| Home Page
The Four Virtues
The City in Speech and the Soul
Philosophical Map
|
|
The Four Virtues
The four virtues, wisdom, or logos, courage, or thymos, temperance, or eros, and justice were the primary topics of Book Four. These virtues are all a part of the perfect society, and each of the first three virtues apply to separate groups of people.
|
| |
Logos or Wisdom
Wisdom is the first virtue that is discovered on the path to a perfect state. In a state, wisdom is found in the ruling class. In the City in Speech, this class is called the guardians. The job of the guardians is to give good counsel to their subjects and to be wise in rule. Socrates says that knowledge is a key part of good counsel, so without knowledge a person cannot rule well. However, they do not have the type of knowledge that a carpenter or a cobbler has in his skill. The guardian must have knowledge in another way, which is called wisdom. If the guardians are wise, they will then pass their wisdom down to the lower classes, and therefore the entire state will be knowledgeable and wise. Wisdom, therefore, is one of the components that constitutes a perfect state. |
|
|
| |
Thymos or Courage
Courage is also needed to create a just and perfect society. As with wisdom, courage applies to a class of people in a city. The people in this class are called auxiliaries, or soldiers. No one thinks of any other class of people as being as courageous as those who risk their lives fighting for their state. However, if the soldiers themselves are courageous, it will inspire the rest of the populace to be more courageous too. People will follow someone who is brave, because they feel safe around them and will therefore be more courageous themselves. In Socrates' words, courage is a kind of salvation because it helps people to be more sure of themselves and it will save them from failure. If someone thinks they will fail at something, they probably will. |
|
|
| |
Eros, otherwise known as Temperance or Passion
Temperance is yet another part of a just and perfect society. Temperance applies to the vast majority of a society, the workers and artisans. Socrates defines temperance as being "the ordering or controlling of certain pleasures and desires; this is curiously implied in the saying of 'a man being his own master.'" A good society needs temperant people, or else it will be ruled by passion. Passionate people act on impulses and do not think about what they are about to do. A man is master of himself, and must realize that he cannot do things on a whim. |
|
|
|
|
