Socrates turns at this juncture to address a specific problem having to do with the craftsmen: They should not be permitted to suffer either from extreme wealth or from extreme poverty. Socrates explains that extreme wealth will cause the craftsmen to become lazy and lax in their duties. They may refuse to work. Extreme poverty will deny them the money whereby to procure the tools of their trade. They may be unable to work. In either case, Socrates argues, such a condition will foment trouble for the state.
Socrates now turns his attention to some other particulars about how the state should be run (the rulers' obligation). Socrates refers specifically to the legislation and the passage of laws. We will not, Socrates says, require many laws in the ideal state; too many communities suffer from an overabundance of too many laws dealing with specific instances (particularities), thereby causing us to lose sight of the generality we seek: justice for all. The true way to achieve that general truth lies in the program we have already established for the Guardians: education and nurture. This training will ensure a wholeness of vision, that is, the creation of the just citizen in the just state. We ought not to be required to go at the thing piecemeal, floundering in our creation of specific laws and courting a kind of self-defeat. Our Guardians must be trusted to behave in a reasonable fashion. We require only a minimum of laws.
