Teaching Plato in Translation
by Susan Gorman, Boston University
Original text © 2004 Susan Gorman
The Apology
Justice
What is justice? Is it universal or local? Is it linked to divinity or not?
Read Stephanus page 31d: "the true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone." This statement seems paradoxical when compared to his view that ethics equals politics and that any person who lives a good life helps society. How can this idea be understood? Do the students agree or disagree? What are the implications for a society is those who most intimately understand justice do not participate in public life? It is worthwhile to reconsider this statement while reading the Republic, in which Socrates lays out his plan for the ideal community.
Try to formulate, based on what Socrates claims in the Apology, a definition of justice. Is this the same conception of justice that is found in the Republic or is it different?
