Socrates Talking to Himself About Nature vs. Nurture

When I started reading “The Republic,” it seemed as if Socrates was talking to himself. As Hayley mentioned in her blog post, Socrates is “desperate to display his own intelligence.” I too think that he wants to show off how intelligent he is, so much so that it seems like he is talking to himself because his friend’s replies are some what of the “yeah yeah whatever you say just please shut up” nature. While I may have started reading with similar thoughts in my head as the responses of Adeimantus and Galucon, I gradually began to be interested in what Socrates was actually trying to say.

            Early on in the reading I came across a footnote that said “a city is a collection of people, not a collection of buildings” (14). Though this may seem like a simple concept to grasp, there’s actually quite a lot of depth to it. Rather than focusing on just the idea of Utopia as a whole, like in other readings, Socrates is diving into the specific details of the lives of the people who make up/create this society. Shortly afterward Socrates starts developing his plan by beginning with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (defined in Noel’s previous post) realizing that people first need food and shelter then they can start thinking about their jobs and roles in the society.

            Toward the beginning of Book Three, Socrates starts to share ideas that remind me of the nature vs. nurture debate in psychology. On page 72 he says, “haven’t you noticed that imitations practiced from youth become part of nature and settle into habits of gesture, voice, and thought?” Socrates seems to be suggesting that children imitate many behaviors that they learn quickly at a young age, and continue many of these behaviors the rest of their lives. If this is the case, then he believes that from an early age, as they are creating this Utopia, the proper ideas need to be practiced and installed into people’s heads as to not create conflict in the future. Though I think this is a good idea, especially if you want a Utopia to remain a Utopia, I think Socrates has to keep in mind that many people act a certain way not solely because of their nurture but greatly because of their nature (how their genes are wired). This being said, Socrates can do all he wants to make his society perfect, but ultimately he cannot completely persuade people to do one thing or another because he cannot control their nurture.

            I do apologize for this post being a bit all over the place, but perhaps that makes it more like Socrates thoughts. Although I find many of his ideas quite insightful, I do not find them all plausible. Yes, over a great period of time society can drastically change, but does every individual change? Are people only acting a certain way because they are in this new society and think they all have to act a certain way? What would happen if you isolated people after years of trying to develop Socrates ideal society, would they go back to their old ways?