n Book VI, Socrates talks about virtues of the mind. He gives a different definition of philosophers, men who take pleasures of knowing and in the soul, rather than in the body, and says rulers should be these men. Philosophers become corrupt because of the great virtues they discover. They are discovered successful and people corrupt them for their own purposes. To train the philosopher-kings, we must teach them the highest good. This is not something see, but known. To find this value of the highest good, Socrates gives an example of the sun giving light so we can see. He also shows us the two worlds, the intelligible and the sensible. When these two worlds come together, this is the highest good. In Book VII, Socrates discusses "The Allegory of the Cave." This starts with chained prisoners facing a wall only able to see shadows in a cave. When one prisoner is liberated and walks out of the cave, he will be blinded from the light at first. Eventually however, he will first look at shadows and reflections. Then, he will look at objects themselves. Third, he will look at the stars and the moon. Finally, after a long time he will look at the sun. When the liberated prisoner goes back down to the cave, he is blinded by darkness and the other prisoner say they would not want to be set free to the light. This is the journey of a philosopher into truth, being the sun. He goes back to talk about the ruler and says the ruler should know mathematics, geometry, astronomy, and musical harmony. He finally says they should be exposed to the widest range of experience. In Book VIII, Socrates describes his theory of history. He says that whatever happened and happens to the state happened and happens to the individual. He says that what exists now is changing and it is not real because it is changing. Socrates also discusses the false forms of government. These being timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. A timocracy comes from a deterioration...
