Books 2 and 3 of the Republic

With Plato using the Socratic method, much like Socrates did (hence the naming of the technique after him) it is easy to see why some people think Plato's words were mixed up with Socrates'. These two books showed the foundation of a town (they refer to it as a state), and that theoretically, "virtue is part of statesmanship and true politics is ethics in action" (p. 239). He suggests that a man specialize in his own department, whether it is being a "guardian" over the state, or a shoemaker, blacksmith, or something of the sort. He suggests censorship for younger children that only exposes them to truthful moral things. If they grew up on lies, a "moral deformity" their foundation would be weakened and it would threaten their ability to protect the state (p. 255).

I liked this section, although I don't necessarily agree. When would the state let the children think for themselves? At what point is a brain ready for "lies" or slight fables when it has been denied it since birth? Should not a world that already has lies be a place that one can know of the corruption and combat instead of being ignorant? Also, I think people can hold more than one position, but I can see where if one person held two, they might be persuaded in doing something that benefitted themselves, and it would donate less time to what they are supposed to be doing for the community.