Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
Introduction
One of the pioneers of moral and political philosophy, Plato, has extensively elaborated on the conception of justice in his works. He provided a unique understanding of justice by analyzing it on the individual soul and social level. Although later philosophers have questioned its practicality, the audience should give Platos conception of justice due credit as one of the earliest rational and logical discussions of justice as a concept. In explaining his idea of justice, Plato moved from conventional opinion to knowledge that emphasized the harmonious functioning of reason, spirit, and desire.
Definition of Justice According to Plato
Platos Quest to Reconvince Fellow Athenians
Plato defines justice as a response to the existing conceptions. Namely, in Republic, he argues that the arguments of justice by his fellow Athenians, namely, Cephalus, Glaucon, Thrasymachus are flawed. For instance, Polemarchus understood justice as a need to do good for friends and harm enemies (Cornford, 1941). Plato is in despair of such an understanding of justice, which was the dominant conception of just or right in Athens at the time. According to Plato, such an idea of justice will prevent City (Polis) from realizing its potential as a deliberative community and civilization. Therefore, Plato challenges Polemarchuss definition by arguing that there might be some people who pretend to be your friends (Cornford, 1941). Moreover, he emphasizes that by Polemarchuss logic, we should find it acceptable to injure a good man if he is our enemy, which according to Plato, is against our moral intuitions. Thus, by exposing the inherent flaws of his fellow Athenians conception of justice, Plato attempts to convince them that such an understanding of justice jeopardizes the potential to construct a civilized and deliberative community in their City.
Platos Conception of Justice
Plato provides a different definition of justice in the context of the individual soul and society. He emphasizes that justness is about reason, spirit, and appetite (Bhandari, n.d.). The reason should control the soul through wisdom, while the heart ensures that the rules of logic are applied. The appetite is part of human nature that represents the immediate desires of the people. Each of these aspects has its role and should not interfere with each other.
Plato applies this theory of justice to the larger context of the Athenian City and politics. Similar to reason, spirit, and appetite, three social classes should perform their responsibilities accordingly. Firstly, the ruling class represents reason; secondly, warriors and defenders account for the spirit; thirdly, ordinary farmers and the lower class represent appetite (Bhandari, n.d.). The specialization of each of these classes leads to justice on a larger scale of society. Thus, Plato distances his theory from the conventional community conceptions of justice to a new one, emphasizing the non-interfering functioning of each specialized class.
From Opinion to Knowledge
While explaining the abovementioned theory, Plato stresses the distinction between opinion and unchangeable principles of knowledge. According to him, knowledge is stable, unchanging, and infallible (Cornford, 1941). On the contrary, opinion is unstable, and hence, fallible. In other words, knowledge is about being, while opinion is about becoming (Dorter, 1996). Therefore, this idea implies that knowledge is preferable and more valuable than a mere opinion, and hence, should not be changed.
Lines of Knowledge
Plato introduces four approaches to thinking through which individuals can discover just relations. He calls these stages of cognition a Line or lines of knowledge (Cornford, p. 221). The lowest level of intellect is image-thinking, eikasia, whereby peoples thought processes are confined to individuals past associations (Cornford, 1941; Dorter, 1996). The next level of intellect is belief, pistis, whereby people rely on beliefs they have been taught to believe. Thus, image-thinking and belief are lower levels of the divided line, the opinion.
The higher stage of cognition is knowledge, which consists of the method of hypotheses and reason. The highest level of intellect is called Dialectic, which according to Plato, means a dialogue through question and response that ultimately seeks to determine the truth (Dorter, 1996). Individuals who uphold this condition of thinking perceive things such as reality, justice, beauty, truth, the material universe. Thus, Plato believes that through this highest line of intellect, a Dialectic, individuals can discover just relations and ensure the harmonious functioning of society.
The Impracticality and Value of Platos Model
Although Platos emphasis on the distinction between knowledge and opinion is essential, later philosophers, including Aristotle, have questioned its practicality. His opponents stressed that too rigid separation of knowledge from opinion jeopardizes the possibility of reaching higher levels of knowledge (Dorter, 1996). Moreover, Platos justice model is also impractical since the ideal functioning of social classes under the strict hierarchy of status is hardly plausible in reality.
Nevertheless, Plato should be given proper credit for his theory since it is the first philosophical justice discussion. In addition, Plato presents an unconventional conception of justice as both a social and individual issue. His idea is that if each part is doing its job, both the society and individual will have virtues such as wisdom, courage, and self-discipline. Hence, it is highly plausible that individuals will restrain from immoral, unjust actions such as stealing because they possess these virtues.
Conclusion
To conclude, in defining justice as an evaluative standard, Plato presents a new conception of justice revolving around the harmonious and proportional combination of reason, spirit, and desire. Only in such a world, Plato believes Athenians can realize the potential of their City as a deliberative community and civilization. While defining justice, Plato also emphasizes the importance of differentiating opinion from knowledge through four stages of cognition.
References
Bhandari, D. R. (n.d.). Platos concept of justice: An analysis. The Paideia Project.
Cornford, F. M. (1941). The Republic of Plato, translated with introduction and notes by Francis Macdonald Cornford. Oxford University Press.
Dorter, K. (1996). Three disappearing ladders in Plato. Philosophy & Rhetoric, 29(3), 279299.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.