Inevitably, Plato believed that justice is a virtue; that there are three parts to the soul with three virtues; wisdom, courage and temperance. He believed that only if these three parts worked together in harmony, can there be a just man. He proved this by paralleling a "just man" with that of a "just society"; wisdom, the mind or to rule and make decisions, courage, the heart, enforces the decisions, and temperance, the body, the people who follow the rules. Together these components, working together in unison, create what would be the "just society" that Plato talks so much about. .
Plato's vivid dialogues portray Socrates explaining that the "just man" is wise, that "he" is a philosopher, much like Plato and himself. The "just man" is someone who strives for the truth and does that which his reason tells him is right. I think that Plato's views may be a little biased in the context that the "just ruler" should be what he is, a philosopher. This also proves that John E.E.D. Acton said, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." I think that Plato has an ulterior motive, to rise up and take power and what I see him saying is that, only he(a philosopher) is qualified to govern a "just society". I feel that though what Plato says may have some truth in it but behind what Plato believes, there is some selfishness and lust for power. Though his argument was well planned, personal influences may have clouded his viewof the ideal state and therefore his idea of justice. As well as he had the courage and blatancy to say that only philosophers, who have the excellences of the tripartite soul, are Platonically just and therefore the happiest of people. Plato's views have truth in its framework but seems to vanish behind his superficial desire for power and truth. His rebuttals in every case seemed tainted by this one fatal vice. Plato can only prove his theories when he uses his "ideal state" or "just society" to describe them; without it he does not see the idea of justice.
