Plato's Republic

¶ … Justice in Plato's ideal "Republic"

Plato defines justice as an individual fulfilling his or her own vocational or personal purpose in life, rather than as a state upholding a principle of justice and enabling individuals to live and function in a fair and free manner. For instance, Plato believes that someone who is destined to be a good cobbler should be a cobbler, even if that cobbler may wish to run for higher office and not mend shoes. Instead, the leaders of a just state should decide what that person is most suited to do in life, and insure that he or she performs that function.

Likewise, a potential philosopher-king should not have to design or mend shoes, and thus a cobbler should not be forced to have the responsibilities of governance. A person's form or nature of character follows their vocational function and place in Plato's ideal state. The anti-democratic ethos of Plato's utopian "Republic" is thus crucially related to the philosopher's own unique concept of justice, as justice is defined as a state where everyone is to do their own best work while not interfering with the work of others.

Plato divides the social classes of his state into three distinct tiers. The first tier leads the society. These kings are specially designated from birth to do so, even bred specially to lead. The second, military class of society protects the higher ruling classes from the third and lowest tier of manual laborers and commoners. The justice of this arrangement lies in the overall functionality of the society, and the ability of every individual to achieve his or her perfect purpose, rather than the individual exercising a free and potentially imperfect will and set of desires. Only by ensuring the best people lead will tyranny of the masses be prevented. Ideally, this should also prevent the tyranny of the one, or the individual tyrant, because Socrates believes that the common people are dangerously apt to select unfit rulers to head the state, because tyrants can sway the masses with false rhetoric and use the state for their own enrichment and create an unjust society only amenable to the tyrant.