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Chapter 3 - Polemarchus

Friends and Enemies (331e1–336a8)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2025

Roslyn Weiss
Affiliation:
Lehigh University, Pennsylvania
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Summary

Polemarchus defines justice as the meting out of benefits and harms to friends and enemies as is fitting; his just man therefore necessarily requires skill: At what, however, is the just man skilled? Would not the skill of justice endorse thieving if that is what will help friends and harm enemies? Since t-justice (justice as a technē) is still justice, it must correctly identify friends and enemies lest it help enemies and harm friends. Socrates replaces these categories with good or just men and bad or unjust ones and asks: Is it just to harm those who are just, those who have committed no injustice? In Socrates’ final lesson to Polemarchus, the just man’s expertise is shown to harm no one, to make no one worse – that is, more unjust. Implicit in Socrates’ analogy with heat and dryness is that t-justice helps all people by making them “better,” more “lay-just” (or l-just), more just in the ordinary way. The chapter concludes with a brief excursus on the final argument in the Hippias Minor, in which “he who does wrong intentionally is the good man.”

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Justice in Plato's Republic
The Lessons of Book 1
, pp. 52 - 91
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Polemarchus
  • Roslyn Weiss, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: Justice in Plato's <i>Republic</i>
  • Online publication: 24 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009466530.004
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  • Polemarchus
  • Roslyn Weiss, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: Justice in Plato's <i>Republic</i>
  • Online publication: 24 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009466530.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Polemarchus
  • Roslyn Weiss, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: Justice in Plato's <i>Republic</i>
  • Online publication: 24 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009466530.004
Available formats
×