Page 73 - STOLEN LEGACY By George G. M. James

(II) The Ethical Doctrines

The ethical doctrines that have been attributed to Plato are (A) that of the highest good, i.e., the
Summum Bonum (B) the connotation of virtue and (C) the reduction of the virtues to four and
the place of wisdom among them (A) as something subjective, and as an earthly experience, the
highest good is happiness: but as an objective attainment, it is the Idea of good, and consequently
identified with God. Therefore the purpose of man's life is freedom from the fetters of the body,
in which the soul is confined, and the practice of virtue and wisdom, makes him like a God, even
while on earth.

(B) and (C)

Virtue is the order, the health and the harmony of the soul. There are many virtues, but the
greatest is wisdom. All virtues may be reduced to the four cardinal virtues: wisdom, fortitude,
temperance and justice. (Symposium 204E); (Theaetetus 176A); (Phaedo 64 sqq.) (The Republic
IV, 441, 443).

(III) The Ideal State (The Republic)

The doctrine attributed to Plato in the field of civics is the doctrine of the Ideal state whose
attributes are compared with the attributes of the soul and justice.

In a state, virtue should be the chief aim, and unless philosophers become rulers, or rulers
become thorough students of philosophy, there will be unceasing troubles for states and
humanity at large. The Ideal state is modeled upon the individual soul, and just as the soul has
three parts, so also should the state have three parts: the rulers, the warriors, and the workers.
(Republic VI, 490 sq.; V, 478; III, 415).

Similarly, just as the harmony of the soul depends upon the proper subordination of its parts, so
also does the state depend upon the proper subordination of its parts, in order to enjoy peace.
Here Plato introduces the allegory of the charioteer and the winged steeds, in order to show that
virtue is to the soul as justice is to the state:—One horse is of noble origin: while the other is
ignoble; and consequently they cannot agree. As the noble horse strives to mount up to the
heavenly regions which are suitable to its nature: so the other tries to drag him down. Likewise in
dealing with the soul, it is the proper subordination of its parts, that enables the noble in man to
attain its excellence; so also in dealing with the state, it is justice, or the proper subordination of
the different classes, that makes it an Ideal State. (Roger's Students Hist. of. Phil. p. 83); (Plato's
Republic).

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Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James
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