This paper argues that Plato’s Republic contains a distinctive brand
of pacifist political theory. Against the prevailing Greek view that
honor and competitive striving through war are indicative of human
excellence, the Republic associates war with vice, excessive material
desires and injustice. The dialogue suggests that the nature,
education and courage of the philosopher are incompatible with the
character, education and virtue of warriors. Furthermore, the
principal method of philosophic inquiry, dialectics, is contrasted
with eristics, or inquiry based on the desire to dominate and prevail
over others. Finally, the Republic describes justice as helping the
weak, doing no harm (even to one’s enemies) and instantiating
cooperative endeavors, which form the basis for a pacifist theory of
justice critical of the just war tradition. We argue that this
description of justice is consistent with Platonic justice. For all of
these reasons, we find a portrait of a just political order that does
not engage in violence and warfare even in the context of a culture of
violence.