Philosophy 152 Philosophy of Human Nature Darwall Fall 1996 PLATO III I Justice in the state and justice in the person (17) II Justice in the state A. The division of labor B. Producers, guardians, rulers C. Justice: each doing his proper task (29) III Analogy with the individual IV The parts of the soul (argument: pp. 32-36) A. The first argument: appetite vs. reason 1. "Nothing acts in opposite ways at the same time. Nor can anything exist simultaneously in two opposing states." 2. The following are opposites: "attraction and repulsion, desire and aversion, etc." 3. "A thirsty man, insofar as he is thirsty, desires only to drink. . . the thirst part . . . pulls [him to drink]. 4. But a thirsty person can refrain from drinking, for example when he knows that it is poison and this makes him averse to drinking. 5. Therefore, there must also be something else in him that "bids him abstain". Plato concludes that this other part must be "reason and reflection." What if Plato had said in 4 that, in addition to thirst, we may also have a contending desire to do something else, say to eat, would that have suited his purposes as well? B. The second argument: desire vs. the spirited part Leontius and the conflict between morbid curiosity and disgust with and anger at himself. What does Plato mean by calling the spirited part and "ally" of reason? What makes something part of the spirit in Plato's sense? Consider the examples Plato gives on p. 35 C. The third argument: reason vs. spirit V Justice in the individual: "The just man does not permit the various parts of his soul to interfere with one another or usurp each other's functions. He has set his own life in order. He is his own master and his own law."