A just man wishes not merely to seem but to be good.
Plato's Commonwealth, Book II, teaches us about:
The nature of virtue
The nature of justice and injustice
The nature of dialectic as the primary procedure in the search for wisdom (philosophy)
What dialectic discovers in this dialogue
There are different kinds of elements:
A. Some are good in themselves.
B. Others (knowledge, sight, health) are good in regard to the results they bring.
C. Some are unpleasant (medicine, exercise) but bring good results.
Justice is of value both in itself and for its results.
Glaucon does not agree with Thrasymachus but he proposes to lay out the case of injustice, since Thrasymachus has left.
Public opinion (and Thrasymachus' opinion):
Virtue is toilsome in itself and to be shunned as as an affliction, and to be practiced only for the sake of rewards and repute, due to opinion.
Injustice is superior to justice; people practice justice reluctantly, as a mere necessity, not as a good.
The life of the unjust man is superior to that of the just man.
Justice is a compromise between the best, doing wrong with impunity, and the worst, to be wronged and to be unable to get revenge.
People carry out justice unwilllingly because they lack the power to do injustice.
To commit injustice is a good and to suffer it is an evil, but the excess of evil in being wronged by injustice is greater than the excess of good in doing wrong.
Those who lack power determine that it is to their profit to make a compact neither to commit or suffer injustice.
This is the beginning of laws and contracts between men.
They name the commandment of the law the lawful and the just.
Justice is approved, not as a real good, but as a thing honored in the lack of power to do injustice.
Anyone who is "a man" would never agree with anyone neither to wrong nor be wronged, for he would be mad.
If anyone were able to act anonymously (say, by having a ring of invisibility), he would resort to injustice.
Every person, by his nature, pursues his self-advantage as a good.
The convention of law forces us to pay honor to "equality."
No one is just by his own will but only from constraint.
Every man when he supposes himself to have power to do wrong, does wrong.
Everyone believes there is far more profit in injustice than justice.
People might deceitfully praise a person who imposed justice on himself, but in truth he would be regarded as a fool.
The height of injustice is to seem to be just without being so.
An unjust man who gets caught is a bungler.
An unjust man is able to cover his misdeeds through connections and money.
A just man wishes not merely to seem but to be good.
The just man does not seem good.
Though doing no wrong, the just man has the reputation of doing wrong.
The just man does not soften because of ill repute and its consequences.
The just man will suffer all evils and ultimately will be crucified (and learn that he ought not to be just but merely seem just).
Some people recommend justice for its good repute and benefits.
It is "the seeming" that "masters the reality." (365c)
"For with a view to lying hid we will organize societies and political clubs, and there are teachers of cajolery who impart the arts of the popular
assembly and the courtroom, so that, partly by persuasion, partly by force, we shall contrive to overreach with impunity." (365d)
Against the god neither secrecy nor force can avail.
"Well, if there are no gods, or they do not concern themselves with the doings of men, neither need we concern ourselves with eluding their observation. If they do not exist and pay heed, we know and hear of them only from such discourses and from the poets who have described their pedigrees. But these same authorities tell us that the gods are capable of being persuaded and swerved from their course by "sacrifice and soothing vows" and dedications. We must believe them in both or neither. And if we are to believe them, the thing to do is to commit injustice and offer sacrifice from the fruits of our wrongdoing." (365e)
"Yet it will be objected . . . we shall be brought to judgment in the world below for our unjust deeds here. . . The rites for the dead have much efficacy." (366a)
Combine evil with a counterfeit decorum and you will prosper.
People disparage injustice from lack of manliness or other weaknesses.
Socrates:
I infer you are not convinced of the superiority of justice from your general character, not from your words.
It is impious to stand idly by when justice is reviled. (368c)
The origin of the state is the need of things from others; we cannot do everything for ourselves.
Each person is best fitted for a specific line of work.
A state is established to organize how we share the products of our labor.
This requires a market place and money as a means of exchange.
Trade involves not only necessities but luxury goods and services as well.
The unlimited acquisition of wealth is the cause of war.
Guardians must be keen of perception, quick in pursuit, ready to do battle, and courageous, yet gentle to their friends.
Guardians are similar to dogs who show a true love of wisdom in their ability to distinguish a friend from an enemy.
The love of learning and the love of wisdom are the same.
So a guardian must be a lover of wisdom.
In the training of the guardians, we will use gynmastics for the body and music for the soul.
Music includes fiction and non-fiction tales.
A fable is a tale of fiction, but there is truth in it also.
There must be careful selection of educational material and experience.
We should not allow stories of gods or heroes commiting immoral acts; we must have a concept of a moral god to learn morality.
Immature people are unable to distinguish what is and what is not allegory.
Early learning is indelible and unalterable.
Elementary educational material must teach virtue.
God is good and should be described as such in educational material.
God is the case of beneficence but not of evil.
Neither god nor a human worsens himself of his own will.
God does not change; He abides eternally in His form.
Enlightened humans loathe deception in the soul about realities, being deceived through ignorance.
