A República : a cidade justa de acordo com Platão

Abstract

The present work intends to understand the concept of justice in Plato's thought, notably in the work The Republic. In order to understand this concept well in this philosopher's thought and in his political project, it is necessary to search for the definition of justice, both in man, in his soul, and in the city, understood collectively. In this way, we intend, when following the discussions of the first seven books of the Republic, to understand how, for the Greek philosopher, one cannot build the foundations of a just city, nor a policy for it, without first the men who inhabit that city be understood. Thus, centered on the project of education of man, in the political and pedagogical scope, Plato defines that justice in the city must be taken as the harmony between the three classes or estates of men (namely, artisans, guardians and rulers), where each class exercises only its function and has, in the exercise of these, the most prepared and educated of the men or groups for the city government that will be the philosopher king. In the soul, justice can be brought closer to the government of itself, this understood as the control of appetites and the lower parts of the soul by reason. Thus, when addressing themes and concepts brought up by Socrates, we intend to expose how the just city is outlined by Plato.