Although St. Augustine does not directly reply to Socrates's positions on health care as set forth in The Republic, the theology of the Confessions, nonetheless, inferentially posits his answer. And, although both men clearly base their views in teleological rather than mechanical explanations of the world, St. Augustine parts ways with Plato (just as he did with Plotinus and the Neoplatonists) over the critical necessity of "grace." The human utopia of Plato is governed by men of reason (philosopher kings or "guardians"), but Augustine's is the dominion of the Trinity, guided by direct, personal experience of and surrender to God. Thus, Plato would cut the Gordian knot of contemporary health care conundrums with the sword of mind, Augustine with the sword of faith.
From each, readers can extrapolate considerations pertinent to the significant causes of exorbitant health care costs in modern America: 1) Is there an intrinsic "right to life," e.g. should disproportionate costs be borne extending the lives of the non-viable newborn, aged, or "vegetative" patient? 2) Is a theoretical model provided, therein, supporting a basis for eugenics, i.e. the removal of the genetically "inferior" individual? and 3) Should societal resources be expended toward ameliorating the results of "unhealthy" or risky lifestyles, e.g. smoking, sedentary behavior, unsafe sex, etc? A closer examination of these nexii reveals that Platonic and Augustinian ethics may conflict but their metaphysics share much in common.
Because of the geometric progression of societal wealth and technological capability in this century, it is perhaps subjective but accurate to think most people believe humans deserve to live forever. Yet spiraling health care costs are illustrative of the irrefutable rule of supply and demand: health care is a limited-supply commodity requiring apportionment. The ineluctable questions, of course, are "how" and "on what basis?" Sho...