Plato's Republic (c. 375 BCE) is the foundational text of Western political philosophy, defining justice in the soul and city through the philosopher-king ideal.
Plato argues that justice is a harmony in which each part of the soul (reason, spirit, appetite) and each class of the city (philosophers, warriors, artisans) performs its proper function; the philosopher-king, guided by knowledge of the Form of the Good, is uniquely fit to rule a just city.
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