Why Is Socrates Considered Unjust

The Republic Reflection

Socrates was a man of distinction and a man with strong ideas on how to make a more perfect society. Although a lot of his ideas conflict with his ability to be just or unjust it does not in his mind. Being just or unjust is a major topic in the book and there are many different ways of being both. Socrates used the terms, not necessarily the way we would normally use the term today, but parts of his depiction made sense. He said a lot of different things could be considered unjust. For example not doing what you were Destined to do or what you are best at is considered unjust in his mind. Socrates said “one man is naturally fitted for one task, and another for another.” I don’t believe this statement to be one holding any significance. If people
are specially trained their whole life for a specific job it would in tern make them good at what they do, whether it is carpentry, architecture, or some type of sport. But any person can be taught to do some sort of skill well regardless of what it is. If someone receives localized education at any specific task or job it is possible to be able to excel at it. Also I believe that people can be good or great at many different things and it would not take away from their abilities at another. Why cant a person be a great electrician and a great carpenter? Many people today have more than one skill and apply both in their working environment. There are many real life examples of people being great at many a different task. Socrates would say that by focusing on something else it would take away from ones ability to still be great on that previous task. But who’s to say when someone reaches his or her full potential at one thing he or she can’t learn another not necessarily similar activity. For example, there have been many sports professionals that have retired and been elected to the hall of fame, stating their personal excellence, have gone on to be exceptional businessmen, coaches, and analysts. They developed these ablities while negotiating contracts, being students of the game, and maybe even in college prior to playing professional sports. Determining what someone's aptitude is at birth must be a near impossible task for whomever it may fall on.
Socrates doesn’t really discus how he might go about finding these baby’s natural talent for anything. Maybe his plan is to determine them after finding out the direct interests of these infants as they age, categorizing them while they are growing as people. There lies a problem in that the influence of who is raising the child could sway his or hers talents. Surely if someone spends time with an infant some of their traits will rub off on them, for that is a baby’s time for learning and mimicking what they see. If they didn’t wait to eliminate and just categorize the babies from their initial traits, which there won’t be many, they may make a mistake in their categorization. For example a large baby doesn’t necessarily mean that that the same baby will in tern be a large adult. They might pick these large babies to be guardians and then when they grow up they might be men of small stature, most definitely not suited for fighting. On the other hand many of the decisions may never seem wrong because every one has the ability to learn and perform well at different
tasks. Socrates also felt strongly about who should be able to receive medical attention regardless of their class. He said “ A life in which one must give all ones attention to ones ailments and not ones proper job is not worth loving.” This is an absurd quote and I can’t believe he feels that way. He does make a decent point that some of these people may have to live their entire lives under the good will of the state, only to be supported by taxes. But at the same time many others with terminal and debilitating illnesses can contribute greatly in our society and have proven that over our great history. For example Steven Hawking is a certified genius and has opened the eyes of many as a professor. In dealing with his physical impairments it would seem only to strengthen his keen appetite for knowledge. There are so many other people that would have cast out of his society that could have contributed greatly. People who are afflicted with terminal diseases find things to keep their mind off of what they are experiencing, this might make them pay even more attention to their work and give them more drive to accomplish it at a quicker pace for they have a foreseeable end near. The human mind is a creative place and no ones should be eliminated because of any ailment of disfigurement.