Plato’s Republic VI

Friends, enemies, and the justness of harm

May 12, 2023

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Taking for granted Polemarchus’s definition, if “justice is helping friends and harming enemies,” does not the question arise: ‘what do we mean by friends?

Take a moment and think about it: who are your friends? We tend to be pretty loose with the word, but who really are your friends, as opposed to your acquaintances or colleagues?

Socrates pointedly asks this at 334c:

The Gymnasium

Plato’s Republic VI

Friends, enemies, and the justness of harm

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