The City Of Swine Essay Research Paper free essay sample

The City Of Swine Essay, Research Paper The City of Swine By: When one looks at why Plato would hold included Glaucon s sarcastic comment of naming the first metropolis a metropolis of swine ( 372d ) in his duologue the Republic of Plato, one must understand what it is that Glaucon was speaking approximately. To understand what Glaucon s sarcastic comment meant ; and how of import it was, is because there had to be more to what Plato was composing approximately. And that Glaucon s comment helped take Plato s Hagiographas right into what followed. For I m certain to presume that: Polemarchus, Thrasymuchus, and Cephalus would hold had some sarcastic comments as good throughout the dialectic ; but Plato must hold ignored them, or take non to include them, because their comments would hold been unimportant. So why did Plato include the remark metropolis of swine, and why did Glaucon name it a metropolis of swine? In order to understand the comment metropolis of swine we must foremost understand why Plato is depicting the metropolis. We will write a custom essay sample on The City Of Swine Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Why Plato is depicting the metropolis, is that they are looking for the reply to what precisely justness is. For they had failed to come up with a sensible reply in earlier efforts to specify what justness was. In earlier efforts to specify justness, Cephalus said, to state the truth and refund one s debts. ( 331c ) . Socrates nevertheless dismissed this with the insane adult male illustration. Polemarchus said, that it was merely or right to give back to each adult male what was due to him. This Polemarchus specifies as, making good to one s friends and injury to one s enemies. ( 331e-332b ) . This excessively was easy dismissed by Socrates that it can t be portion of justness to make injury to anybody, and one can be mistaken as to who their existent friends are. Therminacus thought for justness was, justness is for the strong. Socrates used the good physician to rebut this claim every bit good, and showed that justness International Relations and Security Network T for the strong . So with no existent reply to what justness was in the person and nowhere to turn to look for justness, they had decided to look for justness in a larger graduated table. So why did they look to the metropolis for the reply to justice? In ( 435e ) Socrates maintains the person must hold the same features as the metropolis, for otherwise the metropolis itself could non posses them. In ( 368d ) Plato says they should look non to the single adult male, but to the community as a whole. And since a metropolis is larger than an single, it would do it easier to do out or happen what justness is in the metropolis. Plus in Plato s clip the jurisprudence of the province is the beginning of all criterions of human life, and that the virtuousness of the person is the same as the virtuousness of the citizen. ( Jaeger. Paideia, Vol. II, P. 157. ) With this established they had no jobs with looking to the metropolis for the reply to justness. So what is the metropolis? Why is it called the economic metropolis? Or why is it called the simple metropolis? In Plato s history of the first metropolis, ( 369-372 ) , the metropolis is reasonably clear in its description. In it, it is a metropolis that comes together fundamentally because of adult male s basic demand for endurance. Because Plato provinces, an single adult male is unequal and can non supply for his basic demands like: nutrient, shelter, and vesture entirely. It is a metropolis where 1 has to bring forth adequate goods for himself, and sell or merchandise the remainder for what he needs. This metropolis is fundamentally a working town merely, where work forces do their undertaking or occupation good ; selling their service or goods, and purchasing the services or goods they need. It is a simple economic metropolis for adult male s basic demands of endurance. So why did Glaucon protest to this metropolis, stating that the life which it provides will be overly severe, doing it a metropolis of swine? ( 372d ) Why did Glaucon name this metropolis, badly simple, and stiffly rigorous in its mode of life? I believe he called it a metropolis of swine because the people in this metropolis lived like hogs! A people with no intent other so one s ain demand for endurance. A people with minimum necessities, with no emotion or feeling. A people with no satisfactory purpose other than the basic economic demands. And I m certain Glaucon was believing that this couldn t possible be it, when he said metropolis of swine. For there was no governmen T or swayers, no defence system from neighbouring metropoliss, no type of jurisprudence enforcement from boisterous citizens, no Torahs and no penalty what so of all time! Plus who in their right head would be wholly satisfied or happy with themselves merely working at one occupation for no intent other than basic endurance. I besides think Glaucon was believing that this basic endurance for adult male was no different than populating like an animate being, and that is portion of the ground he called it a metropolis of swine. For if adult male is to be satisfied he needs more. He needs friendly relationship, love, and enjoyment. He needs enjoyment in finer things like: music, reading, composing, or as we used in our category treatment: how Jean-Luc enjoyed a good bottle of Red Dog, acquiring barreled and love, to be happy one time in a piece. So why did Plato depict this simple metropolis, the metropolis of swine in the Republic of Plato? I believe he included it because it showed that the basic adult male is simple in nature. The basic adult male is self-interested and driven by economic additions. And by depicting the first metropolis, Plato is demoing us that the economic adult male or metropolis demands more. For this metropolis or adult male may work in theory, but that is all it is! For this metropolis to work entails that all its citizens are working and can acquire along with each other. It is a metropolis that will either thrive or die! For if all its citizens can acquire along with each other and continue working, so the metropolis will last and derive economically. If they don t, there will be entire upset as everyone will be making their ain thing, for their ain personal addition and as a consequence the metropolis will neglect. It will neglect because for a portion is non merely a portion of something else, b ut besides entirely it belongs to that something else ( 1254a8 Aristotle s Politics ) . And if you start taking away the parts or person from the basic metropolis, the basic metropolis will go nonextant. Plus I believe Plato is besides stating that if this economic metropolis gets along for a piece, and is booming, its citizens will finally desire more. Since each adult male will desire more, he will get down prosecuting his ain opportunism or addition, alternatively of the involvement of the metropolis. If everyone is making or prosecuting his ain opportunism or addition, finally one will get down stepping on person else s toes. And when this happens, the upset will get down, and the metropolis will neglect! Now when you look back to ( 1254a8 of Aristotle s Politicss, For what are the parts of apart in a whole? ) and think of Glaucon s comment at ( 372d ) : and set it toward the single alternatively of the metropolis, you see there is and has to more to the person, so as described in the simple metropolis. And because of Glaucon s comment, he was asked, how would you make it, describe the metropolis? Glaucon responded by stating, give the people the amenitiess of ordinary life. Probably believing don T put the people on the same degrees as an animate being, give them finer things like chairs, tabular arraies, and civilized nutrient. Socrates agrees to this, and starts to depict the metropolis once more, but with more people because it would take more people to supply for these luxuries. And with more people it showed: the metropolis would necessitate more land ; therefore an ground forces would be needed, to derive and protect the land. And with more people Torahs would be needed ; there fore they would necessitate swayers to do these Torahs. So with this done it showed the first metropolis was uncomplete and out of balance as would the single be out of balance or uncomplete. With this new metropolis it establishes that the metropolis has different categories to do it complete, and since the metropolis is as an person, the person must hold different categories. The categories in the metropolis being swayers, the defenders, and the common people, and the categories in the single being ground, spirit, and will. And it is the balance of these categories that will maintain the metropolis together, and the single complete. And that is why Glaucon called the first metropolis a metropolis of swine, for it lacked human qualities or it lacked the ground, spirit and will. Another ground Glaucon s comment was of import is that by denying the first metropolis, it allowed the constitution of the 2nd merely and complete metropolis. This was of import because it gave them somethin g to travel back on, to corroborate what justness was in the person!