The Role Of Justice In The Republic

Justice is a concept that has changed and developed throughout history. The foundation of the modern justice system in the western world began in Athens just over two thousand years ago. Many philosophers had their own conceptions about what justice truly is, however, Plato proved to be the most influential. Before Plato, many men shared Polemarchus’ belief that justice meant giving good to friends and evil to enemies. In his book, The Republic, Plato sets out to define the true definition of justice. Plato states that justice is when men to put aside irrational desires for the greater good of society. If civilization were to follow Polemarchus’ view of justice, society would become anarchy. People would punish those that have wronged them
in any way they deemed necessary without proof of guilt. Putting individual desires aside and judging someone within a fair judicial system is the best way to keep humanity moving forward. Plato says that it is in the nature of humans to be just and it is integrated within the human soul. He states that by being just they are fulfilling their natural duty. This is true because when members of society hear about horrific tragedies (i.e.
the shooting at sandy hook elementary school) they are discussed and it upsets or makes them angry. Even though most people are not directly affected by the tragedy it weighs down on them and they become eager to know who did the crime and want justice for the victims. In Plato’s time, some men were trying to dispute this and say that justice was created by the weak to protect the weak. If this were true humanity would not care about injustices from other countries or cities. In The Republic, Plato also covers his idea of what an ideal society is. He believes that society is split into three classes that include producers (create goods to sustain the people), auxiliaries (warriors to protect society) and guardians (rule society). Plato claims that each of these three groups needs to operate in a way where they do not interfere with one another. A member of each class must only perform functions pertaining to that class. However, this is not what makes an ideal society. If this were true then the all members of society would have no choice but to bend their will to the rulers. Eventually there would be cruel leaders who would disregard the needs of the people for selfish
matters. For an ideal society to be possible, every member needs to have a say in what goes on within their country and this can only happen when people from different classes begin to communicate and negotiate with one another. Without Plato’s, The Republic, modern society’s judicial system would be based upon completely different moral principles.