ABSTRACT
In his Republic, Plato transforms Socrates’s mission to Athens into a larger conception of the city as essentially tied to the flourishing of its inhabitants. He spells this out in his analogy of the city and the soul. However, objections have been raised about both the upper and the lower dimensions of the analogy. Following some attention to the educational program in the Republic – in particular, the provisions for the cultivation and maintenance of ordinary virtue – this chapter argues that Plato has resources sufficient to keep the objections at bay.
