Fight for the City!

I found the conversations we've had in this very interesting, and have discovered many complex ideas hidden within the text that we are ready. Being so, there is one concept that was pointed out to me that I have specifically spent a lot of time thinking about. That concept would be that during Book I of The Republic of Plato, by Allan Bloom, the debate, or fight as some would call it, between Thrasymachus and Socrates isn't only a debate to impress the potential students around them, but also a battle for the future of the excellence of the city. When I first read the argument between the two, I had initially thought that it was only a battle of wit to not only steer the conversation in the direction Socrates wanted, but to influence the affluent young aristocrats to be taught and converse by him, rather than by being charged and taught by Thrasymachus who was a sophist, but upon learning what happened in real-world Athens a few years after this fictional conversation took place really put things into perspective. This argument then seemed like a fight you would see happening between the devil and the angel on one's shoulder. Socrates would be teaching the men important concepts, and a way to live life that relies less on only striving to be powerful and rich, whereas Thrasymachus represented the devil, pushing the men towards a corrupt place where they would do anything to stay in power, even if that means killing anyone who speaks out against you. When I was re-reading the argument it felt like a fight for life in death with a bunch of other factors falling into the equation, factors that I had missed before. It's crazy how having the backstory actually changes one's perspective of what is happening.