Lengthy Preambles and Courage // Moriah Nelson

Plato’s “The Republic” is filled with philosophical conversation concerning topics such as family, education, and government.

While this dialogue is interesting, I’m sure many of us can agree with this quote from page 128:

“I am getting weary of your lengthy preambles.”

That being said, each line of this book is vital in helping us better understand the thought process of these historically influential men.

Book IV specifically targets the four key virtues of an “ideal” city.

These virtues are: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice.

The idea of courage in the everyday life and society has often been a topic I have thought about and while the thoughts presented in Book IV did not necessarily bring much additional clarity, they certainly incited more thinking.

“Now whoever calls a city brave or cowardly will think first about its armed forces. This is so because the character of the city is not determined by the bravery or cowardice of the citizenry as a whole. The city is brave because there is a part of it that is steadfast in its convictions about what is to be feared and what is not to be feared. These convictions constitute an integral part of the education prescribed by the city’s founder. They also define the meaning of courage.” (page 125)

In this quote, the speaker argues that a city’s courage is not from the population’s perceived bravery but from how firm they stand in their society’s beliefs.

This same speaker elaborates on what he means and states,

“Courage is a preservative. Strengthened by education, it preserves convictions about the things that are legitimately to be feared and those that are not. Courage makes a man hold fast to these convictions no matter whether he is threatened by danger or lured by desire. Neither pain nor pleasure will move him.” (page 125)

The dictionary’s definition of courage is, “strength in the face of pain or grief.”

With these definitions of courage in mind, one must ask: do we live with this mindset of courage? Is it still relevant to today’s society?

I definitely agree with the speaker’s belief that courage is imperative for us to stand firm in our beliefs. When we are faced with opposing beliefs or doubt is brought into our minds, the easy way out is to conform and yield to the new beliefs. If the individuals in a society are so easily swayed by new ways of thinking, the culture may be dismantled.

In the 21^st-century United States, it seems many people are afraid of society’s opinions towards them instead of having courage to stand for what they truly believe to be right. We must have courage to challenge other beliefs, while testing our own convictions, and know we need not fear others’ opinions so much that we lose our beliefs.

This book presents a challenge to its readers to take courage and charge through opposition, coming out on the other side with even stronger beliefs and suggests that if we do this, our society will be strengthened.

I commented on Joshua and Kayla's posts.