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.