Recall Plato said there are three general kinds of cities (or ways of life): wisdom loving, honor loving, and
gain loving. These cities aim toward their interpretation of the highest pleasure: learning loving, victory
loving, and money loving. Book IX argues that the tyrant is the most unhappy kind of soul, and tyranny is
the worst kind of city--just one step worse than full democracy!
Is the life of wisdom truly the best form of life? Could someone be just as happy/just living a life of honor,
gain, or tyranny? Explain your reasoning and pay close attention to the condition of the soul (logos, thymos,
eros--how are they harmonized in your examples?)