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The just city is a larger version of the just man, with the three social classes (producers, warriors and guardians) working together as the three parts of the soul work together in the just man. Two key concepts for the city are the emphasis on specialization, so that each person is trained for a particular occupation, and the emphasis on education, which encourages specialization and trains the guardians and the philosopher-king to properly rule. The ultimate failure of the city is tied to the failure of the education system, when someone whose aptitudes and nature are not suited to being a guardian, is selected in childhood and educated as a guardian.
The City Quotes in The Republic
The The Republic quotes below all refer to the symbol of The City. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 2
Quotes
And if so, we must infer that all things are produced more plentifully and easily and of a better quality when one man does one thing which is natural to him, and does it at the right time, and leaves other things.
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The City Symbol Timeline in The Republic
The timeline below shows where the symbol The City appears in The Republic. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1
Thrasymachus asserts that an unjust city would enslave other cities. Socrates responds that in an unjust city, everyone is unjust. Soldiers...
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Book 2
Socrates proposes first to examine the justice of the city, because it is easier to determine what is just for the group then for the...
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A city needs people, food, shelter, and goods, with each person specializing in a particular occupation. The...
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...gods committing impious actions, stories which might influence the citizens to act badly. Therefore, the city must only use stories depicting good behavior so as to influence the citizens of the...
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Book 3
Socrates describes stories for educating the city's guardians. They should include heroic stories, omitting any passages that might cause children to fear...
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...the ruler must be a man of experience and virtue. The rulers must love the city's welfare above all else. The guardians must be carefully tested to determine those most suited...
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To avoid questions about those chosen to rule from the others in the city, Socrates invents a myth that says all people were born from the earth. Thus there...
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The guardians and warriors are responsible for the defense of the city. The guardians may not own anything beyond what is necessary. By law all they need...
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Book 4
...the luxuries enjoyed by rulers elsewhere. Socrates says despite Thrasymachus's view, the goal of the city is not to make one group happy at the expense of another.
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Since the goal is happiness for the city as a whole, the guardians must ensure that the residents of the city live neither...
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...must protect the education system since it determines the quality of the citizens and the city. Wives and children of guardians are held in common. With properly educated citizens, and the...
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Having established the city, Socrates turns to the question of virtue. Since it is the best city possible, it...
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Socrates turns from justice on a large scale in the city, to justice in the individual. Just as the city has in its residents the virtues...
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...part of the soul rules the appetite and the spirit, just as moderation in the city results when the guardians rule. Such a ruler is a just man, and such a...
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Book 5
...as well as male, with the same education and duties, including the defense of the city.
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When all of the city is "family," and goods are owned equally, there is no discord. When the city's guardians...
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Glaucon asks if this ideal city is even possible? Socrates' answer is yes, but only if "either philosophers become kings in...
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Book 8
Socrates summarizes the decisions they have made about the city. Wives, children and their education must all be in common. The philosopher-kings are to be...
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...equivalent kinds of human soul for each government. Socrates imagines a gradual failure of the city as it passes through each government. Because the city is human, it is imperfect and...
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When the poor rebel against the wealthy minority the city becomes a democracy. In a Democratic city no one is forced to take public office,...
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