PLATO ON THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF WEALTH AND JUSTICE: THE PROPERTY ARRANGEMENTS IN THE REPUBLIC

The property arrangements of the Republic are often linked to Plato's biographical and historical background, especially to his alleged aristocratic prejudices against moneymaking. Contrary to this, I argue that they are based on one of his central philosophical theories, i.e. on his conception of justice. According to Plato, justice involves the control of appetitive desires. Among these appetitive desires, the desire for money stands out for the following reasons given in the text: it is part of human appetite 'by nature', it is 'insatiable', and it is connected with all of the other appetites; therefore it can be restrained by education only partially, and requires particular mechanisms of control. The Laws remain consistent with this assessment, but introduce less radical political measurements, which are in turn adopted by Aristotle in the Politics.