In Book Four of Plato’s Republic, Socrates uses the analogy of the city and the soul to demonstrate the three forms that give the soul the same level of justice as the city. If the three classes in the city and the psyche are the same, then an individual’s justice will be the same as the justice of the city. Socrates says, “We are certainly compelled to hold that each of us has within himself the same parts and features as the metropolis.”[1]
The three forms that Socrates considers to be similar in a person and the metropolis are: the appetitive, the spirited, and the logical parts. Plato uses the three forms to show that justice is an intrinsic virtue that brings pleasure and happiness; and the analogy of the city and the soul is necessary to elaborate the importance of justice to the person in a clearer and more practical manner.
The first city has an appetitive structure, and represents a soul with great appetite for various pleasures, physical satisfaction, and comfort. In the appetitive city, the citizens are guided by appetites. This kind of city is feverish, luxurious, wealthy, and full of surpluses.[2]
Such excesses and desires for wealth lead to conflicts and war. The appetites experienced in such a city are responsible for the all the bad things and the injustices happening to its citizens. The various appetites may make the citizens jealous, and such behavior could lead to instability and injustice in the city. Similarly, a person’s soul has an appetitive form which causes lust, thirst, greed, erotic love and general desires. This part of the soul is also responsible for an individual’s destructive desire for money and wealth. Therefore, rational leaders are required to regulate the behaviors of citizens to create an ideal city, and a rational part of the soul is also necessary to protect the individual from engaging in injustices.
The second class of the city is reason or logic. This form of the city is composed of rational rulers or guardians whose responsibility is to protect the citizens from enemies and influencers. However, it is possible for the guardians in the city to “guard against external enemies and internal friends.”[3] In this regard, the leaders may turn against its own citizens. Thus, the guardians should be trained to be behave logically by fighting against external aggressors and respecting citizens. The soul also has a rational part composed of the mind, which is an individual’s conscious awareness. This part helps the person to think, analyze, and rationally weigh options. Like the city, the rational part should identify the best action and behavior for the individual. The logic is the smallest part of the soul as rulers form the smallest part of the metropolis.
The spirited part of the soul and the city is concerned with ambition, anger and temper. It is liked with soldiers in the city who become angry with injustice and take actions to overcome challenges in the Republic.[4]
To achieve justice in the city, children should be taught to be trained to fight for the safety of the city. The ambitious structure of the city loves victory and honor. It is similar to a spirited element of the soul that always gets riled up with injustice, and guides the individual to fight the tendencies of injustice.
Plato makes the comparison between the three elements of the city and of the soul to discuss the issue of justice more elaborately, and guide people towards the achievement of justice. According to Plato, a just city occurs when all the three classes operate in harmony. Similarly, all the three structures of the soul work in harmony to promote happiness and virtuousness of the individual.
The comparison of the three forms of the city and the soul is warranted because it provides a clear understanding of the different forms in the individual and society. The appetitive and spirited parts of the soul and the city are non-rational, while the logical part is rational. While the spirited soldiers fight against injustices in the city, they require rational guidance from the rulers. The appetitive and spirited part of the soul are also regulated by the logical and conscious part.[5]
In a just soul, the spirited part aligns with the logical part and resists the temptations of appetite the same way citizens obey their rulers in a just city. In an unjust soul the spirited form ignores the rational faculties of the person in the same way that unjust citizens ignore the rational guidance of rulers in the city.
In conclusion, Socrates makes a comparison between the city and the soul as an effective metaphor to provide a clear understanding of the importance of balancing the spirited, rational, and appetitive elements to achieve justice and happiness. In both the city and the individual, justice is achieved when each part of the whole performs its function without interfering with the functions of other elements. On the other hand, injustice occurs when the spirited part of the soul or the city listens to the appetitive faculty, and the two elements ignore the logical element to pursue pleasures of the world.
[1]
Plato. Republic. 435e
[2]
Yu, Kexin. Unpacking the City-Soul Analogy. Res Cogitans, 8.1 (2017), 65-73.
[3]
Plato. Republic. 414b.
[4]
Yu, Kexin. Unpacking the City-Soul Analogy. Res Cogitans, 8.1 (2017), 65-73.
[5]
Yu, Kexin. Unpacking the City-Soul Analogy. Res Cogitans, 8.1 (2017), 65-73.
