Plato’s The Republic Books 6 through 10
In books 6 through 10 of Plato’s Republic, we see many
different discussions on the subject of justice, philosophy, and goodness. The
philosopher Socrates has now defined what a philosopher is. His next task is to
show that a philosopher is best qualified to be the ruler of a state. A good
ruler must surely know what Justice and Goodness are, for he must administer
Justice and always act for the good of the community. But a philosopher, as we
have seen, has knowledge of the Forms, so from this point of view at least, he
is best qualified to be a ruler.
