concept that has
since perpetuated debate among philosophers and political theorists. The platonic
investigation proceeds through the construction of an imaginary City, a microcosm
that serves to make the larger problem of political justice more tractable. In the mad
City, Socratic philosophy examines the principles governing the constitution of the
state, considered as a social whole, with a view to constructing a theory of justice that
can explain justice in the private individual. The philosophical tradition subsequently
abstracts from political and social concern, and considerably narrows its focus instead
to the personal sphere.
The present work considers the question of political justice in its relation to individual
virtue. Political justice is described as social harmony, and the City provides a structural,
financial, practical and theoretical basis for acquiring the social forms of political justice.
The investigation proceeds through the nature of the City, the relation of political justice
to virtue, and the nature of the three principal disordered appetites. The task is further
complicated by the introduction of the notion of the tripartite soul, which permits one
to show how harmony at the level of the individual mirrors the harmony of the social
whole. Extending the investigation into the City reveals a sequence of specialisation,
and affords a further systematisation of the account, establishing formal connections
among justice, social harmony, courage and wisdom (Payne, 2011).