[432b]
as to which ought to rule both in the state and the
individual.1” “I entirely concur,” he said.
“Very well,” said I. “We have made out these
three forms in our city to the best of our present judgement.2 What can be the
remaining form that3 would give the city still another virtue? For it is obvious that
the remainder is justice.” “Obvious.”
“Now then,4 Glaucon, is the time for us like huntsmen5 to surround the covert and keep close watch that
justice may not slip through and get away from us and vanish
1 Cf. on 351 E.
2 Cf. Demosthenes 18 and 430 Eὥς γε ἐντεῦθεν ἰδεῖν. Plato's definitions and analyses are never presented as final. They are always sufficient for the purpose in hand. Cf. Unity of Plato's Thought, p. 13, nn. 63-67 and 519.
3 δι᾽ ὅ: cf. my paper on the Origin of the Syllogism, Class. Phil. vol. xix. pp. 7 ff. This is an example of the terminology of the theory of ideas “already” in the first four books. Cf. Unity of Plato's Thought, p. 35, n. 238, p. 38.
5 Cf. Soph. 235 B, Euthydemus 290 B-C, Phaedo 66 C, Laws 654 E, Parmenides 128 C, Lysis 218 C, Thompson on Meno 96 E, Huxley, Hume , p. 139 “There cannot be two passions more nearly resembling each other than hunting and philosophy.” Cf. also Hardy's “He never could beat the covert of conversation without starting the game.” The elaboration of the image here is partly to mark the importance of δικαιοσύνη and partly to relieve the monotony of continuous argument.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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