The concept of the virtuous city is central to Plato and Alfarabi's treatments of political science. Plato's and Alfarabi's respective analyzes have many similarities, but their end goals differ radically. Plato's description of the republic is both an ideal toward which cities should strive and a metaphor for balance in the soul of a virtuous person. Alfarabi frequently references Plato in his political science texts and was certainly influenced by The Republic and Plato's other writings, but his virtuous city has no allegorical component. Instead, it establishes guidelines for the creation of a real political entity. Whether the change is a distortion or an improvement is entirely a matter of perspective. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayTo understand Plato's teaching on the virtuous city, one must first understand the allegory of the cave introduced in The Republic. It recounts the arduous journey the philosopher must undertake to escape the "cave" of reality he constructs for himself through sensory input and, instead, understand the ideals that lie outside the cave, beyond what he can perceive (514-519). Only those possessing the noblest natures can accomplish this “journey” and return to enlighten those remaining in the cave (520); those who complete the journey are the same ones that Plato designates as ruling the city (535). The existence of the Virtuous City depends on the leadership of the Philosopher-King (540), and it is his responsibility to pass on to the citizens of the Virtuous Republic the wisdom he acquires through his philosophy (his journey out of the cave). the republic where justice takes the form of each person exercising in the community the only function that suits them and only caring about what belongs to them (443). It divides the citizens of the republic into ruler-guardians, auxiliary guardians, and farmers and artisans, each fulfilling the role that suits it by nature, and each group needing the other group to function as a whole. His reflection on the virtuous city is not limited to a strict political treatise. Plato (or rather Socrates) sees no distinction between the just man and the just city, because a just city is made up of just men (434), and he therefore specifies that the division of the city's citizens into rulers-Guardians , Auxiliary guardians and farmers and artisans represent the division of man's soul into rational, "spiritual" and appetitive parts (441), distinct but representing a unified whole. As the justice of the city-state lies in each man doing his own work, justice for the individual represents him allowing each part to fulfill its function, bringing harmony to the whole (443). Plato ends his analysis of his virtuous republic by admitting that it exists nowhere on earth, but perhaps only in a higher reality, a divine order (591), and understanding the metaphor of the cave becomes useful here. The impossibly perfect city is an ideal toward which all cities should strive, an ideal existing outside of the cave toward which the philosopher king must try to lead his people. Alfarabi's description of the virtuous city closely resembles The Republic, at least superficially. He and Plato believe that the city ruler should receive intense theoretical training, that "the legislator must be a philosopher", and in The Achievement of Happiness Alfarabi even recommends Plato's curriculum by name. Alfarabi says.