The Practical-Vital Function of the Form of the Good in Plato’s Republic
Keywords:
Plato, Republic, rule of life, justice, Form of the GoodAbstract
This paper proposes to interpret the ethical aspect of the Form of the Good, presented by Plato in Book VI of the Republic, by giving it the meaning of individual happiness. After some considerations on Platonic ethics that serve as a framework for the practical-vital function of the Form of the Good, the normative and teleological function of the Good as the end and meaning (τέλος) of human life is analysed and several parallels are drawn between the passages of Book VI of the Republic concerning the ethical function of the Form of the Good and other passages of the Dialogues. It concludes by examining the Socratic-Platonic thesis of the inseparability between happiness and excellence, as well as the function of the Form of the Good as a rule of life.
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