Plato is a pretty smart fellow in fact I would go so far as to say that do what more want like if

Absolutely forefront from all other things I do (so forefront in fact that it's not even the first thing I do, but more like the zeroth or something like that), I will give some background information regarding background information. Background information is actually a misnomer as it is not information in the metaphorical background (not the focus) of a writing or topic, but rather is information relevant to understanding such things as literary or rhetorical allusions made in a writing piece, oration, or similar.

First, I will give some background information. Plato was an Athenian philosopher who is most well known today, along with Xenophon, for writing several fictional dialogues about a character named Socrates. Although often portrayed to be an underdog, the authentic Socrates as described by Plato's writings was in fact a seriously imposing figure in daily Athenian life. Some meta-backgroundinformation is necessary to understand this: while today we may think of bullies or gangs (the type stereotyped as being illiterate, buff, with tattoos, etc) when we think of confrontational rebels without causes, it was quite different in Athenian society. Socrates, not unlike the sophists, was known for strolling the streets and challenging people's views on matters such as justice and goodness. Those foolish enough to believe themselves his match in these confrontations, or those unlucky enough to be unable to escape, would receive what can only be described as a mental beat-down of epic proportions. Belief and bias alike fell before the mighty blows of his logic. None could escape its arrogance-purging embrace forever. What made him different from being essentially a really efficient sophist, however, was the fact that in his creation, Plato and Xenophon made his arguments and beliefs so powerful and interesting that they effectively trolled western culture for several millennia - up to and including the modern day.

So this post will detail one of Socrates's (through the writing of Plato, of course) arguments and its incredibly undeniable logic. So around 427d Plato has been discussing for the the past few chapters the absolute perfect state. Now, the feasibility of this may incite skepticism among some people, but that is beyond the scope of this post. He lays out a plan for finding out what justice is:
1. The city we are talking about here is perfect. (i)
2. The city we are talking about here must have the virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. (ii)
3. If we determine what characteristics of the city the virtues of wisdom, courage, and temperance are rooted in, whatever characteristics are left over must be the characteristics that justice is rooted in. (iii)

So thus we can find out what justice is. Now, one might argue that some assumptions are being made here that Plato does not state, such as perhaps: "perfect things are ONLY wise, courageous, temperate, and just." A hypothetical opponent to Plato here could hypothetically propose that it could be thought that perhaps it is problematic to Plato's argument that if there are traits in the city other than the four he happens to feel like considering, they would also have to be found and set aside before whatever is left over is justice. Now, bear in mind that this is purely hypothetical as no one in their actual right mind would so much as consider making such a silly objection. And as such, being small and insignificant, the objection was not even given a mention by Plato. So, moving on.

The next step to Plato's ingenious method of finding justice is to find wisdom, courage, and temperance. These arguments are fairly straightforward and are found at 428b-429a, 429b-430d, and 430e-432b respectively. So then we get to justice. Now that we have determined and set aside three virtues, justice has to be the remains. Now at this point I got pretty excited. This is a sign of good literature, that you are absorbed in the world of the characters and feel their excitement as your own. Oh man we're getting real close to this, let's make a metaphor about how we are like "huntsmen" approaching their game (iv) oh man oh man I'm really feeling this holy shit it has to be here I can feel it's presence OH THERE IT IS FUCK YEAH JUSTICE I FOUND JUSTICE EVERONE OH MY GOD GUIZE I FOND JUSTIC SRSLY HOLY SHIT YEAH UUNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE!!11oneeleventyoneetc
So about halfway between 432d and 432e, Plato realizes that justice has been staring him in the face all along (metaphorically). Essentially, he claims at this point that justice is in fact (433a-433b) "to do one's own business in a certain way," by which he means justice is achieved by all the individuals in the state performing the duties they are best suited to perform. And then, about halfway between 433b and 433c, when asked from whence he draws this inference, he says "well duh, because this is the only virtue which remains in the state when the other three have been removed. srsly holy shit, learn to philosophize noob." (v)

Once again, an uneducated bystander might find it odd that while the common meaning of justice is generally used to mean equality, Plato argues for justice as a form of inequality (each person in society doing only the duty they are best suited to do, not necessarily the one they want to do). But again such a bystander would just be revealing their own ignorance, and Plato does not bother commenting on this discrepancy as its justification is obvious: justice was clearly the one trait left over and thus our previous intuitions about it must have been wrong.


And here, although it somewhat detracts from the humor, are the references.
Yes. References.
I was not entirely joking.

i. About halfway between 427e and 428a. "I mean to begin with the assumption that our State,
if rightly ordered, is perfect."

ii. Same. "And being perfect, is therefore wise and valiant and temperate and just."

iii. 428a. "If there were four things, and we were searching for one of them… we might know the
other three first, and then the fourth would clearly be the one left."

iv. I might have exaggerated a tiny bit. 432c. "... like huntsmen, we should
surround the cover, and look sharp that justice does not steal away, and pass out of sight and
escape us; for beyond a doubt she is somewhere in this country: watch therefore and strive to
catch a sight of her, and if you see her first, let me know."

v. This one was 100% serious. Halfway between 433b and 433c. "Because I think that this is the
only virtue which remains in the State when the other virtues of temperance and courage and
wisdom are abstracted"

From Benjamin Jowett's translation of Plato's Republic.




Sorry.

fgarsou78325kjdsv

Yup.