for our eTwinning project EUtopia-2015

1. Plato's Politeia (Πολιτεία)
Plato (as drawn by Raphael in his “school of Athens“, 1509)

2. Content of this presentation:
1. Basic information
2. Subjects of the single books + short summary
3. Analogy state (πόλις) / body
4. List of sources

3. -
Plato's most important work besides
νόμοι (Νómoi / laws)
-
10 books about Plato's utopian
(imaginary) state
-
leading question :
“What is justice ?“
-
written as a dialogue
-
central figure : Socrates
(as in most of Plato's dialogues)
Basic information

4. Content of the single books
•
1. Introduction to the question “What is justice?“
•
2. Socrates' idea of justice/ origin of the state
•
3. Duties and education of the guardian‘s stand
•
4. Justice among the state/ soul parts
•
5. Consequences of this idea of justice
•
6/7. Education of the philosopher-kings;
the three allegories (sun, cave, devided line)
•
8/9. Forms of goverment and the decay
•
10. The immortality of the soul

5. book 1:
-
conversation among the friends of Socrates
-
discussion with Kephalos, Polemarchos (a rich man) and
Thrasymachos (a sophist) about justice; Thrasymachos is
convinced of the „right of the strongest“
book 2:
-
theory of the origin of city states;
-
origin of justice in social contracts (theory of Glaukon, Socrates'
younger friend)
-
necessity of division of labour; natural inequility of humanity
→ different ways of education
-
luxury etc. leads to need of wars

class of the professional warriors

6. book 3:
- power of the guardians → necessity of best possible education
of guardians
→ best possible education of body (sports) and mind (poetry)
-
no private property; no family
- executive power (too much regulation, however, inside the state
should be avoided)
book 4:
- analogy between state (divided in three classes) and soul (also
divided in three parts)
- four cardinal virtues: prudence / wisdom (φρόνησις) – rulers
courage (ανδρεία) – guardians
temperance (σωφροσύνη) - producing
class (farmers and craftsmen)
→ justice (δικαιοσύνη)= proper relationship
among these classes and virtues

7. book 5:
- no family (for the classes of rulers and guardians) → society /
community is responsible for fathering and educating children;
- no difference between men and women (equality of the soul
parts)
- children mustn't know their parents → rulers decide which man
and which woman should get a child together (perfection of
genotype)
- no private property, no family → no difference between „mine“
and „yours“ → everything for the community

8. book 6/7:
- education of the philosopher-rulers
- exclusively suitable: philosophically inclined members of the
classe of guardians
- highest piece of teaching (and base of this education) beside the
basic virtues: idea (είδος) of the good

ability to the use of the idea of good

THEORY OF THE FORMS
book 8:
- types of constitution and their circularing system

9. Circularity system
1. aristocracy (in Plato's opinion ideal type)
2. timocracy
3. oligarchy
4. democracy
5. tyranny
Decay by decreasing of the human ability to use reason

10. book 9:
- from tyrannical constitution of a city to tyrannical constitution of
a psyche
- a just man who suffers under injustice of others is more blessed
than a unjust man who does injustice to others
→ justice as main principle of soul
book 10:
- immortality of soul

11. -
Need of foundation of cities :
imperfection of people
-
realisation formula ‘‘suitable work and class for each one“
-
State order (three classes; analogue to three parts of soul) :
Analogy city state (πόλις) / soul
 allocation by philosοpher-rulers
part of soul class virtue
reason (λόγος) rulers (philosophers) wisdom (φρόνησις)
spirit (θυμός) guardians courage (ανδρεία)
appetite/ desire (επιθυμία) farmers and craftsmen temperance (σωφροσύνη)

12. -
The state is built up like a
person
-
-
→ body in harmony =
state in harmony
 guarantees highest harmony
State and body
appetite/ desire
courage
reason

13. List of sources
www.jura.uni-wuerzburg.de
www.abipur.de
www.lerntippsammlung.de
www.radiobremen.de
www.connection.de
www.wikipedia.de (Politeia, Platon, Kardinaltugenden)
Jostein Garder, ,,Sofies Welt‘‘
presented by Julian M.,
Neues Gymnasium Wilhelmshaven (NGW),
Latin course, class 10