We are back with Book 9 of Plato’s Republic, which deals with the genesis of the tyrant!
This book returns to the core question from Book 2: why the just person is happier than the unjust and whether the tyrant is wretched or blessed.
We will explain Plato’s account of how a tyrant develops from democratic permissiveness, losing the ability to distinguish necessary from unnecessary desires and becoming ruled by insatiable appetites, like someone living out the lawless impulses revealed in dreams.
The tyrant’s rise is enabled by a chaotic city, but his inner disorder makes him miserable, friendless, and unfree, contrasted with the philosopher-king who is ruled by reason. Mahon then outlines Plato’s further defences of justice: an argument from the tripartite soul and an argument about true vs illusory pleasures, culminating in the claim that justice is 729 times better than injustice.
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome and Series Context
00:16 Book Nine Big Question
01:37 Dreams and Lawless Desires
03:32 How a Tyrant Is Made
04:51 Tyrant’s Addictions and Misery
06:07 Political Rise of Tyranny
09:03 Tyrant vs Philosopher King
10:53 Tripartite Soul and True Judge
14:10 Real vs Illusory Pleasure
17:08 Dopamine Nation and Addiction
20:11 The 729 Times Proof
20:50 Conclusion: Justice Wins
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