Background.  437d-439c is pretty obscure and confusing; Socrates seems to be trying to deflect certain picky criticisms that could be made against the view of the three soul-parts that he presents in 439c-441c.  We'll just not worry about those picky possible criticisms, unless you insist on doing otherwise.  There's plenty else to occupy our attention!  Here, at last, are the answers to the fundamental questions posed in Books 1 and 2: What is justice for an individual?  What effects do justice and injustice, in themselves and regardless of what comes from them, have on a person?  Does justice, in and of itself, bring happiness?  By the way, in case you're wondering what the soul means for Socrates, try this:  it is everything about a person that is not purely physical, that is not flesh, blood, bone, chemicals, molecules, genes, and the like.  What does that leave?  Thoughts, hopes, dreams, fears, values, goals, desires, urges, ambitions . . . etc.  All of which are (aren't they?) very real -- as real as your body, wouldn't you say?

For an example to help understand Socrates' "proof" that the soul has three parts, click here.

For an outstandingly good and clear explanation of Socrates' concept of justice in the soul, see (and make a copy of!) the Parry article on reserve, "Morality and Happiness: Book IV of Plato's Republic."
It's in the Republic Articles ring-binder.

Reading Questions.

1)  What is the basic analogy or correlation between the city and the individual?

2)  What is the principle or hypothesis Socrates relies on for distinguishing or identifying the different parts of the soul?

3)  Give some examples of your own, other than the ones Socrates uses, of conflicts between each of the three pairs of soul-parts.  By the way, the context for the 441b (and 390d) Homer quote: Odysseus said this to himself when he was boiling mad and wanted to try to kill some people. But he calmed himself and waited a few days for a better opportunity.  Then he killed them.

4)  Socrates says that spirit (usually, at least) allies itself with reason (440b); and that the rational and spirited parts together will, in a just person, govern the appetites (442a).  What would happen, what would a person's life be like, if the spirited part were not allied with the rational part?

5)  What does Socrates say in this assignment about civil war?

6)  How many types of soul are there, and how many types of government (political constitution)?

DWA Question.   In pages 1-10 of your World of Ideas text for HON 100 there are recommendations or guidelines for critical reading.  Follow them for today's assignment (427d-445e), and turn in a page+ of your notes that include paragraph topics, questions, and points of disagreement.  (After all, the margins of our text are too small to write much in them!)  Note on "paragraphs": Republic paragraphs are awfully short, so don't take "paragraphs" literally; instead, consider a "paragraph" to be a section of the text that focuses on an identifiable topic or issue.  Use the margin numbers to indicate what passages your comments and questions relate to.