The final two books of The Republic conclude all of the previous discourses; first by an insightful description of tyranny and the cause of its happening, then a final answer is given to the question posed by Thrasymachus in the first book: Is justice profitable, and does it bring happiness? But that is in Book X. Here, Socrates proposes some insight on the corruption of the tyrant. The tyrant himself was defined in the last book as a man having no Reason to guide his unlawful passions. As a result of his upbringing by the democratic man, the tyrant is pushed closer to lawlessness and passion, although his father had some sort of guidance with the tightfisted oligarchic father. It is this ethos which brought this kind of lust upon him; the want for money and pleasure, and the upbringing which taught him that he should pursue what makes him happy, for he has the freedom to. With these desires upon him, he has no Reason to guide them, and his soul is lost, and consumed in such lusts. This absence of Reason, law, and guidance leads him to pursuing his desires in ways that are unjust to others. He spends so lavishly, that he must borrow from others, and in order to do so, he must become manipulative, and he commits dishonest acts to get what he wants. This life seems to be the most wretched, and the most undesirable for the soul, but Socrates has another type in mind: The tyrannical ruler. Because of the loss of trust by all around him, the tyrant must do anything to make it so he cannot be overthrown. All of the people together overpower him, so in a state of complete fear for his life and luxuries, he relies on his henchmen and becomes slave to them. It is then concluded that the tyrant, though he makes slaves of many, is no less of a slave himself.

After discussing the tyrannical nature, the philosophers have one question to answer, and it may come fairly easily. Is justice profitable? As shown in the previous dialogue, the pursuit of the passions without any guide can only lead to pure misery. Just as a body knows pleasure when it is outside of suffering and in good health, the soul knows pleasure when in a state of justice and harmony. Injustice is being governed by the brute desires within oneself, but justice is a result of the ruling by the divine goodness in the soul. This can all only mean that justice is profitable and that it results in happiness, for a soul fulfilled with such good suffers no confusion or detriment.

The topic of Poetry soon returns, and there are new ideas that come with it. Socrates claims that poets really do not know what they are talking about, and when stripped from all of the hefty wording and colorful metaphors, the poems are nearly meaningless, and they simply reflect brutish emotions and passions. Art is said to be two units away from absolute truth, as it is a representation of the embodiment of a form. Therefore, it should not be used as reference for good and truth. Poetry is led by animal-like lusts and erotic desires, and it strays far from reason. Socrates describes it to be like “a child who shrieks when he falls and hugs his wound,” and not a man whose soul is trained by Reason. Poetry and drama is then stripped from the state, as it feeds the wrong parts of the soul.

In this final chapter, Socrates proves the immortality of the soul. A soul is not a physical thing with parts that can be broken; and it can only be damaged by means of injustice and severe corruptions, like a disease. If the soul were to be just and harmonious, no detriment of the body would have any effect on the soul’s well being. Therefore, the soul is immortal, and according to Socrates, a just soul is rewarded in an afterlife, and the corrupted one is damned. He then proceeds to describe the myth of Er, concerning the specific attributes of the afterlife, which is not crucial to the whole of the book. After all of this, the ideal society has been formed, and all of the philosophical ideas that come attached to it have been discussed and formed into law. These many discussions and establishments founded on first principles and Goodness have finally resulted in The Republic of Plato.

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