2.1: Individual and the State: Plato's Crito
Watch this lecture, which gives a background for the social and political theory given by Plato in the dialogue between Socrates and Crito. Socrates explains to Crito why he feels that he must remain in prison and carry out the death sentence of the court of Athens. Crito hopes that Socrates will simply leave Athens and go to live in another Greek city-state like Sparta. Socrates feels this would be wrong; above all, Socrates respects the law (the government and the courts of Athens). To disobey the law is wrong, even if he feels the death sentence they gave him is unfair.
Read this description of Plato's theory of the forms. What does Plato mean by "forms"?; How does this relate to justice? What does the ideal state have to do with justice?
Read this summary of Plato's Republic. Pay particular attention to the summary of Books 6,7, and 8; the Theory of Universals; to the definition of justice; and to the Ideal City. What are the four types of government which Plato rejects, and why does he reject them?
Read Book V through Book VIII from this edition of Plato's Republic. For this and the following reading, pay attention to how both the translator of Republic and Mr. Kemerling treat the following concepts: justice, ideal forms, and the ideal city. Notice also the concept of the Ideal Form of the Good. What would a perfect city look like? Is this part of understanding justice and right in our own world?
In this reading Kemerling discusses how moral decision making is often concerned with issues of self-interest and justice. The ring of Gyges is used as a thought device to show the temptation to do what is in one's self interest when no negative consequences will occur. Then Socrates describes an ideal society in which citizens are given specific roles, in hopes that this will enable each individual to fulfill their proper function without self-interest and temptation.
In this reading the ideal society of The Republic is discussed in more detail. The role of women in the ideal society is changed, in exchange for giving up raising of their own children the women are given equal status. The role of the philosopher kings and queens is described, noting that those who rule in The Republic do not own private property so as to limit their tempation. Then the Allegory of the Cave is described, noting that the realm of the senses (inside the cave) is often misleading, and that the significant values and concepts of ethics reside in the realm of the intelligible (outside the cave.)