Book Seven – “Going Higher”

In our lives, we each desire to take ourselves to something higher. We want to acquire better status, more wealth, or a better life in general. We are born with our heads looking up to what we can achieve.

What really is the highest state worth achieving? Are material things going to give us the most amount of joy or are they a waste of time? Socrates addresses these issues in Book Seven of Plato’s Republic. Through the use of the very well known allegory of the cave, Socrates talks about how we are moving to achieve the ideal state of being (i.e. wisdom and truth.)

Book Six – “The Philosopher King – The Man Who Steers The Ship”

It is part of the nature of man to desire to live with other people. Humans desire to live in community together. A community is when two or more people gather with a common cause or purpose. When there is a group, there is a diversity of opinions and ideas. Everyone has his or her own idea of how something should be accomplished. This is why groups need leaders.

Just like a boat needs to be steered, a group needs a leader with the wisdom to know the direction to take things. For Socrates, being a philosopher and a lover of truth is the highest role in life and is what is most needed in a leader. Socrates states that the leader of the city should be the philosopher king. The question is what would the philosopher king look like. What would he value? In book six of Plato’s Republic, Socrates, Glaucon, and Adeimantus continue to discuss who the philosopher king will be and how they will find him.

Book Five – Building the City as a Family

As part of being human, we live in families, communities, and cities. These groups are where we find our identity. Unity among the members of these communities is essential.

We must be guard ourselves to make sure what we do is the best for the community. Only the men and women whom are best for each other should marry. Those who are married will produce the children, which will be the next generation of the community. We need to have the best guardians and the best leaders. Just like this, in Book Five of Plato’s Republic, Socrates understood the importance of protecting the city of today and ensuring a great city of tomorrow; protecting against the forces and factions that could tear it apart.

Book Four – For The Sake Of The City

Sacrifice is a common theme throughout life. It is commonly drawn upon in pop culture. Just about every movie seems to have some type of sacrifice as part of the story line. A man makes a sacrifice for his girl friend. The soldier sacrifices his life for his fellow troops.

In Plato’s Republic Book 4, Socrates, Adeimantus, and Glaucon, while continuing to build their utopian city, start to realize the level of sacrifice that will be required. Will the guardians be able forgo the “savage masters” of their appetites for personal wealth for the sake of the city?