The hunt for morality involves finding it among four qualities in a moral community. «When were the four qualities established? Why this number? Ive forgotten.» Guardianship is the first quality to be identified, the knowledge and wisdom to coordinate the community. The guardians are a very small part of the community, the smallest and will be outnumbered. «No part can be larger than the farmers feeding the rest of the community, but why must the guardians be the absolute smallest? Perhaps because the rarity of virtue would necessarily make it so?»

Some properties ascribed to the communities depend only on the nature of a part where the rest is irrelevant. The cowardice or bravery of a community's warriors defines its bravery, not the bravery of it's bakers. Hence guardianship for the moral community.

The nature of bravery is discussed. It is the ability to hold what ought and ought not to be feared in face with pressure. Pressure can come in the form of pain, pleasure or desire. «Bravery was previously discussed in Protagoras and Laches. Socrates usually holds the view that it is a form of courage, here we see Plato's idea be refined with the tripartite model where courage combines reason and passion.»

Next is self-discipline, the ability to control pleasures and desires. Another name is self-mastery, which is absurd as you cannot be both master and slave over yourself. The moral community has self-discipline as the intelligent and rational control the desires and pleasures of the community.

With three qualities found in a moral community, it is determined that the fourth moral quality is the specialisation principle that has guided the community investigation since the start. Morality is keeping to the task that you excel at to benefit the community (and yourself?). «I think the predecessor to this concept has been apparent throughout the works of Plato so far with the deferal to expertise. In every situation we leave it to the most knowledgeable to decide or act, this has then evolved to the specialisation principle we see here.» The principle is the foundation of the community and is what enables the other qualities. Adherence of the principle in the community is the most important among the auxilliaries and the guardians. If the workers stray from the principle it is not very harmful, but if the guardians of the community do it would be catastrophic. This is immorality.

With morality found in a community it will now be found in a person. The three classes must be here as well. Aspect division of the mind, is there an aspect for each of all things we do and desire or just one?

First Socrates establishes that a thing cannot be in opposing states simultaneously, nor possess opposing qualities. «What about the in-between states we saw in Symposium and Ion?» Things cannot be in motion and at rest, neither can parts of a thing be in at rest and in motion to make the thing itself be in both states.

Desires are identified as an aspect of the mind. And these desires are for things or pleasures themselves only, not for particular things. Thirst is thirst for drink, not for a hot or a good drink. «Desires cannot be inclined to always look for the good, that is why this limit is introduced. Otherwise hedonism could be framed as looking for good.» People can resist desires, then what is it that is going against the desireous part? Rationality for example can go against desire to moderate, i.e self-discipline. Passion is brought up, but is it part of rationality or independent? When our desires take over we can still feel rage or shame when ceeding, this is passion. The three classses of the moral community is used as an argument to keep passion independent like the auxillia.

Morality in a person is upheld by the union of passion and reason where reason leads to control desire. It is cultivated through education of the mind and body as we saw with the guardians education. «Similar to the charioteer with the good horse vs the bad horse in Phaedrus.» The previous absurdity of self-mastery is solved through the partition of the mind into three. Immorality is disorder in the mind where rationality is not in control.

Observations:

I feel like passion has not been developed enough. Where does it come from? Is it only a sense of what is right that is instilled through cultural education?

I wonder what Plato would have said about the experience of the mind. I very much feel like one thing, how does the three part play into the experience of being?