y boiled ethics down to the struggle between reason and emotion. Reason was the cornerstone upon which all the virtues were founded, and reason could never be overcome by passion in a just and virtuous man.
This central tension is fully realized in Plato's masterpiece, The Republic. In The Republic, Plato establishes a clear hierarchy among the virtues. He places wisdom, which he considered the only intellectual virtue, as the basis for all other virtues, and noted that "Courage, moderation, as well as justice, presuppose a certain steadfastness of convictions and a harmony among the dispar
...