For this to occur, philosophy must rule the city, ideally under a philosopher king. Just as reason would rule in an ideal city [run by a philosopher king], reason must also rule in the soul in order for the soul to rule the body in such a way that it can control the many individual passions and impulses of the body. Socrates creates a parallel between the relationship that the body has with the soul and the relationship that the guardian class in the ideal city has with its subjects. Socrates' believes that his primary notion of justice being the greatest virtue is verified in both the soul/body and the [philosopher] king/subject relationships. In the "city in speech, " justice ensures that rulers rule for the good of their subjects and, in doing so, that the subjects do their specialized job for the good of the city. In the same way, the soul exhibits justice by ruling the body in a such a way that "does not allow the elements in it each to do the job of some other.instead it regulates well what is really his own, rules himself, becomes his own friend " and creates harmony within" (Republic 443). .
Socrates illustrated, using his "city in speech, " that the best life for an individual is a life of happiness, and that this human good is achieved only through the implementation of justice. Aristotle is in full agreement with Socrates on the "best good,"" or "comprehensive good,"" being a life of happiness. Aristotle contends that individuals develop their own definitions of happiness based on "the lives they lead"" (Nicomachean Ethics 256). Inevitably, this will lead to conflicting notions of happiness between the many and the wise. Aristotle states that there are "three most favored lives" " (Nicomachean Ethics 256). The first is a life that merely seeks pleasure [Pathos], and is easily dismissed by Aristotle as being the best life. The second is a political life. Although noble and worthy of discussion, this life is also dismissed as being the best life as it is incomplete.
