2.8: Making the Most of Differences

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See 369b-372c. In setting up the city, Socrates notes that “we are not all born alike,” but “each of us differs somewhat in nature from the others, one being suited to one job, another to another.” Ideally then, each citizen is to do a job in the city for which he or she is ideally suited, so that the goods and services each provides for the others will be of the highest quality. Citizens will obviously benefit from this arrangement as consumers, but presumably also as producers; for people generally enjoy doing what they can do well, provided their work is appreciated and they are treated with respect. (Socrates doesn’t make this last point explicitly, but it stands to reason, and it will in fact be a crucial matter to consider when the time comes to judge whether this city is a desirable one to live in.)

Is Socrates right that we are all better off if each of us specializes in a particular craft?
Consider modern assembly line work. Would Socrates consider the performance of repetitive, relatively unskilled tasks a craft fit for human beings? Would he consider it a “craft” at all?
How should people be selected to train for the various jobs needed by a city? Socrates doesn’t address this in the present passage, but it clearly is an important matter. His answer is going to be, roughly, that everything depends upon a high degree of wisdom in the city’s rulers. What in your opinion would a wise person look for when trying to match persons to jobs?