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τὰ φορτικά. Plato tests his view of Justice by four criteria taken as it were de foro and turning on various popular associations of the word: cf. IX 573 B ff. Of these the first three are concerned with honesty and trustworthiness in public and private life; while the last (μοιχεῖαι—ἀθεραπευσίαι) refers to morality in general, including the service of the gods. Taken together, they sum up the leading features of the perfect character, and shew that Plato's conception of private, as of political, Justice is in reality Righteousness or Moral Perfection, whereof the other virtues are the fruit. Plato's innovation lay in interpreting Righteousness as τὰ αὑτοῦ πράττειν, or rather in the peculiar meaning which he attached to this phrase: see on 434 C and infra 443 B note παρακαταθήκην χρυσίου κτλ. Honesty and truthfulness were generally recognised as characteristic of the δίκαιος ἀνήρ: see the passages collected by Nägelsbach Nachhom. Theol. pp. 240—246. τοῦτο αὐτόν. See cr. n. “Fortasse Plato τοῦτον αὐτό scripsit” (Schneider).
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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