Teaching Plato in Translation
by Susan Gorman, Boston University
Original text © 2004 Susan Gorman
The Republic
What is the function of Book 2?
In Book 2, Plato has Socrates introduce the just city. The just city is the metaphor through which the problem of the just person will be explored. Basically, Socrates claims that, if we increase the size and scope of the discussion, it will be easier.
Ask your students whether they agree with Socrates' estimation. Also ask them if they can think of any better analogies to make through which to see justice. Emphasize the fact that this just city, despite the fact that the majority of the text discusses it, is simply an analogy. Socrates himself does not seem deeply invested in the idea of this city as is demonstrated when he claims that it does not matter if in fact this city is possible.
I think that it is especially interesting to talk about how all of the discussion that follows comes about because Socrates' friends say that his initial just city, one without luxury, is insufficient. It is when they claim that there is no pleasure or beauty in that first city that the problem really comes to a head. Because the inhabitants need something aesthetic in their lives, Socrates needs to elaborate for book after book upon his refined vision of the just city.
Book 2 also introduces the Ring of Gyges objection. Essentially, this objection is that a just man and an unjust man will both always work for their own interests. For some people, being just is in their own interest because of the reputation or honor that it can bring. Therefore, it is important to find whether a man will still choose to be just, even if in doing so he appears to be unjust. This is a complicated objection but definitely worth spending time on since it comes back to the idea of what justice really is.
Book Two reprises the main theme of the definition of justice from Book One, but introduces the major objection (Ring of Gyges) and method of analysis (the analogy of the just city) that will be used in the rest of the text.
