Plato's Views on Morality and Justice in The Republic

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Introduction to Philosophy
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1INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Topic - Topic - Plato notes that morality can be a property of whole communities as well as
individuals. Explain what he thinks makes an individual person moral and how this relates
to his conclusions about it on the community level. Do you agree that a moral person
would be as Plato describes? Defend your answer
The Republic is written by Plato in 380 BC which is actually a Socratic dialogue. The
piece is about justice, community, and the just or moral man. The work has been considered to
be one of the best philosophical writing and also the most influential one. The work captures the
various aspects of justice Socrates discussed about with the Athenians as well as with the
foreigners (Mitchell and John Randolph Lucas). It also throws light on the controversy between
whether a just man is happier than the unjust man. Above all, it discusses about the immorality
of soul and the contribution of poetry and a philosopher in the society. However, the first few
books of ‘The Republic’ present an extended case connoting that perhaps an unjust person is
happier than the just person. This suggestion is countered by the argument that the truly just
man/woman is driven by the thought of ‘good’. Such people have an inborn sense of morality
and always behave rationally. Therefore, they are inevitably happier than the immoral people.
He supports that it is completely rational to be moral.
According to Plato, a person can become moral if he/she is rational and judges
everything rationally. Rationality can be attained by self –interested activities. Plato recognizes
the difference between actual self –interest and apparent self-interest and suggests that the
conflict between morality and rationality in an individual person is nothing but the conflict
between apparent self-interest and apparent self –interest. Morality is never questioned if a
person has the actual self-interest(Mitchell and John Randolph Lucas). Plato prescribe that a
person must not stock to the contractarian concepts of morality according to which a person’s