4.4: Courage in the City

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See 429a-430c. What is it for a city to be courageous? It is for the auxiliaries to be steadfast in their convictions, preserving, in the face of temptations, the right beliefs about what should and should not be feared. Because courage has to do with preserving beliefs “inculcated by the law through education,” it is dependent upon the rulers and their wisdom. But it is a virtue specifically of the auxiliaries, who are charged with upholding the integrity of the city through force of arms. Courage is not the same thing as fearlessness, for it is consistent with a certain amount of fear, above all with fear of slavery, which in antiquity meant the dismemberment of a city. (Recall from 387b that the auxiliaries are to be raised to fear slavery more than death.) Courage is especially valuable for resisting the lure of pleasure, which is more potent than any detergent at loosening the “purple dye” of a good upbringing. In a courageous city, the army cannot be bought off.

What is good for a city to fear? What is bad for a city to fear?
Could a city be courageous, on Socrates’ view, if the rulers were unwise and their laws oppressive? Consider a city ruled by someone like Hitler or Stalin.
If you were a ruler in this city and had to keep an eye out for children who showed signs of being well suited for training as auxiliaries, what would you look for?