In this kind of living where conflicts are always present, nobody would not want to achieve peace in a way that they would be happy too. And, to achieve a good, peaceful kind of life, we need justice to balance consensus among these conflicts. Furthermore, life is not just about going out for politics, for social interactions or for economic purposes; it covers all aspects which is the same as the kind of justice that we thrive to attain. We need, then, a good concept of justice that will tell us the precise and methodological “hows” of achieving it.
For my five months of study on the philosophical views, Plato, at my perspective, touched the most practical, logical, and general definition of justice. Hence, this paper tries to reflect on how Plato’s justice is significant in reaching the happiness that everybody wants.
Plato, in his work The Republic, defined justice as the orderly completion of all the necessary virtues for the state and, for its counterpart, the human soul. According to him, justice in a state is the same as justice in a man which is very true since a state is just a collective being of a single organism. In the state, there are three virtues that are requisites to justice and these are wisdom, courage and temperance.
Wisdom, first and foremost, is knowing the truth. It is important in understanding morality and its use in practical life. Thus, in every choice we make, wisdom steers us. It helps us to be guided by the truth, which is always good, and so, far from committing mistakes. Consequently, if we don’t commit mistakes, we are less probable to harm other people and of course, ourselves.
If we already have wisdom and we know the truth, the problem is now on how we are going to handle it especially during trials. For this reason, we need courage to go hand in hand with it. For Plato, courage is knowing what we ought and ought not to be afraid of. It is a picture of an excellent soldier who wins because he knows when and where to attack. Likewise, courage signals our wisdom when and where to act upon. Since we are dealing with conflicts where there is always uncertainty, then we must avoid making choices out of proper timing. Also, we must possess the courage of conviction so that we wouldn’t step on anyone’s dignity. Happiness is, therefore, achieved by not only us, but also everyone around us.
Lastly, we should endeavor to achieve temperance. We need to be moderated especially at times when we are already developing our desires. Desire, of course, is a good tool to achieve happiness and we have a lot of it. However, if we all express our desires together at the same time, then conflicts might arise inevitably. Remember that desire, although good, is achievable either in good or bad way. So, we need self-control to prevent desire from compromising our character.
And, for things are born within us, justice is also related to our over-all personality. Our soul is consisted of three elements that make us move and these are reason (the highest value), spirit (emotion), and appetite. One can be a just person if he lets his reason and passion (emotion/ spirit) to rule his appetite (desires). These three are related to the three previously discussed virtues. Reason is bred by wisdom, courage entails emotions and, appetite is controlled by temperance.
All of these, for Plato, should be orderly attained to achieve justice. If we are just, that’s the only time that we can be happy and, by being ordered individuals, we can achieve peace. Justice will rule in all aspects either in politics, economy, or in the society, at large. Of course, there is no rational man who doesn’t want wisdom, courage and temperance. For instance, is there anyone who wants to be fool, drunkard, or coward? Then, if there’s any, he must be mentally-ill for everybody wants to be happy, righteous and contented.
Indeed, these are all very ideal, but, as Plato quoted, “Our plan is difficult but not impossible.”
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