"Plato's Republic" begins and ends with a discussion of justice. ... In fact, there are only two arguments that Plato presents over the course of The Republic to justify banning things in the city, but each argument is extremely important in its own right. ... And Plato uses these justifications to banish poets and various types of speech from his city. Specifically, he wants poets not admitted into the city because poetry "produces a bad regime in the soul of each private man by making phantoms that are very far removed from the truth " (289). ... The rational, spirited, and appetitive ...

• Word Count: 2504
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For Plato, the good life was that in which through rational analysis and thought an individual dedicated his life to observing and understanding the highest principle, which he called "the Good". ... It also means developing to the fullest your mental, rational capacity, creating a set of values to which you are consistent throughout life and consciously understand their reason for being (truly knowing yourself and understanding your beliefs) and giving rational thought to higher principles of life. ... There are several philosophers whom I had similar views to: Jose Ortega y Gasset, Karl Marx...

• Word Count: 4292
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Most notable among the Greek philosophers who inspired Machiavelli was Plato. In particular, Machiavelli took interest in Plato's concept of just rulers who ruled by moral virtue. ... Virtu is thus manliness, those qualities found in a "real man"" . ... On the other hand, Plato argues a ruler can never be unjust. ... The citizen, in order to create a strong republic, must yield to the inevitable realization that each man by himself is weak. ...

• Word Count: 4508
• Approx Pages: 18
• Grade Level: Undergraduate