How does one define justice?
In The Republic, after criticizing the conventional theories of justice presented by Cephalus, Polymarchus,Thrasymachus, and Glaucon, Plato sets out to answer this question. For Plato, justice is the harmony of the soul. Yet this phrase, however, hardly gives one a clear sense of what justice is. Thus, Plato offers two analogies to help examine the definition of justice: the division of parts in the soul and the division of parts in the state.
The soul is divided into three parts: the appetitive, the spirited, and the rational. The appetitive is the part of the soul "with which he loves and hungers and thirsts and feels the flutterings of any other desire . . . the ally of sundry pleasures and satisfactions." The spirited is the part of the soul that is courageous, strong willed, vigorous. The spirited "when not corrupted by bad education" is the ally of the rational, the part of the soul "with which a man reasons." It has the "care of the whole soul."
By division of the soul, we are exposed to how a soul has different wills. Yet, in order for a soul to stay just, it must have some sort of hierarchy. Plato describes the hierarchy of the soul as follows: the rational has control over the appetitive, and the spirited is the ally of the rational.
To continue with Plato's definition of justice, the state is also divided into three parts: the workers, the soldiers, and the guardians. The workers are the people who are best fitted to practice a specific form of labor - whether it be to provide food, clothing, or any other necessity that the state may require. They are to be moderate and obedient to the guardians.
The soldiers are the humans who are best fitted to fight; they are spirited and possess courage. They are to be well-educated, and "that true education, whatever that may be, will have the greatest tendency to civilize and humanize them in their relations to one another, and to those who are under their protection."
The guardians are the rulers of the state - the philosophers. They possess the virtue of wisdom, and with wisdom comes the knowledge of how the city should be run. They will have a special care of the state, for "a man will be most likely to care about that which he loves." The guardians have the greatest eagerness to do what is for the "good of their country, and the greatest repugnance to do what is against her wishes."
The division of the state will begin at an early age. Children who have the nature of a guardian or a soldier but born to workers will be removed from that class and raised with other children who share the same nature. The same concept applies to children born of guardians and soldiers, but are more adept to the work of a worker.
Both the division of the soul and the division of the state have a similar structure. Justice is the same in the soul as it is in the state. The workers share a resemblance with the appetitive part of the soul: they have to be moderate in their desires. The soldiers and the spirited share the virtue of courage. The guardians and the rational share the virtue of wisdom.
If a soul that allows the appetitive part take over and commit criminal acts regardless of the consequences or allows the spirited to burst into irrational anger be considered a just soul? This rhetorical question helps support the definition of justice as harmony. The rational must rule while the spirited and appetitive remain moderate - with each part of the soul agreeing this condition is the best for the whole.
In order for a man to be just, he must be in harmony with his soul. That is the definition of justice.
Very well written post. This is a very good review of Plato's opinion of the soul. Plato's thoughts on the perfect city sound so much like the world of Divergent and in a certain sense, the world of the Hunger Games. Panem was centered around different districts that in general had different jobs, and you were born into that environment and expected to follow the stereotype.
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