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?)