What
are the four degenerate types of states? Of souls? How do
they come
into being? Is this how things work in “real life”? Do you
find the
city/soul parallel convincing? How can a ‘perfect’ state
degenerate into
these lesser forms?
What
three proofs (arguments) does Socrates offer that the just person is
happier
than the unjust person? What is the definition of happiness
proposed
here? How is it like/unlike the earlier definition of justice?
What is
the ultimate answer to Thrasymachus’s
challenge?
Why,
having essentially finished the argument at the end of Book IX, does
Plato
bother with Book X? Compare the discussion of imitation here to
the
discussion in Book III. Do the implications of the Myth of Er contradict Plato’s main point? Defend
poor Homer
(those of you who have read him...).