At the very end of his masterwork on justice, the ‘Republic’, Plato concludes not with a philosophical argument, but with a powerful and detailed story: the Myth of Er. To fully appreciate Plato’s message, one must learn how to interpret the Myth of Er as more than just a fable. This eschatological myth, which describes the journey of the soul after death, serves as the ultimate justification for living a just life. It powerfully illustrates the idea that our choices have profound and eternal consequences for the fate of our souls.
Table of Contents
🌌 The Soul’s Journey After Death
The myth tells the story of a soldier named Er who dies in battle but miraculously returns to life twelve days later to report what he saw in the afterlife. He describes a cosmic scene where souls are judged for the deeds of their past lives. Just souls ascend to a heavenly realm to be rewarded, while unjust souls descend into an underworld to be punished, with their punishments being ten times the severity of their earthly crimes. This part of the myth serves as a powerful piece of moral exhortation, demonstrating that justice is rewarded and injustice is punished on a cosmic scale.
✨ The Choice of a New Life
The most philosophically significant part of the myth is the moment when the souls, after completing their period of reward or punishment, must choose their next life. They are presented with a vast array of ‘patterns of life’ to choose from—lives of tyrants, athletes, craftsmen, and even animals. A crucial detail is that the order of choosing is determined by lot, meaning there is an element of chance. However, the myth emphasizes that even the soul who chooses last can still find a good life if they choose wisely. This highlights the importance of philosophy and wisdom in making life’s most critical decisions.
🧠 The Ultimate Defense of Justice
The Myth of Er provides the final and most powerful defense of Socrates’s central argument in the *Republic*: that it is always better to be just than unjust. The myth shows that the consequences of our moral choices extend far beyond our mortal lifespan. The soul of Odysseus, having learned from his life of toil, wisely chooses the quiet and obscure life of a private citizen. The story concludes with the powerful message that a life dedicated to justice and philosophical inquiry is the only way to ensure the well-being of one’s soul, both in this world and in the next. It serves as a narrative capstone, making the abstract argument for justice tangible and deeply personal.
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Keum, Tae-Yeoun. Plato and the Mythic Tradition in Political Thought. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020.
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