The Myth of Er: What and for Whom are the Rewards for Justice?

Abstract

I argue that the myth of Er is not redundant but necessary to complete the whole argument of the book that the just person leads the best life; it conveys a positive and constructive message in the Republic. I focus on the following questions interpreting the myth: (1) What is said to be the rewards, and are they really rewarding? (2) For whom are the rewards? (3) What are the real rewards? By answering these questions, I will show the myth is to persuade that if you “practice justice with phronēsis in every way” (621c), then you shall become godlike. With the myth of Er, Plato presents a reason why human beings should strive to live their best lives, not based on the finiteness of human existence but on the eternity derived from the immortality of souls. Even though you are granted to eternity, unlike the Homeric tradition, what makes you godlike is to practice justice with phronēsis. But what the myth of Er apparently tells is that the rewards are essentially exclusive for philosophers. I, however, argue that there is also room for nonphilosophers to become godlike: by practicing justice with phronēsis in every way, only that phronēsis, for them, is the laws that are enacted by philosophers with phronēsis. Thus, non-philosophers can also lead a just life as law-abiding beings, and they too can become godlike. The majority of ordinary people are capable of deciding that they should follow the laws voluntarily, owing to sōphrosynē which is the virtue that everyone can cultivate, with or without phronēsis within oneself.