The Use of Dialectic to Define Justice Through the use of Socratic dialogue, Plato has an advantage at obtaining answers by refuting other philosophers. Plato is able to achieve an answer to the question, what is justice. He derives this answer through an analogy of the ideal city. The ideal city parallels the concept of the ideal person as Plato uncovers with the aid of dialectic. Plato defines justice as a function of harmony, which …showed first 75 words of 1280 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1280 total…The advantage of Socratic dialogue is that through continuous interrogation one can shape the size of the question until the question that is asked becomes the answer that the philosopher has been searching for. Dialectic is the thesis then formed into an antithesis to conclude with a synthesis of ideas. Plato is able to exemplify this method of philosophy while defining justice with an analogy of the ideal city as well as the ideal person.