Abstract

The overriding concern of theRepublicis the relation between morally right action and happiness. To settle the matter Plato says he must first discover the formula for politically just action for individuals, and that it will be easier to do this if we first take justice to be a virtue of a city as a whole. He develops a model of an ideal city, hardly mentioning justice and the other cardinal virtues, and then looks to that model to individuate them.Here I shall first discuss the defense of his portrait of an ideal city. Second, the logic of virtueis considered, in two steps. It is argued that judgments of virtue are to be split into those of functionand power.Then there is a brief consideration of each half. Third, the implications of this for understanding and threefold classification of goods are drawn. Finally, there is a discussion of the formula for each of the cardinal virtues of a city.