Plato's Republic: The Noble Lie

 Hello, 

In this post, I am going to focus on the so-called "Noble Lie" presented in Book III of Republic. I'm going to discuss what it is, its purpose, and the controversy surrounding it. 

I. What is the Noble Lie? 

The Noble Lie, also known as the Myth of Metals is presented towards the end of Book III. Socrates proposes a foundational myth that would be told to all citizens of the kallipolis, or ideal city. 

All citizens would be told that the are born from the earth of the city and that the land is their mother. Therefore, all of the other citizens are their brothers and sisters. While they are forming underground, the gods mix different metals into their souls, those being:

- Gold: those destined to be rulers (Guardians Class I - Philosopher-Kings)

- Silver: those destined to defend the city as warriors (Guardians Class II - Auxiliaries)

- Bronze/Iron: those destined to be farmers and other producers. 

Children of each class will tend to have the same metal as their parents, but there is a chance where gold parents could have a silver child, and so on. There is no adult social mobility, it is based on natural aptitude. This ensures that people are assigned to the class best suiting their specialization. 

II. What is the purpose of it?

The overall purpose is to promote social harmony in the city. By promoting the idea of earth being everyone's mother, a sense of collective identity is established. It also provides a natural justification for the class system. Citizens are meant to believe their standing is based on their assigned nature from the gods. Plato seems to believe that not all of the citizens would be capable of understanding the city's structure. In effect, this "useful fiction" serves to be a more accessible understanding for the desired behavior of its citizens. 

III. Controversy

The Noble Lie has been the subject of criticism throughout history. The most apparent issue is with how ethically sound it is. It seems to completely undermine the whole point of constructing the kallipolis in the first place. If this city is meant to understand civic justice, how could a society built on a lie be just? 

I don't know what Plato's intent was with introducing this myth. Part of me guesses that he must know that this social order would not be naturally accepted in this city (if it truly is anywhere). Perhaps he thought it was necessary for this purpose alone. I can also understand the argument of the Lie being acceptable because it only serves to benefit its people. By the sounds of it, the rulers are meant to believe the lie as well. This raises some questions: is the Lie meant to be intentionally deceptive or a belief about their worldview? Is this still a lie in the same sense? 

Plato's Republic: Book III Synopsis

 Hello, 

 In this post, I will continue writing synopses of the different books (or chapters) of Plato's Republic to further my understanding of them. There will be an essay that is more analytical in nature to follow. 

Book III begins with Socrates continuing his discussion of the stories that guardians should be educated with. Stories about heroes are mainly discussed in this section. The overall goal from these stories would be to relieve the guardians of any fear of death. Thus, the stories should never depict their heroes as fearing death or depict Hades (the Greek afterlife, if you will) as a frightening place. There are other conditions to these stories, but these two conditions cover most of the discussion. 

Socrates also discusses the appropriate meter (or rhythmic structure) these stories should have, as well as if they should be dramatic or lyric form. He generalizes these rules further into almost all artistic expression in the kallipolis, such as painting and architecture. In all of these forms, the characters should not be presented as vicious or evil, those tales will be excluded from the guardian's education.  

The next discussion caught me off guard. Socrates speaks about the "correct love between a boy and a man" in education. He warns against any sexual proclivity in these relationships, as they contaminate the relationship. At this point, I asked: "What does love have to do with it?". I have not studied much pertaining to Plato's thoughts on love, but he did write two dialogues with love as a focal point. These are known as the erotic dialogues (see Phaedrus and Symposium). Getting back to the point, Socrates suggests that these sort of relationships should not be erotic, but remain a pure sort of love. 

Physical training of the guardians is discussed next. Socrates believes the guardians should be trained for war rather than mere athletic training. He also emphasizes the balance of artistic training, such as music and poetry with physical training. He believes too much physical training would make the guardians brutish and cruel and too much artistic training would make them soft. 

Socrates also describes the medical training that would be provided in the kallipolis. Doctors should only treat the (otherwise) healthy who suffer from temporary, curable ailments. Those who are chronically or terminally ill should be left to pass away naturally. Those suffering from mental diseases should also be put to death. 

Socrates describes the highest class of society: the rulers. The rulers are the better half of the guardians, while the other half are warriors known as "auxiliaries", as they enforce the decisions the ruler makes. To ensure only the best are established as rulers, the guardians in training should be put through many trials testing their loyalty to the city. Those who are most loyal, ascend to become rulers. 

This section has come to be known as the "myth of metals" or the "noble lie". In which, Socrates describes a story where the citizens are born out of the earth. Their plot of ground is their mother, and their fellow citizens are their brothers and sisters. Thus, the citizens have reason to swear loyalty to their city and its people. Each person has a certain kind of metal mixed with their soul. Rulers have gold, auxiliaries have silver, and producers have bronze or iron. 

The city would be compromised if anyone else but a gold rose to power. Regarding heredity, each person will procreate with another person of the same metal and bear a child of the same type. For example, two producers (bronze/iron) would bear a child who is also the same metal. However, Socrates acknowledges that there could be instances where a child with gold or silver comes from bronze/iron parentage. That child will be taken away and raised as a guardian. 

Finally, Socrates ends the chapter with a discussion about how guardians will live. Guardians will live among other guardians in housing provided by the city. They will take no wages or private property of their own, but live off of the taxes of the producers. The overall reasoning is that if the guardians begin living for their own possessions rather than the good of the city, they will be corrupted. 

Plato's Republic: The Role of Glaucon and Adeimantus's Challenge

In Book II of Republic, Glaucon and Adeimantus (two of Socrates' interlocutors) demand a defense of justice "for its own sake". This challenge is the foundation of the philosophical project of Plato's Republic. This demand requires Socrates to look beyond the superficial, commonplace defenses of justice and embark on a deep dive into its nature, both in the soul and ideal city. 

Socrates notes that common understandings of justice are based on external rewards (good reputation, divine favor, social standing, favorable afterlife, etc.). Glaucon and Adeimantus argue that if justice is pursued for its consequences, then injustice would be preferable, as demonstrated by the Ring of Gyges myth. This challenge forces Socrates to argue that justice is inherently good regardless of external rewards. Every aspect of this city is designed to be analogous for the functioning of justice in the soul.  

By questioning whether the just life is more preferable than the unjust one, Glaucon and Adeimantus have transformed the discussion into searching for the best way to live. If injustice truly is better when one can get away with it, then reason dictates being unjust. This pushes Socrates to develop his own system for proving justice's worth and serves as the foundation for the rest of Republic. 

Plato's Republic: Book II Synopsis

 Hello, 

Today, I am going to write a synopsis on Republic Book II as a means of testing my understanding of what I've read.

Book II picks up where Book I left off with Socrates feeling as if he has competently attended to Thrasymachus' claim that justice is the advantage of the stronger. However, the other interlocutors in the room are not so satisfied. To begin, Glaucon describes three categories that goods are divided into: things we desire for their consequences (physical training, medical treatment), things we desire for their own sake (joy), and things we desire for their own sake and their consequences. This last category is determined to be the "highest" category. Thus, Glaucon wants Socrates to make an argument for justice belonging to this category. 

Glaucon posits that most people believe justice belongs to the first category, as a necessary evil. People go along with what is just out of fear of greater evil being done without it. This gets at the social contract, which will be better defined a few thousand years after Plato's writing. Thus, justice is acted out of fear and weakness. 

To further illustrate this claim, Glaucon uses the legend of the Ring of Gyges . The ring allows its bearer to turn invisible at will. With invisibility, the bearer could be as unjust as they would like with no fear of repercussion. Glaucon argues that anyone with this ring would utilize it this way. To end, Glaucon argues that being unjust is better for living a pleasant life. Adeimantus bolsters this claim by adding that no one is just for justice's sake, but for the benefits reaped in the afterlife. 

Initially, Socrates is reluctant to argue that justice is desirable in and of itself. Socrates comes to lay out his plan of attack by describing two kinds of justice - justice belonging to the city and justice belonging to the individual. Since the city is made up of individuals, Socrates examines justice at this level first. In order to locate political justice, Socrates decides to describe the perfectly just city or kallipolis.

To begin, Socrates introduces the principle of specialization. This states that individuals must perform the role they are best suited for and nothing more. So, a farmer must always be a farmer, a doctor must always be a doctor, and so on. Socrates believes that if this policy was in place, everything needed to be done in a city would be done in the best way. With these specialized roles established, the rest of the city can be built. The first task is to ensure the necessities of life are accounted for (clothing, food, shelter). The individuals providing these necessities are in the "producing class". 

Socrates believes this is the "healthy city", as it is governed only by necessary desires. Glaucon is quick to point out that this city is not realistic because people have unnecessary desires like luxury and art. Socrates then gets to work on building the "luxurious city". Merchants, actors, poets, musicians would be required to bring luxury to the city. However, with this luxury and wealth, the city would be envied and sought for plunder. Warriors would be needed to defend the city, Socrates refers to this class as guardians. 

From here, there is a significant discussion on the nature and education of the guardians. Their training would begin when they are very young.  They must be gentle towards their civilians, yet tough enough to defend themselves against any enemies. They should also be honor loving and physically mighty. As for education, Socrates argues that they should only be taught myths about the Greek gods that show their benevolence. The myths should never depict the gods as shapeshifters, as these could not provide guardians with a stable reference of truth.