0:00:00.000,0:00:05.905 (intro music) 0:00:05.905,0:00:08.350 Hi! I'm Chris Surprenant, and I teach in[br] 0:00:08.350,0:00:11.930 the department of philosophy at[br]the University of New Orleans. 0:00:11.930,0:00:15.030 This video is part of my series[br]on human well-being 0:00:15.030,0:00:19.150 and the good life, and it examines the[br]account of well-being presented by Plato's 0:00:19.150,0:00:22.150 character Socrates in[br]the Platonic dialogues. 0:00:22.150,0:00:24.460 If you've taken an introduction[br]to philosophy class, 0:00:24.460,0:00:28.140 it's very likely that you have[br]read Plato's Apology. 0:00:28.140,0:00:32.619 This dialogue provides Plato's version[br]of a speech given by Socrates 0:00:32.619,0:00:38.290 to defend himself against the charges of[br]corrupting the youth and impiety, charges 0:00:38.290,0:00:42.350 that Socrates ultimately was convicted[br]of and sentenced to death. 0:00:42.350,0:00:46.620 This dialogue contains one have the most[br]frequently cited lines in the entire 0:00:46.620,0:00:48.300 history of Western thought. 0:00:48.300,0:00:51.920 When speaking to the jury to[br]explain why he can't simply stop 0:00:51.920,0:00:55.390 what he is doing, why he can't stop[br]annoying people by constantly 0:00:55.390,0:01:00.719 questioning them about what they believe[br]and why, Socrates says that he can't stop 0:01:00.719,0:01:07.100 examining his own life because the[br]unexamined life is not worth living. 0:01:07.100,0:01:11.430 That statement provides tremendous[br]insight into Socrates's understanding 0:01:11.430,0:01:13.589 as to what it means to live a good life. 0:01:13.589,0:01:16.159 What Socrates is telling us is that the 0:01:16.159,0:01:21.570 person who merely wakes up in the morning,[br]goes to work, does his job, comes home, 0:01:21.570,0:01:25.110 watches television, goes to bed,[br]and then repeats this process, 0:01:25.110,0:01:29.900 day in and day out for his entire life,[br]never really reflecting on what he ought 0:01:29.900,0:01:35.630 to be doing or what he values and[br]why, that that life is not worth living. 0:01:35.630,0:01:37.540 But for Socrates, participating in this 0:01:37.540,0:01:41.180 type of rational reflection about[br]what you value and why, 0:01:41.180,0:01:47.010 that is, doing philosophy, is not enough[br]by itself in order to live a good life. 0:01:47.010,0:01:52.340 What is also needed is that an individual[br]becomes a master of himself, using his 0:01:52.340,0:01:57.070 reason to rein in his passions, as[br]well as doing what he can to help 0:01:57.070,0:01:59.260 promote the stability of his community. 0:01:59.260,0:02:03.740 And these topics are explored directly[br]in Plato's dialogue Republic. 0:02:03.740,0:02:06.899 While most people think[br]of Republic as a political 0:02:06.899,0:02:11.490 dialogue that focuses on the nature of[br]justice, it is perhaps better understood 0:02:11.490,0:02:14.170 as a dialogue focusing on virtue and the 0:02:14.170,0:02:17.650 role of philosophy, community,[br]and the state in helping to 0:02:17.650,0:02:21.380 create the conditions that[br]make living well possible. 0:02:21.380,0:02:26.630 At the beginning of book two, Glaucon,[br]one of Socrates's interlocutors in the 0:02:26.630,0:02:27.900 dialogue, poses a challenge to Socrates. 0:02:27.900,0:02:31.840 Glaucon tells the fable[br]of the Ring of Gyges, 0:02:31.840,0:02:35.510 which, like the One Ring in the[br]Lord of the Rings, has the power 0:02:35.510,0:02:37.130 to make its wearer invisible. 0:02:37.130,0:02:39.980 He notes that the person who[br]wears the ring, through 0:02:39.980,0:02:43.930 various types of deception, would[br]be able to get anything he wanted: 0:02:43.930,0:02:47.490 power, money, or even a good reputation. 0:02:47.490,0:02:50.630 The moral of this story[br]seems to be that it's not 0:02:50.630,0:02:55.550 important to actually be just, but[br]rather merely to appear to be just. 0:02:55.550,0:02:58.230 And so his challenge to Socrates is: 0:02:58.230,0:03:02.210 "Why must an individual be[br]just in order to live a good life? 0:03:02.210,0:03:06.210 Isn't it simply necessary for that[br]person to appear to be just? 0:03:06.210,0:03:08.870 In the remaining eight and[br]a half books of Republic, 0:03:08.870,0:03:11.740 Socrates attempts to address this challenge. 0:03:11.740,0:03:16.310 His solution is to see justice not[br]just as a political condition, 0:03:16.310,0:03:19.080 but also as a state[br]of a person's soul. 0:03:19.080,0:03:24.630 Understood politically, justice requires[br]each person in the city to mind his own 0:03:24.630,0:03:27.030 business, doing the particular job that 0:03:27.030,0:03:30.330 has been allocated to him[br]to the best of his abilities. 0:03:30.330,0:03:34.610 Socrates claims that operating in this[br]manner will allow the city to thrive, 0:03:34.610,0:03:36.720 which is in everyone's best interest. 0:03:36.720,0:03:39.220 When the boys object[br]that one implication of 0:03:39.220,0:03:43.380 this position is that particular[br]individuals or classes of individuals 0:03:43.380,0:03:47.000 will not be happy with this arrangement,[br]Socrates responded that he is not 0:03:47.000,0:03:50.430 concerned with the happiness of[br]particular individuals or classes of 0:03:50.430,0:03:54.500 individuals, but rather with the[br]happiness of the city as a whole. 0:03:54.500,0:03:56.250 Here, we see that, for Socrates, 0:03:56.250,0:04:00.010 a well-ordered society trumps[br]individual freedom. 0:04:00.010,0:04:04.010 In addition to understanding justice[br]politically, Socrates also sees 0:04:04.010,0:04:06.070 it as a state of an individual's soul. 0:04:06.070,0:04:08.750 He compares the soul[br]to a two-horse chariot. 0:04:08.750,0:04:13.769 One of these horses, which he associates[br]with a person's appetites or desires, 0:04:13.769,0:04:17.110 Socrates says, is stubborn,[br]and must be controlled. 0:04:17.110,0:04:19.320 The other horse, which he associates with 0:04:19.320,0:04:23.700 spiritedness, is noble and can[br]be used by reason, which he 0:04:23.700,0:04:27.619 associates with the charioteer, to[br]help control the stubborn horse 0:04:27.619,0:04:30.969 But if a person doesn't learn[br]how reason can make use of 0:04:30.969,0:04:35.680 spiritedness in order to rein in desire,[br]then that person will be just as 0:04:35.680,0:04:39.469 misdirected as the chariot controlled[br]by the stubborn horse. 0:04:39.469,0:04:43.189 When understood in this way,[br]it seems obvious to Socrates 0:04:43.189,0:04:45.449 why being just, in addition to 0:04:45.449,0:04:49.179 participating in philosophical[br]investigation, is necessary 0:04:49.179,0:04:50.889 in order to live a good life. 0:04:50.889,0:04:55.330 The just person not only does his part[br]in order to maintain the stability of 0:04:55.330,0:04:57.140 the society and the community, 0:04:57.140,0:05:02.280 but is also in control of himself[br]and is not ruled by his desires. 0:05:02.280,0:05:04.220 Is Socrates' position reasonable? 0:05:04.220,0:05:06.340 While us moderns might find it odd 0:05:06.340,0:05:09.930 that his conception of the good[br]life would be tied so closely to 0:05:09.930,0:05:13.000 what appears to be a significant[br]restriction of individual freedom, 0:05:13.000,0:05:17.629 Socrates might respond that freedom[br]outside of a well-ordered community or 0:05:17.629,0:05:22.779 well-ordered soul is simply lawlessness,[br]and lawlessness is inconsistent with any 0:05:22.779,0:05:26.499 conception of human well-being and[br]what it means to live a good life. 0:05:26.499,0:05:31.650 Anyone who might want to refute Socrates's[br]position at the very least would need to 0:05:31.650,0:05:36.719 show how an emphasis on individual freedom[br]does not lead to this kind of lawlessness. 0:05:36.719,0:05:40.430 And so what we see in the Socratic[br]dialogues is a conception of human 0:05:40.430,0:05:44.599 well-being and the good life that[br]emphasizes both the importance of 0:05:44.599,0:05:49.419 rational reflection and an individual[br]doing his part to contribute to the 0:05:49.419,0:05:52.119 stability of the community as a whole.