And is not a State larger than an individual?
It is.
[Sidenote: Justice to be seen in the State more easily than in the
individual.]
Then in the larger the quantity of justice is likely to be larger and more
easily discernible. I propose therefore that we enquire into the nature of
justice and injustice, first as *369A* they appear in the State, and
secondly in the individual, proceeding from the greater to the lesser and
comparing them. {49}
That, he said, is an excellent proposal.
And if we imagine the State in process of creation, we shall see the
justice and injustice of the State in process of creation also.
I dare say.
When the State is completed there may be a hope that the object of our
search will be more easily discovered.
*369B* Yes, far more easily.
But ought we to attempt to construct one? I said; for to do so, as I am
inclined to think, will be a very serious task. Reflect therefore.
I have reflected, said Adeimantus, and am anxious that you should proceed.
[Sidenote: The State arises out of the wants of men.]
A State, I said, arises, as I conceive, out of the needs of mankind; no
one is self-sufficing, but all of us have many wants. Can any other origin
of a State be imagined?
There can be no other.
*369C* Then, as we have many wants, and many persons are needed to supply
them, one takes a helper for one purpose and another for another; and when
these partners and helpers are gathered together in one habitation the
body of inhabitants is termed a State.
True, he said.
And they exchange with one another, and one gives, and another receives,
under the idea that the exchange will be for their good.
Very true.
Then, I said, let us begin and create in idea a State; and yet the true
creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention.
Of course, he replied.
[Sidenote: The four or five greater needs of life, and the four or five
kinds of citizens who correspond to them.]
*369D* Now the first and greatest of necessities is food, which is the
condition of life and existence.
Certainly.
The second is a dwelling, and the third clothing and the like.
True.
And now let us see how our city will be able to supply this great demand:
We may suppose that one man is a husbandman, another a builder, some one
else a weaver-- {50} shall we add to them a shoemaker, or perhaps some
other purveyor to our bodily wants?
Quite right.
The barest notion of a State must include four or five men.
*369E* Clearly.
[Sidenote: The division of labour.]