Anandrous philosophers: societal norms and the criticism of traditional masculinity in four differently disharmonious ēthē in Book VIII of Plato's Republic

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between social norms and the formation of personalities
(ēthē) in Book VIII of Plato’s Republic, analyzing how the thumoeides—the part of the soul
sensitive to honor (timē) and social codes—structures psychological and political dispositions. Based on Plato’s critique of the uncritical internalization of values, it is demonstrated that the
thumoeides, although adaptable to different normative contexts, tends to reproduce power
hierarchies when not governed by the logistikon (rational impulse). The study focuses on the
four degenerate ēthē, highlighting in the timocratic ēthos the predominance of the thumoeides,
whose analysis reveals how the construction of virility (andreia) is central: the timocrat is
shaped by a socialization that associates honor with “masculine” performance (war, political
dominance), while the philosopher, seen as “unmanly” (anandros), is marginalized for
prioritizing reason over performances of social affirmation. Plato's critique of traditional
masculinity exemplifies how gender norms operate as mechanisms for internalizing distorted
values. Timocracy and oligarchy perpetuate a psychic economy in which self-affirmation is
linked to gender stereotypes (e.g., harshness toward slaves, aversion to the “feminine,” which is
associated with philosophical passivity). It is argued that the malleability of the thumoeides
reveals its central role in mediating between the individual and society, but also its vulnerability
to norms even when they are not just. It is concluded that, for Plato, justice requires the
strengthening of logistikon to prevent fluctuations in social norms from perpetuating
disharmonious ēthē.