Explanantion of Second Wave

Explanation of the Second Wave

Socrates starts out by proposing that all women and children should be shared among all men, and no individual women and man should live together. And the parent should not know there offspring, and no child its parent. Socrates believes that the sharing of women and children is the greatest good and even viable. Socrates explains that instead of questioning the viability of there proposals he wants to take the time to examine how the rulers will arrange them when they come into play. His argument for the second wave is to show that if they were put into practice they would be the most beneficial rules for the city and guardians.

"Now, you are their lawgiver, and in just the way you selected these men, you will select as the women to hand over to them those who have natures as similar to theirs as possible. And because they have shared dwellings and meals, and none of them has any private property of that sort, they will live together" (458d). Socrates starts his argument by saying that the lawgiver will select these certain men and women that should be together, he realizes that by living together they will probably have sex. He realizes that he should marry each couple. This goes into the argument who should marry who? Socrates and Glaucon compare there matches to breeding animals; they come up with direct rules of who can mate with whom. They come up with the rule that the best men should mate with the best women in as many cases as possible, while the worst men and worst women should breed together (459e). The argument turns into the offspring and how they will be reared, they decide on the mothers and fathers having no contact with them and that they should be brought up by wet nurses. Socrates sees the people as more of breeders, that's why everything should be shared, there will be no real emotions, they are just breeding for the best type of people in there city. Once the woman or man is out of there prime they are able to have sex with whom ever they please but not allowed to sleep with anyone of there immediate family.

Socrates is trying to show how that sharing of women and children is beneficial for a good city and will produce only good bred people. He decides that that rulers of the city should be called Ð''preservers' and Ð''auxiliaries', and that the people should be called Ð''paymasters'