Revisiting Plato's republic : towards a praxis of justice

Abstract

The Platonic idea of justice is based on the historical possibility of a flourishing political community. From this perspective, it may be argued that the fundamental principle of the right to life provides the normative basis for Plato’s investigation into the question of justice. Although the popular image of Plato as a utopian and esoteric thinker still dominates much of the contemporary readings of his political thought, thus given rise to persistent allegations of a “hidden agenda” of totalitarianism, racism and political elitism, I seek to demonstrate in this essay that Plato’s concern with the question of justice, when viewed from the perspective of the historical possibility a flourishing political community, lends itself to a more ‘practical” (concrete) analysis, whose moral significance is still relevant today. The all too familiar images of millions of people across the global South (the so-called developing world) suffering and dying from the devastating impact of globalised poverty, as the rich and powerful nations of the West continue to dictate to “the rest” how to live, seriously undermines the human right to life within a flourishing political community.