Republic (Book X) by Plato
This post is part of my journey through the classic texts of Western civilization.
The idea of a bed. A bed. A painting of a bed. We can call all these things a bed, but are they all as real as the other? A recurring theme throughout Plato's works is the importance of the real and distinguishing the real from the shadows or imitations. The painting of a bed is an imitation of a particular instance of a bed, which itself is an imitation of the Form/Idea of a bed.
Perhaps quite shockingly, Socrates gives quite a strong critique against Homer and poets in general for being imitators of reality, not actually accomplishing deeds but rather describing imitations of them, feeding the wrong parts of the soul instead of the rational part. He ultimately concludes that poets must be banished from the just city for these reasons, though he does regret that this must be done. He is open to hearing reasons for their inclusion, for he does appreciate the beauty and aesthetic value they contribute with their poems and stories.
Although for the sake of the entire dialogue, Plato had granted his listeners the assertion that it is the perfectly unjust man who receives rewards (recall from Book II), Plato alas challenges this assertion by describing the true wages of the just man.
- The gods will actually reward the just man, not the unjust man. "It may be expected... that such a man would not be neglected by one who is like him." Plato asserts that the gods would not spurn a man who practices virtue to become as like God as is possible for man.
- At the end of his life, other men will eventually recognize the just man and praise him.
- Both of these compare not to the rewards given after death. Plato ends the book (and the dialogue) with a tale of a man named Er, who witnesses the judgment that men go through when they die. The virtuous have a period of bliss and heaven, while the unjust go through a period of torment and suffering. The ultimate benefit of the just man, however, is the ability to choose his next life in a prudent manner (Plato believes in reincarnation). It is the just man who will choose a peaceful and honorable life to be born into; the rest are doomed by their own folly to choose foolish lives in a never-ending cycle for eternity.