XXVIII, 1934, p. iii), I should have added that he has Platonic authority for his views to this extent at least, that in the non-ideal … Socrates argues that there are four main types of unjust states: timocracy, oligarchy (plutocracy), democracy, and tyranny (despotism). The ideal state, comprised of its various parts (classes), itself possesses the several virtues we have thus far discussed. Socrates held virtue to be the greatest good in life because it alone was capable of securing ones happiness. Winston Churchill famously quipped, "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter." The Republic is an allegory on the politics of ones soul, not a literal treatise on political science. II Socrates accounts for the Ideal City, or the city in theory (368c). is at once the most exemplary and the strangest of the Greek philosophers. And we might anticipate, now, that having divided the ideal state into its several parts (in pursuit of the virtues), Socrates may seek the same division in the individual citizen. I conclude that Glaucon creates the “city for pigs,” not Socrates. Plato also seems to have held such a view, where he wrote in The Republic that "philosopher kings" should lead city-states in a sort of oligarchical system.. Even death is a trivial matter for the truly virtuous individual who realizes that the most important thing in life is the state of his soul and the actions which spring from it: Both Xenophon and Aristophanes state Socrates received payment for teaching, while Plato writes Socrates explicitly denied accepting payment, citing his poverty as proof. is true that in the ideal state Plato would deny the Theogony and myths of the like character to adults as well as children. For Plato, the ideal city was one which mirrored the kosmos, on the one hand, and the individual on the other. In Bk. In the Republic, Plato writes that Socrates was debating (well, more so lecturing about) the nature of the ideal state. The theory of Forms or theory of Ideas is a philosophical theory, concept, or world-view, attributed to Plato, that the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas. Socrates says that timocracy is the closest to the Ideal State that we have thus far experienced; the others descend in value as they are listed. Glossary Viewed by many as the founding figure of Western philosophy, Socrates (469-399 B.C.) His interlocutors beg him to “track down what justice and injustice are and what the truth about their benefits is” (368c). But in censuring Julian for inconsistency (C.Q. The Ideal and Luxurious Cities. Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher, one of the three greatest figures of the ancient period of Western philosophy (the others were Plato and Aristotle), who lived in Athens in the 5th century BCE.A legendary figure even in his own time, he was admired by his followers for his integrity, his self-mastery, his profound philosophical insight, and his great argumentative skill. Socrates does not abandon the Ideal City.