Summary:

This chapter finally traces back to the original goal of proving that a person living a moral life is happier than one living an immoral life without consequences.

So far it has been proven that the mentality of the moral community is the best. The most immoral mentality is that of the tyrant which was determined to be the worst. Socrates and his discussors determine that they need an expert on tyrants and decide to pretend to be so. «But did not need one before when commenting on them? What is the significance of "pretending" here? We know Plato had experience with tyrants in Syracuse.»

Like earlier the structure of the dictatorship is reflectd in the dictator. A majority ruled by a minority. Unwilling dictators are more unhappy than willing dictators. «No compensation as in chapter 1.» Wealthy people own plenty of slaves and resemble dictators. Society keeps the slaves from rising up and the rich would be terrified of their servants if they were to act freely. Dictators are terrified of the people they rule over and their paranoia restricts them from truly experiencing all pleasures in the world. The succession of governments and mentalities goes from happiness to unhappiness.

Each mental facultiy has it's own pleasure. The desirous part wants many things, some necessary, some unnecessary. The passionate part wants power, success and fame. The intellectual part wants the truth. For each faculty there is a corresponding person: philosophical, competitive and avaricious. Each type swears their way is the best and disregards the other's pleasures. The intellectual person has the greatest claim to the truth, for only they can access the pleasures of truth and can access the other's pleasures. The competitive person comes second.

The intellectual pleasures are not only the greatest, but they are also the most real. Pain and pleasures are opposites, there is also the intermediate where none is present. Pain from the absence of pleasure. Pleasure from the absence of pain. Remission appears at both and seems to both be painful and pleasant. But things cannot simultaneously have opposing properties. Thereforce these absences are false, or less real. Some pleasures can happen without anticipation or regret at their parting, such as smells or importantly learning. These experiences also give a false perception of the range of experience. Only learning lets one reach the global maximum. What is real is more satisifed from real pleasures. Knowledge is being and is more real pleasure, while the becoming pleasures of food and sex are less real.

Socrates proves how much more miserable the tyrant is with esoteric mathematics again.

Law is to cultivate passion and temper desire in the populace.

Observation:

Minds have a tripartite strucutre, the cities they compose also has a tripartite structure. Does everything on every scale have a tripartite structure, meaning panpsychism? What are minds evem? Why are they? Maybe Timaeus will answer.

Weak argumentation around philosophers having superior pleasures. Other mentalities can use reason to for their purposes and also discover knowledge.

The argumentation around philosophers having exclusive access to their pleasure is a bit weak. The avaricious and competitive people can certainly use reason to attain their pleasures and therefore encounter the pleasures of learning.