A Critique of Plato's Just Society Using the Notion of Fairness From Assignment

A Critique of Plato's Just Society Using the Notion of Fairness From John Rawls - Assignment Example The most explicit discussion of the tripartite part of the soul and the primacy of reason therein occurs in the fourth book of the Republic (435b). One of the first preliminary aspects of the soul is that although the parts of the soul are distinct in their virtues, Socrates also stresses that in the functioning of these parts, the soul must be considered as a â€Å"whole† [Plato, 1992, p. 436a]. What is implied by this, is as follows? If for example, one desired food, and this desire originated in the appetites, it would still require reason both to discern the means of satisfying this desire, but also it would require reason to know when one has had enough for the sake of health in which case, reason would act upon the ‘will’ to suppress desire, so to speak. This is a ‘chain of command’, so to speak, which will be explored both as it is outlined in this section of the Republic, but also in terms of how this is established in the three classes of the state [Haworth, 2004, p. 13]. Further, it is important to similarly stress that the appetites are as necessary for the reason for the sake of surviving. In other words, someone who had no appetite would starve, just as someone who had no ‘will’ or ‘spirit’ would have no discipline to stop eating or drinking. Thus, Socrates stresses that although the reason is given privilege within the scheme of the soul, he also stresses that all three aspects constitute the ‘whole’, and this ‘whole’ is necessary for surviving. In some ways, his position on the soul can be said to be a refutation of Thrasymachus position from the beginning of the dialogue where he argues that the just society is the one ruled by the â€Å"stronger† [Adams and Dyson, 2003, p. 4].  Ã‚