Teacher of justice?

It is my opinion that Socrates is a teacher of justice and so far into The Republic has been his lesson on the subject. Socrates even calls himself a teacher while talking to Ademantus - "I seem to be a ridiculous teacher, and an unclear one" (392e). Even though Socrates is directly talking about teaching the styles of speech and poetry, it correlates to justice as well since everything they are inquiring about is supposed to lead them to find what justice is.
In the same passage (392e) Socrates goes on to say, "So just like men who are incompetent at speaking, instead of speaking about the whole in general, I'll cut off a part and with it attempt to make plain to you what I want." Here Socrates is telling us how it is that a teacher may teach something. Through the use of examples and by means of relation the student can learn first with what they are familiar with, and then expand that knowledge further. For example, when you are first learning math your teacher would tell you that Adam has 2 apples, then Sally gave him 3 more apples. How many apples does Adam have now? This is the process Socrates is going through with Glaucon and Ademantus; giving them items or ideas that they can understand. The building of the city is the main idea Socrates is using to teach justice.
Socrates is also shown as a teacher by the process in which he is talking with the others. He knows that you cannot truly understand something if you don't figure it out for yourself. Using another math example, your teacher will ask questions like, what are you trying to find? In what ways can you find it? What should you do next? so that their student can find the answer themself and then be able to do it alone. By Socrates only asking questions and not giving direct answers, he is doing the same thing. And because they are seeking to "learn" justice, that is what Socrates is teaching.

By: Rachel Tidwell