Socrates

In Plato’s The Republic: Book III; Socrates prescribed the medical training that should be provided in the just city. He felt that doctors should be trained to treat the healthy, who suffered from a single curable problem. In contrast, Socrates also felt that the doctors should not be trained to treat the chronically ill and since they are suffering from an incurable disease they should be left to die naturally. Furthermore, Socrates felt that the mentally ill should be actively put to death. His views on this topic annoyed me. How can medical advancement take place if the diseased are not to be treated?

Some of Socrates views were too bizarre. Socrates argued that the treating the diseased is unnecessary; that is a foolish opinion. In the medical field, monitoring and treating the diseased is a major part of successfully curing the disease in the future. He goes on to say that the mentally ill should be actively put to death and that is outlandish. That is unjust and just down-right ignorant. How would one get a chance to understand the mentally ill if they are all dead? Interaction with the mentally ill is vital for the treatment of the mentally ill. The existence of the mentally ill was not essential to Socrates.

Socrates views in Book III were not all absurd. The training of the guardians in the city was another issue that was argued. He warned that the physical training of the guardians was very important. Socrates emphasized how important it was to properly balance the music and poetry with physical training. Too much physical training will make the guardians savage, while too much music and poetry will make them soft. Socrates was correct. Since all the guardians will learn poetry, and since all poetry will be beautiful and good, they will be able to recognize poorly-made works. He felt the guardians must be trained physically and should have a simple diet. Socrates also felt that the guardians should not fear combat nor fear death in the service of the state. He felt that the guardians should not be educated on the sufferings of the dead in Hades. That would make the guardians fearless and more courageous when they were defending the state. That was an great idea. If guardians were not to be educated on life after death, they would think of no consequences of battle and put their life on the line in every battle.