Utopia in Republic by Plato - Book Report/Review Example

All people are given the same things in terms of home, food, clothing, and opportunity. This was guaranteed by separating the children from the parents soon after their birth so that they could all be raised in the same way. All children, boys, and girls, had the same treatment and education from their caregivers that way and were given equal opportunity to prove what they were capable of. Only those children who completed a rigorous education process that included military service, mastery of abstract thought and adherence to the values of the community were able to reach the ranks of rulers by the time they were in their 50s.

By imposing these rules, Plato suggests these rulers would “be above bribery; and their only ambition would be to ensure justice in the state” because they wouldn’t have to prove that they were better than anyone else through their possessions and would have their primary interest in the welfare of the society as a whole rather than just in their own welfare and benefit. Out of this imaginary society, Plato also demonstrates his idea of a three-part soul that is ruled by intellect, action, and appetites, all three of which must perform their proper function for the individual to reach his highest state of the greatest good.