Assignment task:
Book eight of The Republic is one of the most interesting and challenging parts of the book. Socrates here describes increasingly bad ways of life and forms of government. Just as there is an isomorphism between the perfect city and the best life, there are similarities between bad forms for government and bad ways of life.
In the discussion of the various imperfect regimes and ways of life (books 8 The Republic) as the regimes (or lifestyles) become more free they also become more imperfect. Democracy is the freest regime, say Socrates, but also one of the worst.
Does Socrates think the problem with freedom itself, or is the problem only with the view that freedom is the most important thing? Is it possible to have a regime where the people are free, but freedom is not seen as the be-all, end-all of life?