The Kallipolis: Justice and Ideals

More than two-thousand years have elapsed since Plato wrote what many consider his most famous work, Republic. To this day, students and scholars alike grapple with the challenging philosophical issues presented therein. The thematic crux of the work lies in the nature of justice. In defining this slippery concept, Socrates details the structure and workings of what he considers a truly just city, the kallipolis. There are those who would say that this kallipolis may be equated to a utopia, an ideal society; however, I intend to illustrate a much divergent point of view. The justice of this city, made analogous to the justice of the individual, is specifically what precludes the kallipolis from being an ideal society. For this reason, the kallipolis should serve primarily as a magnified model for the constitution of the just individual, rather than as a blueprint for the ideal city.
The center of my argument lies in Plato's specific definition of justice and the quality of life he believes that the just man will enjoy. In the broadest sense, Plato defines justice as the quality of an entity capable of making decisions whose parts are arranged according to their proper function. In constructing the just city, Plato reveals his theory of the tripartite human soul, that we are composed of a rational part, a spirited or emotional part, and an appetitive part. Each of these three parts has a particular function and is structured hierarchically in relation to the others. As Plato posits, the key aspect of this hierarchy in a just soul is the rule of reason. In this sense, the soul may be construed to mean the rough combination of emotion and intellect by which we determine our actions. According to Plato's conception of the forms, true knowledge may only be obtained by one who is ruled by the rational element. Rule by reason promotes harmony within one's own constitution and allows the soul to act most effectively. The unjust man lives troubled by his own