Abstract
One can’t help noticing how much the power of Socrates’ discussion of virtue in the state and the human soul depends on confusing — perhaps ironically — the tautologically assigned functions of various social professions and roles and the seemingly equally easy identification of the natural function of human beings. In the Republic, for instance, quite slyly, Socrates asks Thrasymachos: “Do you think there is a virtue in each thing which has a work appointed to it?” He then mentions the eyes and the ears and somehow springs at once to the work of the soul — “to care, to rule, to plan, and all things like that”; in fact, the virtue of the soul is announced as ‘justice’, though in closing this first portion of the dialogue Socrates confesses to not even knowing what justice is (Republic, Bk. 1).
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
