The Republic :: Concordance

The Republic by Plato BOOK IX
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[12827] BOOK IX. [12828] [12829] Last of all comes the tyrannical man; about whom we have once more to ask, [12830] how is he formed out of the democratical? and how does he live, in [12831] happiness or in misery? [12832] [12833] Yes, he said, he is the only one remaining. [12834] [12835] There is, however, I said, a previous question which remains unanswered. [12836] [12837] What question? [12838] [12839] I do not think that we have adequately determined the nature and number of [12840] the appetites, and until this is accomplished the enquiry will always be [12841] confused. [12842] [12843] Well, he said, it is not too late to supply the omission. [12844] [12845] Very true, I said; and observe the point which I want to understand: [12846] Certain of the unnecessary pleasures and appetites I conceive to be [12847] unlawful; every one appears to have them, but in some persons they are [12848] controlled by the laws and by reason, and the better desires prevail over [12849] them--either they are wholly banished or they become few and weak; while in [12850] the case of others they are stronger, and there are more of them. [12851] [12852] Which appetites do you mean? [12853] [12854] I mean those which are awake when the reasoning and human and ruling power [12855] is asleep; then the wild beast within us, gorged with meat or drink, starts [12856] up and having shaken off sleep, goes forth to satisfy his desires; and [12857] there is no conceivable folly or crime--not excepting incest or any other [12858] unnatural union, or parricide, or the eating of forbidden food--which at [12859] such a time, when he has parted company with all shame and sense, a man may [12860] not be ready to commit. [12861] [12862] Most true, he said. [12863] [12864] But when a man's pulse is healthy and temperate, and when before going to [12865] sleep he has awakened his rational powers, and fed them on noble thoughts [12866] and enquiries, collecting himself in meditation; after having first [12867] indulged his appetites neither too much nor too little, but just enough to [12868] lay them to sleep, and prevent them and their enjoyments and pains from [12869] interfering with the higher principle--which he leaves in the solitude of [12870] pure abstraction, free to contemplate and aspire to the knowledge of the [12871] unknown, whether in past, present, or future: when again he has allayed [12872] the passionate element, if he has a quarrel against any one--I say, when, [12873] after pacifying the two irrational principles, he rouses up the third, [12874] which is reason, before he takes his rest, then, as you know, he attains [12875] truth most nearly, and is least likely to be the sport of fantastic and [12876] lawless visions. [12877] [12878] I quite agree. [12879] [12880] In saying this I have been running into a digression; but the point which I [12881] desire to note is that in all of us, even in good men, there is a lawless [12882] wild-beast nature, which peers out in sleep. Pray, consider whether I am [12883] right, and you agree with me. [12884] [12885] Yes, I agree. [12886] [12887] And now remember the character which we attributed to the democratic man. [12888] He was supposed from his youth upwards to have been trained under a miserly [12889] parent, who encouraged the saving appetites in him, but discountenanced the [12890] unnecessary, which aim only at amusement and ornament? [12891] [12892] True. [12893] [12894] And then he got into the company of a more refined, licentious sort of [12895] people, and taking to all their wanton ways rushed into the opposite [12896] extreme from an abhorrence of his father's meanness. At last, being a [12897] better man than his corruptors, he was drawn in both directions until he [12898] halted midway and led a life, not of vulgar and slavish passion, but of [12899] what he deemed moderate indulgence in various pleasures. After this manner [12900] the democrat was generated out of the oligarch? [12901] [12902] Yes, he said; that was our view of him, and is so still. [12903] [12904] And now, I said, years will have passed away, and you must conceive this [12905] man, such as he is, to have a son, who is brought up in his father's [12906] principles. [12907] [12908] I can imagine him. [12909] [12910] Then you must further imagine the same thing to happen to the son which has [12911] already happened to the father:--he is drawn into a perfectly lawless life, [12912] which by his seducers is termed perfect liberty; and his father and friends [12913] take part with his moderate desires, and the opposite party assist the [12914] opposite ones. As soon as these dire magicians and tyrant-makers find that [12915] they are losing their hold on him, they contrive to implant in him a master [12916] passion, to be lord over his idle and spendthrift lusts--a sort of [12917] monstrous winged drone--that is the only image which will adequately [12918] describe him. [12919] [12920] Yes, he said, that is the only adequate image of him. [12921] [12922] And when his other lusts, amid clouds of incense and perfumes and garlands [12923] and wines, and all the pleasures of a dissolute life, now let loose, come [12924] buzzing around him, nourishing to the utmost the sting of desire which they [12925] implant in his drone-like nature, then at last this lord of the soul, [12926] having Madness for the captain of his guard, breaks out into a frenzy: and [12927] if he finds in himself any good opinions or appetites in process of [12928] formation, and there is in him any sense of shame remaining, to these [12929] better principles he puts an end, and casts them forth until he has purged [12930] away temperance and brought in madness to the full. [12931] [12932] Yes, he said, that is the way in which the tyrannical man is generated. [12933] [12934] And is not this the reason why of old love has been called a tyrant? [12935] [12936] I should not wonder. [12937] [12938] Further, I said, has not a drunken man also the spirit of a tyrant? [12939] [12940] He has. [12941] [12942] And you know that a man who is deranged and not right in his mind, will [12943] fancy that he is able to rule, not only over men, but also over the gods? [12944] [12945] That he will. [12946] [12947] And the tyrannical man in the true sense of the word comes into being when, [12948] either under the influence of nature, or habit, or both, he becomes [12949] drunken, lustful, passionate? O my friend, is not that so? [12950] [12951] Assuredly. [12952] [12953] Such is the man and such is his origin. And next, how does he live? [12954] [12955] Suppose, as people facetiously say, you were to tell me. [12956] [12957] I imagine, I said, at the next step in his progress, that there will be [12958] feasts and carousals and revellings and courtezans, and all that sort of [12959] thing; Love is the lord of the house within him, and orders all the [12960] concerns of his soul. [12961] [12962] That is certain. [12963] [12964] Yes; and every day and every night desires grow up many and formidable, and [12965] their demands are many. [12966] [12967] They are indeed, he said. [12968] [12969] His revenues, if he has any, are soon spent. [12970] [12971] True. [12972] [12973] Then comes debt and the cutting down of his property. [12974] [12975] Of course. [12976] [12977] When he has nothing left, must not his desires, crowding in the nest like [12978] young ravens, be crying aloud for food; and he, goaded on by them, and [12979] especially by love himself, who is in a manner the captain of them, is in a [12980] frenzy, and would fain discover whom he can defraud or despoil of his [12981] property, in order that he may gratify them? [12982] [12983] Yes, that is sure to be the case. [12984] [12985] He must have money, no matter how, if he is to escape horrid pains and [12986] pangs. [12987] [12988] He must. [12989] [12990] And as in himself there was a succession of pleasures, and the new got the [12991] better of the old and took away their rights, so he being younger will [12992] claim to have more than his father and his mother, and if he has spent his [12993] own share of the property, he will take a slice of theirs. [12994] [12995] No doubt he will. [12996] [12997] And if his parents will not give way, then he will try first of all to [12998] cheat and deceive them. [12999] [13000] Very true. [13001] [13002] And if he fails, then he will use force and plunder them. [13003] [13004] Yes, probably. [13005] [13006] And if the old man and woman fight for their own, what then, my friend? [13007] Will the creature feel any compunction at tyrannizing over them? [13008] [13009] Nay, he said, I should not feel at all comfortable about his parents. [13010] [13011] But, O heavens! Adeimantus, on account of some new-fangled love of a [13012] harlot, who is anything but a necessary connection, can you believe that he [13013] would strike the mother who is his ancient friend and necessary to his very [13014] existence, and would place her under the authority of the other, when she [13015] is brought under the same roof with her; or that, under like circumstances, [13016] he would do the same to his withered old father, first and most [13017] indispensable of friends, for the sake of some newly-found blooming youth [13018] who is the reverse of indispensable? [13019] [13020] Yes, indeed, he said; I believe that he would. [13021] [13022] Truly, then, I said, a tyrannical son is a blessing to his father and [13023] mother. [13024] [13025] He is indeed, he replied. [13026] [13027] He first takes their property, and when that fails, and pleasures are [13028] beginning to swarm in the hive of his soul, then he breaks into a house, or [13029] steals the garments of some nightly wayfarer; next he proceeds to clear a [13030] temple. Meanwhile the old opinions which he had when a child, and which [13031] gave judgment about good and evil, are overthrown by those others which [13032] have just been emancipated, and are now the body-guard of love and share [13033] his empire. These in his democratic days, when he was still subject to the [13034] laws and to his father, were only let loose in the dreams of sleep. But [13035] now that he is under the dominion of love, he becomes always and in waking [13036] reality what he was then very rarely and in a dream only; he will commit [13037] the foulest murder, or eat forbidden food, or be guilty of any other horrid [13038] act. Love is his tyrant, and lives lordly in him and lawlessly, and being [13039] himself a king, leads him on, as a tyrant leads a State, to the performance [13040] of any reckless deed by which he can maintain himself and the rabble of his [13041] associates, whether those whom evil communications have brought in from [13042] without, or those whom he himself has allowed to break loose within him by [13043] reason of a similar evil nature in himself. Have we not here a picture of [13044] his way of life? [13045] [13046] Yes, indeed, he said. [13047] [13048] And if there are only a few of them in the State, and the rest of the [13049] people are well disposed, they go away and become the body-guard or [13050] mercenary soldiers of some other tyrant who may probably want them for a [13051] war; and if there is no war, they stay at home and do many little pieces of [13052] mischief in the city. [13053] [13054] What sort of mischief? [13055] [13056] For example, they are the thieves, burglars, cut-purses, foot-pads, robbers [13057] of temples, man-stealers of the community; or if they are able to speak [13058] they turn informers, and bear false witness, and take bribes. [13059] [13060] A small catalogue of evils, even if the perpetrators of them are few in [13061] number. [13062] [13063] Yes, I said; but small and great are comparative terms, and all these [13064] things, in the misery and evil which they inflict upon a State, do not come [13065] within a thousand miles of the tyrant; when this noxious class and their [13066] followers grow numerous and become conscious of their strength, assisted by [13067] the infatuation of the people, they choose from among themselves the one [13068] who has most of the tyrant in his own soul, and him they create their [13069] tyrant. [13070] [13071] Yes, he said, and he will be the most fit to be a tyrant. [13072] [13073] If the people yield, well and good; but if they resist him, as he began by [13074] beating his own father and mother, so now, if he has the power, he beats [13075] them, and will keep his dear old fatherland or motherland, as the Cretans [13076] say, in subjection to his young retainers whom he has introduced to be [13077] their rulers and masters. This is the end of his passions and desires. [13078] [13079] Exactly. [13080] [13081] When such men are only private individuals and before they get power, this [13082] is their character; they associate entirely with their own flatterers or [13083] ready tools; or if they want anything from anybody, they in their turn are [13084] equally ready to bow down before them: they profess every sort of [13085] affection for them; but when they have gained their point they know them no [13086] more. [13087] [13088] Yes, truly. [13089] [13090] They are always either the masters or servants and never the friends of [13091] anybody; the tyrant never tastes of true freedom or friendship. [13092] [13093] Certainly not. [13094] [13095] And may we not rightly call such men treacherous? [13096] [13097] No question. [13098] [13099] Also they are utterly unjust, if we were right in our notion of justice? [13100] [13101] Yes, he said, and we were perfectly right. [13102] [13103] Let us then sum up in a word, I said, the character of the worst man: he [13104] is the waking reality of what we dreamed. [13105] [13106] Most true. [13107] [13108] And this is he who being by nature most of a tyrant bears rule, and the [13109] longer he lives the more of a tyrant he becomes. [13110] [13111] That is certain, said Glaucon, taking his turn to answer. [13112] [13113] And will not he who has been shown to be the wickedest, be also the most [13114] miserable? and he who has tyrannized longest and most, most continually and [13115] truly miserable; although this may not be the opinion of men in general? [13116] [13117] Yes, he said, inevitably. [13118] [13119] And must not the tyrannical man be like the tyrannical State, and the [13120] democratical man like the democratical State; and the same of the others? [13121] [13122] Certainly. [13123] [13124] And as State is to State in virtue and happiness, so is man in relation to [13125] man? [13126] [13127] To be sure. [13128] [13129] Then comparing our original city, which was under a king, and the city [13130] which is under a tyrant, how do they stand as to virtue? [13131] [13132] They are the opposite extremes, he said, for one is the very best and the [13133] other is the very worst. [13134] [13135] There can be no mistake, I said, as to which is which, and therefore I will [13136] at once enquire whether you would arrive at a similar decision about their [13137] relative happiness and misery. And here we must not allow ourselves to be [13138] panic-stricken at the apparition of the tyrant, who is only a unit and may [13139] perhaps have a few retainers about him; but let us go as we ought into [13140] every corner of the city and look all about, and then we will give our [13141] opinion. [13142] [13143] A fair invitation, he replied; and I see, as every one must, that a tyranny [13144] is the wretchedest form of government, and the rule of a king the happiest. [13145] [13146] And in estimating the men too, may I not fairly make a like request, that I [13147] should have a judge whose mind can enter into and see through human nature? [13148] he must not be like a child who looks at the outside and is dazzled at the [13149] pompous aspect which the tyrannical nature assumes to the beholder, but let [13150] him be one who has a clear insight. May I suppose that the judgment is [13151] given in the hearing of us all by one who is able to judge, and has dwelt [13152] in the same place with him, and been present at his dally life and known [13153] him in his family relations, where he may be seen stripped of his tragedy [13154] attire, and again in the hour of public danger--he shall tell us about the [13155] happiness and misery of the tyrant when compared with other men? [13156] [13157] That again, he said, is a very fair proposal. [13158] [13159] Shall I assume that we ourselves are able and experienced judges and have [13160] before now met with such a person? We shall then have some one who will [13161] answer our enquiries. [13162] [13163] By all means. [13164] [13165] Let me ask you not to forget the parallel of the individual and the State; [13166] bearing this in mind, and glancing in turn from one to the other of them, [13167] will you tell me their respective conditions? [13168] [13169] What do you mean? he asked. [13170] [13171] Beginning with the State, I replied, would you say that a city which is [13172] governed by a tyrant is free or enslaved? [13173] [13174] No city, he said, can be more completely enslaved. [13175] [13176] And yet, as you see, there are freemen as well as masters in such a State? [13177] [13178] Yes, he said, I see that there are--a few; but the people, speaking [13179] generally, and the best of them are miserably degraded and enslaved. [13180] [13181] Then if the man is like the State, I said, must not the same rule prevail? [13182] his soul is full of meanness and vulgarity--the best elements in him are [13183] enslaved; and there is a small ruling part, which is also the worst and [13184] maddest. [13185] [13186] Inevitably. [13187] [13188] And would you say that the soul of such an one is the soul of a freeman, or [13189] of a slave? [13190] [13191] He has the soul of a slave, in my opinion. [13192] [13193] And the State which is enslaved under a tyrant is utterly incapable of [13194] acting voluntarily? [13195] [13196] Utterly incapable. [13197] [13198] And also the soul which is under a tyrant (I am speaking of the soul taken [13199] as a whole) is least capable of doing what she desires; there is a gadfly [13200] which goads her, and she is full of trouble and remorse? [13201] [13202] Certainly. [13203] [13204] And is the city which is under a tyrant rich or poor? [13205] [13206] Poor. [13207] [13208] And the tyrannical soul must be always poor and insatiable? [13209] [13210] True. [13211] [13212] And must not such a State and such a man be always full of fear? [13213] [13214] Yes, indeed. [13215] [13216] Is there any State in which you will find more of lamentation and sorrow [13217] and groaning and pain? [13218] [13219] Certainly not. [13220] [13221] And is there any man in whom you will find more of this sort of misery than [13222] in the tyrannical man, who is in a fury of passions and desires? [13223] [13224] Impossible. [13225] [13226] Reflecting upon these and similar evils, you held the tyrannical State to [13227] be the most miserable of States? [13228] [13229] And I was right, he said. [13230] [13231] Certainly, I said. And when you see the same evils in the tyrannical man, [13232] what do you say of him? [13233] [13234] I say that he is by far the most miserable of all men. [13235] [13236] There, I said, I think that you are beginning to go wrong. [13237] [13238] What do you mean? [13239] [13240] I do not think that he has as yet reached the utmost extreme of misery. [13241] [13242] Then who is more miserable? [13243] [13244] One of whom I am about to speak. [13245] [13246] Who is that? [13247] [13248] He who is of a tyrannical nature, and instead of leading a private life has [13249] been cursed with the further misfortune of being a public tyrant. [13250] [13251] From what has been said, I gather that you are right. [13252] [13253] Yes, I replied, but in this high argument you should be a little more [13254] certain, and should not conjecture only; for of all questions, this [13255] respecting good and evil is the greatest. [13256] [13257] Very true, he said. [13258] [13259] Let me then offer you an illustration, which may, I think, throw a light [13260] upon this subject. [13261] [13262] What is your illustration? [13263] [13264] The case of rich individuals in cities who possess many slaves: from them [13265] you may form an idea of the tyrant's condition, for they both have slaves; [13266] the only difference is that he has more slaves. [13267] [13268] Yes, that is the difference. [13269] [13270] You know that they live securely and have nothing to apprehend from their [13271] servants? [13272] [13273] What should they fear? [13274] [13275] Nothing. But do you observe the reason of this? [13276] [13277] Yes; the reason is, that the whole city is leagued together for the [13278] protection of each individual. [13279] [13280] Very true, I said. But imagine one of these owners, the master say of some [13281] fifty slaves, together with his family and property and slaves, carried off [13282] by a god into the wilderness, where there are no freemen to help him--will [13283] he not be in an agony of fear lest he and his wife and children should be [13284] put to death by his slaves? [13285] [13286] Yes, he said, he will be in the utmost fear. [13287] [13288] The time has arrived when he will be compelled to flatter divers of his [13289] slaves, and make many promises to them of freedom and other things, much [13290] against his will--he will have to cajole his own servants. [13291] [13292] Yes, he said, that will be the only way of saving himself. [13293] [13294] And suppose the same god, who carried him away, to surround him with [13295] neighbours who will not suffer one man to be the master of another, and [13296] who, if they could catch the offender, would take his life? [13297] [13298] His case will be still worse, if you suppose him to be everywhere [13299] surrounded and watched by enemies. [13300] [13301] And is not this the sort of prison in which the tyrant will be bound--he [13302] who being by nature such as we have described, is full of all sorts of [13303] fears and lusts? His soul is dainty and greedy, and yet alone, of all men [13304] in the city, he is never allowed to go on a journey, or to see the things [13305] which other freemen desire to see, but he lives in his hole like a woman [13306] hidden in the house, and is jealous of any other citizen who goes into [13307] foreign parts and sees anything of interest. [13308] [13309] Very true, he said. [13310] [13311] And amid evils such as these will not he who is ill-governed in his own [13312] person--the tyrannical man, I mean--whom you just now decided to be the [13313] most miserable of all--will not he be yet more miserable when, instead of [13314] leading a private life, he is constrained by fortune to be a public tyrant? [13315] He has to be master of others when he is not master of himself: he is like [13316] a diseased or paralytic man who is compelled to pass his life, not in [13317] retirement, but fighting and combating with other men. [13318] [13319] Yes, he said, the similitude is most exact. [13320] [13321] Is not his case utterly miserable? and does not the actual tyrant lead a [13322] worse life than he whose life you determined to be the worst? [13323] [13324] Certainly. [13325] [13326] He who is the real tyrant, whatever men may think, is the real slave, and [13327] is obliged to practise the greatest adulation and servility, and to be the [13328] flatterer of the vilest of mankind. He has desires which he is utterly [13329] unable to satisfy, and has more wants than any one, and is truly poor, if [13330] you know how to inspect the whole soul of him: all his life long he is [13331] beset with fear and is full of convulsions and distractions, even as the [13332] State which he resembles: and surely the resemblance holds? [13333] [13334] Very true, he said. [13335] [13336] Moreover, as we were saying before, he grows worse from having power: he [13337] becomes and is of necessity more jealous, more faithless, more unjust, more [13338] friendless, more impious, than he was at first; he is the purveyor and [13339] cherisher of every sort of vice, and the consequence is that he is [13340] supremely miserable, and that he makes everybody else as miserable as [13341] himself. [13342] [13343] No man of any sense will dispute your words. [13344] [13345] Come then, I said, and as the general umpire in theatrical contests [13346] proclaims the result, do you also decide who in your opinion is first in [13347] the scale of happiness, and who second, and in what order the others [13348] follow: there are five of them in all--they are the royal, timocratical, [13349] oligarchical, democratical, tyrannical. [13350] [13351] The decision will be easily given, he replied; they shall be choruses [13352] coming on the stage, and I must judge them in the order in which they [13353] enter, by the criterion of virtue and vice, happiness and misery. [13354] [13355] Need we hire a herald, or shall I announce, that the son of Ariston (the [13356] best) has decided that the best and justest is also the happiest, and that [13357] this is he who is the most royal man and king over himself; and that the [13358] worst and most unjust man is also the most miserable, and that this is he [13359] who being the greatest tyrant of himself is also the greatest tyrant of his [13360] State? [13361] [13362] Make the proclamation yourself, he said. [13363] [13364] And shall I add, 'whether seen or unseen by gods and men'? [13365] [13366] Let the words be added. [13367] [13368] Then this, I said, will be our first proof; and there is another, which may [13369] also have some weight. [13370] [13371] What is that? [13372] [13373] The second proof is derived from the nature of the soul: seeing that the [13374] individual soul, like the State, has been divided by us into three [13375] principles, the division may, I think, furnish a new demonstration. [13376] [13377] Of what nature? [13378] [13379] It seems to me that to these three principles three pleasures correspond; [13380] also three desires and governing powers. [13381] [13382] How do you mean? he said. [13383] [13384] There is one principle with which, as we were saying, a man learns, another [13385] with which he is angry; the third, having many forms, has no special name, [13386] but is denoted by the general term appetitive, from the extraordinary [13387] strength and vehemence of the desires of eating and drinking and the other [13388] sensual appetites which are the main elements of it; also money-loving, [13389] because such desires are generally satisfied by the help of money. [13390] [13391] That is true, he said. [13392] [13393] If we were to say that the loves and pleasures of this third part were [13394] concerned with gain, we should then be able to fall back on a single [13395] notion; and might truly and intelligibly describe this part of the soul as [13396] loving gain or money. [13397] [13398] I agree with you. [13399] [13400] Again, is not the passionate element wholly set on ruling and conquering [13401] and getting fame? [13402] [13403] True. [13404] [13405] Suppose we call it the contentious or ambitious--would the term be [13406] suitable? [13407] [13408] Extremely suitable. [13409] [13410] On the other hand, every one sees that the principle of knowledge is wholly [13411] directed to the truth, and cares less than either of the others for gain or [13412] fame. [13413] [13414] Far less. [13415] [13416] 'Lover of wisdom,' 'lover of knowledge,' are titles which we may fitly [13417] apply to that part of the soul? [13418] [13419] Certainly. [13420] [13421] One principle prevails in the souls of one class of men, another in others, [13422] as may happen? [13423] [13424] Yes. [13425] [13426] Then we may begin by assuming that there are three classes of men--lovers [13427] of wisdom, lovers of honour, lovers of gain? [13428] [13429] Exactly. [13430] [13431] And there are three kinds of pleasure, which are their several objects? [13432] [13433] Very true. [13434] [13435] Now, if you examine the three classes of men, and ask of them in turn which [13436] of their lives is pleasantest, each will be found praising his own and [13437] depreciating that of others: the money-maker will contrast the vanity of [13438] honour or of learning if they bring no money with the solid advantages of [13439] gold and silver? [13440] [13441] True, he said. [13442] [13443] And the lover of honour--what will be his opinion? Will he not think that [13444] the pleasure of riches is vulgar, while the pleasure of learning, if it [13445] brings no distinction, is all smoke and nonsense to him? [13446] [13447] Very true. [13448] [13449] And are we to suppose, I said, that the philosopher sets any value on other [13450] pleasures in comparison with the pleasure of knowing the truth, and in that [13451] pursuit abiding, ever learning, not so far indeed from the heaven of [13452] pleasure? Does he not call the other pleasures necessary, under the idea [13453] that if there were no necessity for them, he would rather not have them? [13454] [13455] There can be no doubt of that, he replied. [13456] [13457] Since, then, the pleasures of each class and the life of each are in [13458] dispute, and the question is not which life is more or less honourable, or [13459] better or worse, but which is the more pleasant or painless--how shall we [13460] know who speaks truly? [13461] [13462] I cannot myself tell, he said. [13463] [13464] Well, but what ought to be the criterion? Is any better than experience [13465] and wisdom and reason? [13466] [13467] There cannot be a better, he said. [13468] [13469] Then, I said, reflect. Of the three individuals, which has the greatest [13470] experience of all the pleasures which we enumerated? Has the lover of [13471] gain, in learning the nature of essential truth, greater experience of the [13472] pleasure of knowledge than the philosopher has of the pleasure of gain? [13473] [13474] The philosopher, he replied, has greatly the advantage; for he has of [13475] necessity always known the taste of the other pleasures from his childhood [13476] upwards: but the lover of gain in all his experience has not of necessity [13477] tasted--or, I should rather say, even had he desired, could hardly have [13478] tasted--the sweetness of learning and knowing truth. [13479] [13480] Then the lover of wisdom has a great advantage over the lover of gain, for [13481] he has a double experience? [13482] [13483] Yes, very great. [13484] [13485] Again, has he greater experience of the pleasures of honour, or the lover [13486] of honour of the pleasures of wisdom? [13487] [13488] Nay, he said, all three are honoured in proportion as they attain their [13489] object; for the rich man and the brave man and the wise man alike have [13490] their crowd of admirers, and as they all receive honour they all have [13491] experience of the pleasures of honour; but the delight which is to be found [13492] in the knowledge of true being is known to the philosopher only. [13493] [13494] His experience, then, will enable him to judge better than any one? [13495] [13496] Far better. [13497] [13498] And he is the only one who has wisdom as well as experience? [13499] [13500] Certainly. [13501] [13502] Further, the very faculty which is the instrument of judgment is not [13503] possessed by the covetous or ambitious man, but only by the philosopher? [13504] [13505] What faculty? [13506] [13507] Reason, with whom, as we were saying, the decision ought to rest. [13508] [13509] Yes. [13510] [13511] And reasoning is peculiarly his instrument? [13512] [13513] Certainly. [13514] [13515] If wealth and gain were the criterion, then the praise or blame of the [13516] lover of gain would surely be the most trustworthy? [13517] [13518] Assuredly. [13519] [13520] Or if honour or victory or courage, in that case the judgment of the [13521] ambitious or pugnacious would be the truest? [13522] [13523] Clearly. [13524] [13525] But since experience and wisdom and reason are the judges-- [13526] [13527] The only inference possible, he replied, is that pleasures which are [13528] approved by the lover of wisdom and reason are the truest. [13529] [13530] And so we arrive at the result, that the pleasure of the intelligent part [13531] of the soul is the pleasantest of the three, and that he of us in whom this [13532] is the ruling principle has the pleasantest life. [13533] [13534] Unquestionably, he said, the wise man speaks with authority when he [13535] approves of his own life. [13536] [13537] And what does the judge affirm to be the life which is next, and the [13538] pleasure which is next? [13539] [13540] Clearly that of the soldier and lover of honour; who is nearer to himself [13541] than the money-maker. [13542] [13543] Last comes the lover of gain? [13544] [13545] Very true, he said. [13546] [13547] Twice in succession, then, has the just man overthrown the unjust in this [13548] conflict; and now comes the third trial, which is dedicated to Olympian [13549] Zeus the saviour: a sage whispers in my ear that no pleasure except that [13550] of the wise is quite true and pure--all others are a shadow only; and [13551] surely this will prove the greatest and most decisive of falls? [13552] [13553] Yes, the greatest; but will you explain yourself? [13554] [13555] I will work out the subject and you shall answer my questions. [13556] [13557] Proceed. [13558] [13559] Say, then, is not pleasure opposed to pain? [13560] [13561] True. [13562] [13563] And there is a neutral state which is neither pleasure nor pain? [13564] [13565] There is. [13566] [13567] A state which is intermediate, and a sort of repose of the soul about [13568] either--that is what you mean? [13569] [13570] Yes. [13571] [13572] You remember what people say when they are sick? [13573] [13574] What do they say? [13575] [13576] That after all nothing is pleasanter than health. But then they never knew [13577] this to be the greatest of pleasures until they were ill. [13578] [13579] Yes, I know, he said. [13580] [13581] And when persons are suffering from acute pain, you must have heard them [13582] say that there is nothing pleasanter than to get rid of their pain? [13583] [13584] I have. [13585] [13586] And there are many other cases of suffering in which the mere rest and [13587] cessation of pain, and not any positive enjoyment, is extolled by them as [13588] the greatest pleasure? [13589] [13590] Yes, he said; at the time they are pleased and well content to be at rest. [13591] [13592] Again, when pleasure ceases, that sort of rest or cessation will be [13593] painful? [13594] [13595] Doubtless, he said. [13596] [13597] Then the intermediate state of rest will be pleasure and will also be pain? [13598] [13599] So it would seem. [13600] [13601] But can that which is neither become both? [13602] [13603] I should say not. [13604] [13605] And both pleasure and pain are motions of the soul, are they not? [13606] [13607] Yes. [13608] [13609] But that which is neither was just now shown to be rest and not motion, and [13610] in a mean between them? [13611] [13612] Yes. [13613] [13614] How, then, can we be right in supposing that the absence of pain is [13615] pleasure, or that the absence of pleasure is pain? [13616] [13617] Impossible. [13618] [13619] This then is an appearance only and not a reality; that is to say, the rest [13620] is pleasure at the moment and in comparison of what is painful, and painful [13621] in comparison of what is pleasant; but all these representations, when [13622] tried by the test of true pleasure, are not real but a sort of imposition? [13623] [13624] That is the inference. [13625] [13626] Look at the other class of pleasures which have no antecedent pains and you [13627] will no longer suppose, as you perhaps may at present, that pleasure is [13628] only the cessation of pain, or pain of pleasure. [13629] [13630] What are they, he said, and where shall I find them? [13631] [13632] There are many of them: take as an example the pleasures of smell, which [13633] are very great and have no antecedent pains; they come in a moment, and [13634] when they depart leave no pain behind them. [13635] [13636] Most true, he said. [13637] [13638] Let us not, then, be induced to believe that pure pleasure is the cessation [13639] of pain, or pain of pleasure. [13640] [13641] No. [13642] [13643] Still, the more numerous and violent pleasures which reach the soul through [13644] the body are generally of this sort--they are reliefs of pain. [13645] [13646] That is true. [13647] [13648] And the anticipations of future pleasures and pains are of a like nature? [13649] [13650] Yes. [13651] [13652] Shall I give you an illustration of them? [13653] [13654] Let me hear. [13655] [13656] You would allow, I said, that there is in nature an upper and lower and [13657] middle region? [13658] [13659] I should. [13660] [13661] And if a person were to go from the lower to the middle region, would he [13662] not imagine that he is going up; and he who is standing in the middle and [13663] sees whence he has come, would imagine that he is already in the upper [13664] region, if he has never seen the true upper world? [13665] [13666] To be sure, he said; how can he think otherwise? [13667] [13668] But if he were taken back again he would imagine, and truly imagine, that [13669] he was descending? [13670] [13671] No doubt. [13672] [13673] All that would arise out of his ignorance of the true upper and middle and [13674] lower regions? [13675] [13676] Yes. [13677] [13678] Then can you wonder that persons who are inexperienced in the truth, as [13679] they have wrong ideas about many other things, should also have wrong ideas [13680] about pleasure and pain and the intermediate state; so that when they are [13681] only being drawn towards the painful they feel pain and think the pain [13682] which they experience to be real, and in like manner, when drawn away from [13683] pain to the neutral or intermediate state, they firmly believe that they [13684] have reached the goal of satiety and pleasure; they, not knowing pleasure, [13685] err in contrasting pain with the absence of pain, which is like contrasting [13686] black with grey instead of white--can you wonder, I say, at this? [13687] [13688] No, indeed; I should be much more disposed to wonder at the opposite. [13689] [13690] Look at the matter thus:--Hunger, thirst, and the like, are inanitions of [13691] the bodily state? [13692] [13693] Yes. [13694] [13695] And ignorance and folly are inanitions of the soul? [13696] [13697] True. [13698] [13699] And food and wisdom are the corresponding satisfactions of either? [13700] [13701] Certainly. [13702] [13703] And is the satisfaction derived from that which has less or from that which [13704] has more existence the truer? [13705] [13706] Clearly, from that which has more. [13707] [13708] What classes of things have a greater share of pure existence in your [13709] judgment--those of which food and drink and condiments and all kinds of [13710] sustenance are examples, or the class which contains true opinion and [13711] knowledge and mind and all the different kinds of virtue? Put the question [13712] in this way:--Which has a more pure being--that which is concerned with the [13713] invariable, the immortal, and the true, and is of such a nature, and is [13714] found in such natures; or that which is concerned with and found in the [13715] variable and mortal, and is itself variable and mortal? [13716] [13717] Far purer, he replied, is the being of that which is concerned with the [13718] invariable. [13719] [13720] And does the essence of the invariable partake of knowledge in the same [13721] degree as of essence? [13722] [13723] Yes, of knowledge in the same degree. [13724] [13725] And of truth in the same degree? [13726] [13727] Yes. [13728] [13729] And, conversely, that which has less of truth will also have less of [13730] essence? [13731] [13732] Necessarily. [13733] [13734] Then, in general, those kinds of things which are in the service of the [13735] body have less of truth and essence than those which are in the service of [13736] the soul? [13737] [13738] Far less. [13739] [13740] And has not the body itself less of truth and essence than the soul? [13741] [13742] Yes. [13743] [13744] What is filled with more real existence, and actually has a more real [13745] existence, is more really filled than that which is filled with less real [13746] existence and is less real? [13747] [13748] Of course. [13749] [13750] And if there be a pleasure in being filled with that which is according to [13751] nature, that which is more really filled with more real being will more [13752] really and truly enjoy true pleasure; whereas that which participates in [13753] less real being will be less truly and surely satisfied, and will [13754] participate in an illusory and less real pleasure? [13755] [13756] Unquestionably. [13757] [13758] Those then who know not wisdom and virtue, and are always busy with [13759] gluttony and sensuality, go down and up again as far as the mean; and in [13760] this region they move at random throughout life, but they never pass into [13761] the true upper world; thither they neither look, nor do they ever find [13762] their way, neither are they truly filled with true being, nor do they taste [13763] of pure and abiding pleasure. Like cattle, with their eyes always looking [13764] down and their heads stooping to the earth, that is, to the dining-table, [13765] they fatten and feed and breed, and, in their excessive love of these [13766] delights, they kick and butt at one another with horns and hoofs which are [13767] made of iron; and they kill one another by reason of their insatiable lust. [13768] For they fill themselves with that which is not substantial, and the part [13769] of themselves which they fill is also unsubstantial and incontinent. [13770] [13771] Verily, Socrates, said Glaucon, you describe the life of the many like an [13772] oracle. [13773] [13774] Their pleasures are mixed with pains--how can they be otherwise? For they [13775] are mere shadows and pictures of the true, and are coloured by contrast, [13776] which exaggerates both light and shade, and so they implant in the minds of [13777] fools insane desires of themselves; and they are fought about as [13778] Stesichorus says that the Greeks fought about the shadow of Helen at Troy [13779] in ignorance of the truth. [13780] [13781] Something of that sort must inevitably happen. [13782] [13783] And must not the like happen with the spirited or passionate element of the [13784] soul? Will not the passionate man who carries his passion into action, be [13785] in the like case, whether he is envious and ambitious, or violent and [13786] contentious, or angry and discontented, if he be seeking to attain honour [13787] and victory and the satisfaction of his anger without reason or sense? [13788] [13789] Yes, he said, the same will happen with the spirited element also. [13790] [13791] Then may we not confidently assert that the lovers of money and honour, [13792] when they seek their pleasures under the guidance and in the company of [13793] reason and knowledge, and pursue after and win the pleasures which wisdom [13794] shows them, will also have the truest pleasures in the highest degree which [13795] is attainable to them, inasmuch as they follow truth; and they will have [13796] the pleasures which are natural to them, if that which is best for each one [13797] is also most natural to him? [13798] [13799] Yes, certainly; the best is the most natural. [13800] [13801] And when the whole soul follows the philosophical principle, and there is [13802] no division, the several parts are just, and do each of them their own [13803] business, and enjoy severally the best and truest pleasures of which they [13804] are capable? [13805] [13806] Exactly. [13807] [13808] But when either of the two other principles prevails, it fails in attaining [13809] its own pleasure, and compels the rest to pursue after a pleasure which is [13810] a shadow only and which is not their own? [13811] [13812] True. [13813] [13814] And the greater the interval which separates them from philosophy and [13815] reason, the more strange and illusive will be the pleasure? [13816] [13817] Yes. [13818] [13819] And is not that farthest from reason which is at the greatest distance from [13820] law and order? [13821] [13822] Clearly. [13823] [13824] And the lustful and tyrannical desires are, as we saw, at the greatest [13825] distance? Yes. [13826] [13827] And the royal and orderly desires are nearest? [13828] [13829] Yes. [13830] [13831] Then the tyrant will live at the greatest distance from true or natural [13832] pleasure, and the king at the least? [13833] [13834] Certainly. [13835] [13836] But if so, the tyrant will live most unpleasantly, and the king most [13837] pleasantly? [13838] [13839] Inevitably. [13840] [13841] Would you know the measure of the interval which separates them? [13842] [13843] Will you tell me? [13844] [13845] There appear to be three pleasures, one genuine and two spurious: now the [13846] transgression of the tyrant reaches a point beyond the spurious; he has run [13847] away from the region of law and reason, and taken up his abode with certain [13848] slave pleasures which are his satellites, and the measure of his [13849] inferiority can only be expressed in a figure. [13850] [13851] How do you mean? [13852] [13853] I assume, I said, that the tyrant is in the third place from the oligarch; [13854] the democrat was in the middle? [13855] [13856] Yes. [13857] [13858] And if there is truth in what has preceded, he will be wedded to an image [13859] of pleasure which is thrice removed as to truth from the pleasure of the [13860] oligarch? [13861] [13862] He will. [13863] [13864] And the oligarch is third from the royal; since we count as one royal and [13865] aristocratical? [13866] [13867] Yes, he is third. [13868] [13869] Then the tyrant is removed from true pleasure by the space of a number [13870] which is three times three? [13871] [13872] Manifestly. [13873] [13874] The shadow then of tyrannical pleasure determined by the number of length [13875] will be a plane figure. [13876] [13877] Certainly. [13878] [13879] And if you raise the power and make the plane a solid, there is no [13880] difficulty in seeing how vast is the interval by which the tyrant is parted [13881] from the king. [13882] [13883] Yes; the arithmetician will easily do the sum. [13884] [13885] Or if some person begins at the other end and measures the interval by [13886] which the king is parted from the tyrant in truth of pleasure, he will find [13887] him, when the multiplication is completed, living 729 times more [13888] pleasantly, and the tyrant more painfully by this same interval. [13889] [13890] What a wonderful calculation! And how enormous is the distance which [13891] separates the just from the unjust in regard to pleasure and pain! [13892] [13893] Yet a true calculation, I said, and a number which nearly concerns human [13894] life, if human beings are concerned with days and nights and months and [13895] years. (729 NEARLY equals the number of days and nights in the year.) [13896] [13897] Yes, he said, human life is certainly concerned with them. [13898] [13899] Then if the good and just man be thus superior in pleasure to the evil and [13900] unjust, his superiority will be infinitely greater in propriety of life and [13901] in beauty and virtue? [13902] [13903] Immeasurably greater. [13904] [13905] Well, I said, and now having arrived at this stage of the argument, we may [13906] revert to the words which brought us hither: Was not some one saying that [13907] injustice was a gain to the perfectly unjust who was reputed to be just? [13908] [13909] Yes, that was said. [13910] [13911] Now then, having determined the power and quality of justice and injustice, [13912] let us have a little conversation with him. [13913] [13914] What shall we say to him? [13915] [13916] Let us make an image of the soul, that he may have his own words presented [13917] before his eyes. [13918] [13919] Of what sort? [13920] [13921] An ideal image of the soul, like the composite creations of ancient [13922] mythology, such as the Chimera or Scylla or Cerberus, and there are many [13923] others in which two or more different natures are said to grow into one. [13924] [13925] There are said of have been such unions. [13926] [13927] Then do you now model the form of a multitudinous, many-headed monster, [13928] having a ring of heads of all manner of beasts, tame and wild, which he is [13929] able to generate and metamorphose at will. [13930] [13931] You suppose marvellous powers in the artist; but, as language is more [13932] pliable than wax or any similar substance, let there be such a model as you [13933] propose. [13934] [13935] Suppose now that you make a second form as of a lion, and a third of a man, [13936] the second smaller than the first, and the third smaller than the second. [13937] [13938] That, he said, is an easier task; and I have made them as you say. [13939] [13940] And now join them, and let the three grow into one. [13941] [13942] That has been accomplished. [13943] [13944] Next fashion the outside of them into a single image, as of a man, so that [13945] he who is not able to look within, and sees only the outer hull, may [13946] believe the beast to be a single human creature. [13947] [13948] I have done so, he said. [13949] [13950] And now, to him who maintains that it is profitable for the human creature [13951] to be unjust, and unprofitable to be just, let us reply that, if he be [13952] right, it is profitable for this creature to feast the multitudinous [13953] monster and strengthen the lion and the lion-like qualities, but to starve [13954] and weaken the man, who is consequently liable to be dragged about at the [13955] mercy of either of the other two; and he is not to attempt to familiarize [13956] or harmonize them with one another--he ought rather to suffer them to fight [13957] and bite and devour one another. [13958] [13959] Certainly, he said; that is what the approver of injustice says. [13960] [13961] To him the supporter of justice makes answer that he should ever so speak [13962] and act as to give the man within him in some way or other the most [13963] complete mastery over the entire human creature. He should watch over the [13964] many-headed monster like a good husbandman, fostering and cultivating the [13965] gentle qualities, and preventing the wild ones from growing; he should be [13966] making the lion-heart his ally, and in common care of them all should be [13967] uniting the several parts with one another and with himself. [13968] [13969] Yes, he said, that is quite what the maintainer of justice say. [13970] [13971] And so from every point of view, whether of pleasure, honour, or advantage, [13972] the approver of justice is right and speaks the truth, and the disapprover [13973] is wrong and false and ignorant? [13974] [13975] Yes, from every point of view. [13976] [13977] Come, now, and let us gently reason with the unjust, who is not [13978] intentionally in error. 'Sweet Sir,' we will say to him, 'what think you [13979] of things esteemed noble and ignoble? Is not the noble that which subjects [13980] the beast to the man, or rather to the god in man; and the ignoble that [13981] which subjects the man to the beast?' He can hardly avoid saying Yes--can [13982] he now? [13983] [13984] Not if he has any regard for my opinion. [13985] [13986] But, if he agree so far, we may ask him to answer another question: 'Then [13987] how would a man profit if he received gold and silver on the condition that [13988] he was to enslave the noblest part of him to the worst? Who can imagine [13989] that a man who sold his son or daughter into slavery for money, especially [13990] if he sold them into the hands of fierce and evil men, would be the gainer, [13991] however large might be the sum which he received? And will any one say [13992] that he is not a miserable caitiff who remorselessly sells his own divine [13993] being to that which is most godless and detestable? Eriphyle took the [13994] necklace as the price of her husband's life, but he is taking a bribe in [13995] order to compass a worse ruin.' [13996] [13997] Yes, said Glaucon, far worse--I will answer for him. [13998] [13999] Has not the intemperate been censured of old, because in him the huge [14000] multiform monster is allowed to be too much at large? [14001] [14002] Clearly. [14003] [14004] And men are blamed for pride and bad temper when the lion and serpent [14005] element in them disproportionately grows and gains strength? [14006] [14007] Yes. [14008] [14009] And luxury and softness are blamed, because they relax and weaken this same [14010] creature, and make a coward of him? [14011] [14012] Very true. [14013] [14014] And is not a man reproached for flattery and meanness who subordinates the [14015] spirited animal to the unruly monster, and, for the sake of money, of which [14016] he can never have enough, habituates him in the days of his youth to be [14017] trampled in the mire, and from being a lion to become a monkey? [14018] [14019] True, he said. [14020] [14021] And why are mean employments and manual arts a reproach? Only because they [14022] imply a natural weakness of the higher principle; the individual is unable [14023] to control the creatures within him, but has to court them, and his great [14024] study is how to flatter them. [14025] [14026] Such appears to be the reason. [14027] [14028] And therefore, being desirous of placing him under a rule like that of the [14029] best, we say that he ought to be the servant of the best, in whom the [14030] Divine rules; not, as Thrasymachus supposed, to the injury of the servant, [14031] but because every one had better be ruled by divine wisdom dwelling within [14032] him; or, if this be impossible, then by an external authority, in order [14033] that we may be all, as far as possible, under the same government, friends [14034] and equals. [14035] [14036] True, he said. [14037] [14038] And this is clearly seen to be the intention of the law, which is the ally [14039] of the whole city; and is seen also in the authority which we exercise over [14040] children, and the refusal to let them be free until we have established in [14041] them a principle analogous to the constitution of a state, and by [14042] cultivation of this higher element have set up in their hearts a guardian [14043] and ruler like our own, and when this is done they may go their ways. [14044] [14045] Yes, he said, the purpose of the law is manifest. [14046] [14047] From what point of view, then, and on what ground can we say that a man is [14048] profited by injustice or intemperance or other baseness, which will make [14049] him a worse man, even though he acquire money or power by his wickedness? [14050] [14051] From no point of view at all. [14052] [14053] What shall he profit, if his injustice be undetected and unpunished? He [14054] who is undetected only gets worse, whereas he who is detected and punished [14055] has the brutal part of his nature silenced and humanized; the gentler [14056] element in him is liberated, and his whole soul is perfected and ennobled [14057] by the acquirement of justice and temperance and wisdom, more than the body [14058] ever is by receiving gifts of beauty, strength and health, in proportion as [14059] the soul is more honourable than the body. [14060] [14061] Certainly, he said. [14062] [14063] To this nobler purpose the man of understanding will devote the energies of [14064] his life. And in the first place, he will honour studies which impress [14065] these qualities on his soul and will disregard others? [14066] [14067] Clearly, he said. [14068] [14069] In the next place, he will regulate his bodily habit and training, and so [14070] far will he be from yielding to brutal and irrational pleasures, that he [14071] will regard even health as quite a secondary matter; his first object will [14072] be not that he may be fair or strong or well, unless he is likely thereby [14073] to gain temperance, but he will always desire so to attemper the body as to [14074] preserve the harmony of the soul? [14075] [14076] Certainly he will, if he has true music in him. [14077] [14078] And in the acquisition of wealth there is a principle of order and harmony [14079] which he will also observe; he will not allow himself to be dazzled by the [14080] foolish applause of the world, and heap up riches to his own infinite harm? [14081] [14082] Certainly not, he said. [14083] [14084] He will look at the city which is within him, and take heed that no [14085] disorder occur in it, such as might arise either from superfluity or from [14086] want; and upon this principle he will regulate his property and gain or [14087] spend according to his means. [14088] [14089] Very true. [14090] [14091] And, for the same reason, he will gladly accept and enjoy such honours as [14092] he deems likely to make him a better man; but those, whether private or [14093] public, which are likely to disorder his life, he will avoid? [14094] [14095] Then, if that is his motive, he will not be a statesman. [14096] [14097] By the dog of Egypt, he will! in the city which is his own he certainly [14098] will, though in the land of his birth perhaps not, unless he have a divine [14099] call. [14100] [14101] I understand; you mean that he will be a ruler in the city of which we are [14102] the founders, and which exists in idea only; for I do not believe that [14103] there is such an one anywhere on earth? [14104] [14105] In heaven, I replied, there is laid up a pattern of it, methinks, which he [14106] who desires may behold, and beholding, may set his own house in order. But [14107] whether such an one exists, or ever will exist in fact, is no matter; for [14108] he will live after the manner of that city, having nothing to do with any [14109] other. [14110] [14111] I think so, he said. [14112] [14113]

The Republic by Plato BOOK IX

The Republic by Plato
BOOK IX