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By Root 748 0

any threat of consequence seems tempting. Plato wants to know if we do just acts only out of fear of consequence. Keith had his own Ring of Gyges in the form of defense attorney, Bill Carter. Carter would get Keith out of many legal jams (most of which were drug related). Keith gets popped with drugs, then rings Carter. Carter rings higher ups in Washington and at the state level. Carter rings his register, and that’s how that ring goes. Keith never had much respect for drug laws and clearly didn’t find them just, given his propensity for his various decadences.

So, Plato figures, good and justice have less to do with the legal consequences of actions and more to do with one’s soul performing appropriately. A just soul is one that acts harmoniously. Plato understands the soul to be an immaterial center from which we act. That is, soul is what thinks, judges, and moves. Plato also believes that the soul is something different than matter—it’s separable from our material body. This might sound far-fetched. It might actually be far-fetched. Whatever the case, soul for Plato is a human’s eternal, experiential nexus, so to speak. It has three parts.

1. Appetitive. This portion of the soul is concerned with appetites and desires—food, drink, and sex. These are all necessary appetites to keep one alive. But they can run rampant, and unnecessarily voracious appetites can cause disharmony in a soul. As Mick well knows, appetites can be a “Bitch.”

2. Spirit. This part of the soul is competitive and fierce. It concerns itself with victory and honor and can work for the appetites or for rationality. Consider the Glimmer Twins’ competition with each other as an example. Both Jagger and Richards are highly spirited fellows.

3. Rationality. This part of the soul is concerned with truth. Plato believes the rational portion of our soul has a thirst for knowing the nature of the world. This is the part of us which seeks to know and do good. Keith clearly has wits and a thirst for knowledge—so much so that he busted his head open in his Connecticut library, fetching a book from the top shelf. This anecdote alone seems to me a revealing insight into Keef ’s relationship with the rational portion of his soul.

Plato believes the answer to the good life is aligning and harmonizing all three parts of the soul. Justice is a matter of putting each part in it’s right place in a hierarchy of action. Rationality needs to control the spirit and appetites.

To show how the three parts of the soul should work, the Republic creates an ideal city in which the three classes of people represent the three parts of the soul, a macrocosmic literary device. The working class, which represent the appetite, make up the majority of a society. The auxiliaries—similar to soldiers—represent the spirit. Lastly, the philosopher king, ruler of the city, represents rationality.

Now unlike Keef, Plato is about complete control. He wants to harness the appetite and use it only as a means to do rationality’s bidding. Appetites should only serve to aid rationality in the pursuit of eternal truth. The auxiliaries/spirit take their orders from the rational philosopher kings and keep the workers /appetites in line. All those workers out there in the city who’ve put in a hard week’s work get no luxuries in the Republic. They get their basic needs met. But remaining “just” is a matter of rationality steering the working class (appetites) away from unnecessary desires.

The philosopher kings in Plato’s utopia are no velvet-robed Nancy-boys, either. There is no opulent treatment for these kings. They are put through grueling moral and physical training their entire lives to make sure they act only from the love of justice. These philosopher kings live in barracks with no excessive pleasures. The function of the philosopher king is to make sure the city remains harmonious and all its people remain in their right place. There is no tolerance for excess and debauchery here. It’s a safe place, with a big sign at the edge of the city that reads “NO POETS, NO ROCK’N’ROLLERS.