Mahabub Alam

Prof: M. Morgenstern
Political Science 124
September 25, 2017
Socrates Definition of Justice

Socrates is one of the greatest philosopher who saw the world from different perspective.

He was the wisest men of all at his time. Socrates knowledge and understanding of life and its

people were so very intricate, that people often would not understand him and think of him as

crazy and strange. Socrates definition of justice is very complex because it combines every

possible way that one can describe justice and be able to rightfully differentiate just actions from

unjust actions. Now, to the point, Socrates believe and proves that it is necessary to tell lies and

the need for deception play an interesting role for the creation of the so called Just city. Even if

the Republic run on the principle of justice, it is necessary to lie to bring the best and just cause

for the city as whole.

For instance, To Socrates, censorship is a necessary tool for the state to maintain order

and stability in any just society. In the beginning of book three, Socrates discusses the first stage

of educating the ruling class in just society. Socrates makes a statement about what type of

fiction the ruling class should be told as a child, "Nor shall any young audience be told that

anyone who commits horrible crimes, or punishes his father unmercifully, is doing nothing out of

the ordinary but merely what the first and greatest of the gods have done before (Lee 73). If the

ruling class is only advised and told morally enriching stories, how will they be able to

differentiate the just actions from the unjust actions? If you only teach a child what it is to be just

but give them no cases of acting unjustly, then, they will have little understanding of justice and

injustice. As such, the child in query will never truly understand what it is to be unjust, the
different types of injustice that may occur, and possibly situations or environment that causes

people to be unjust, because they will only have examples of just actions in certain situations, the

child will be rendered useless in the face of such extreme unjust actions and situations.

Even though it is shown in the Republic that, Socrates believes that telling the truth is an

intricate component of a just society. Yet he invents the marriage myth and the "myth of the

metals." The myth of the metals is used to keep the three classes, the guardians, the auxiliaries,

and the producers from interfering or overstepping on each others function and responsibility.

These are prime examples of Socrates' control of the truth. If the truth behind the myth of metals

is just, then there is no reason to hide this fact or any other fact about the inter-workings of any

society. This shows that Socrates believe that the state should set up lies to save next generation

of rulers and other young generations from corruptions of the soul by educating them of only just

actions. This leads one to think that Socrates believe that the average human being is incapable

of running their own lives and if they did so, it would only lead to unhappiness, suffering, and

misery.

For example, in book four They dont understand that a true captain must pay attention

to the seasons of the year, the sky, the stars, the winds, and all that pertains to his craft, if hes

really to be the ruler of a ship. And they dont believe that there is any craft that would enable

him to determine how he should steer the ship, whether the others want him to or not, or any

possibility of mastering this alleged craft or of practicing it at the same time as the craft of

navigation. Dont you think that the true captain will be called a real stargazer, a babbler, and a

good-for-nothing by those who sail in ships governed in that way? Therefore, he states that only

a philosopher can become the ruler of the just city. Socrates insists that philosopher-kings are the

only people who can grasp the forms, and thus the only people who can claim actual knowledge.
Socrates describes the Form of the Good in Book VI as the ultimate object of knowledge. It is

only when a man grasps the Form of the Good that he achieves the highest level of cognition and

understanding. When a guardian takes this last step, he is finally ready to become a philosopher-

king. In addition to ultimate knowledge, since the philosopher-king yearns after truth above all

else, he is then truly the most just man to rule over the just city.

To further investigate for why Socrates states that necessary lies for the better of the

citizens and the just city is justified can be illustrated in this fragment of Socrates discussion with

his students. During his discussion on the poets and how the gods should be represented,

Socrates placed a high value on truth so that citizens will not get the wrong ideas about the gods

and emulate the gods wrongdoing. However, though falsehood really is of no use to the gods,

it is a form of medicine to men (Plato 235). This introduces the idea that a lie used properly

may benefit the citizens of the Republic. These types of lies are appropriate not only to protect

the state from enemies, but more importantly, to benefit the state itself. Therefore, Socrates and

Glaucon agrees that since the ruler class are more knowledgeable than any other classes, even if

they are educated never to lie or prize deception, if the lies benefit the Republic not personal

interests, then the lie is most certainly justifiable. Socrates attempts to portray the lie as a

common feature of any society to justify its existence in the ideal city of the Republic.

It is not an argument that can be simply described as Socrates believing in people be

fooled into doing the right things, rather it is circumstances that insists on people be fooled to do

the right thing that would benefit and advance just actions not individually but for the whole

Republic. Socrates believes the city can only be possible if the wise philosophers have absolute

rule. Socrates believes in methods of persuasion rather than force. As such, rather than using

force to persuade the auxiliaries for support, they use persuasion. The auxiliaries are persuaded
by means of a noble deception (185). The reason for this is that, even the most rational society,

the society according to truth and nature, is not possible without a fundamental untruth (185).

The medicine of the lie is really the ground that holds the just city together.

To further strengthen his point, Socrates provides further justification for the lies being

told for the benefit of the Republic. He states that the telling of lies at the founding of cities

happened all over the place in the past, as the poets say and have persuaded people (331;

414c). This shows and justifies that, lies had been used repeatedly in the past. Socrates attempts

to depict the lie as a mutual feature of any society to justify its existence in the ideal city of The

Republic. Another very important fact that justifies that the just city is held together by lies is

that, the earth, which was their mother, released them from underground, and onto the land

which they all live on (331; 414e). This shows that the lie of earth being the mother let to the

citizens treating the land they live on as if it were their mother and nurse, and defend it

themselves if anyone attacks it (331; 414e). They would all be the earths children, and all

brothers and sisters. In other words, this simple lie not only unites the citizens with each other as

brothers and sisters, it also sets them apart as a populace. An important goal of the lie is to cause

citizens to flagship their position as members of the city and offspring of the land over their

position as people. Furthermore, the fraternity of all human beings is to be replaced by the

fraternity of all fellow citizens (102). This would lead to absolute loyalty to the state.

In addition to this, Socrates tells another lie that truly creates a utopia. He states that the

god mixed gold in the production of those . . . who are competent to govern, this exclusively

allow only the people with gold souls to become the ruler of the city. Since the souls of

auxiliaries contain silver, and the souls of the farmers and artisans contain iron and bronze. They

cannot become ruler of the Republic. The biggest lie that Socrates develops is that he turns the
myth into the necessary lie, indorsing that an oracle warn that the city will be ruined on the day

when a guardian with iron or bronze in him becomes the ruler of the Republic. As such, citizens

will fear lying about their childrens souls and this would than stop anyone other than gold souls

from becoming the ruler of the just city. This lie is very powerful because it attributes the social

hierarchy of the city to the divine will of the god. At that time, people worshiped gods and dared

not go against the will of the oracle. This shows that even the purest of society is bound by more

lie than truth.

At last, a society that is bound by lies can never be just and fair. Even if the lies are

justifiable and benefits the Republic, the citizens have the right to learn the truths. If there is no

way to be honest with people and get them to understand the truth and if, rather, being upfront

with people only leads to them with greater falsehoods than they would have with certain mythic,

but philosophically precise beliefs, then both obligation to truth and the finest outcomes requires

teaching the people to accept noble lies as the literal truth so that they might at least indirectly

live truthful lives. Also, it is not guaranteed that the citizens will buy the lies sold by the ruler.

The success of the justifiable lie depends on how well the founders and philosopher kings can

persuade the citizens of the Republic. The philosopher kings must convince the citizens of their

ability to rule using persuasion if they want political happiness. But the fact is, it is not likely that

the citizens will be persuaded to undergo what they regard as the greatest misery for the rest of

their days so that future generations will be blessed (186). The noble lie would involve major

changes in culture which would not likely be possible unless the founders were starting with a

completely new generation of citizens. Therefore, in my opinion, it is very unlikely that the noble

lie would have the effect that Socrates argues it would have, for the simple fact that words will

not convince people to change their human nature.

Works Cited

Plato. The Republic. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008.

Plato. The Republic. Trans. Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1937.

Strauss, Leo. The City and Man. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1964.

The Origins of Political Science and the Problem of Socrates, Six Public Lectures by Leo

Strauss. Ed. David Bolotin, Christopher Bruell, and Thomas L. Pangle. Chicago: University of

Chicago, 1996.