ll Plato and Aristotle on Politics 2achieve understanding of the forms. Philosophers, who by definition are knowledge lovers, are the only beings who can reach true knowledge. This concept has to be taken a step further because in The Republic (Jowett, trans. 2000), Plato states that philosophers should be the rulers since they are the only ones who hold the form of the good. Plato seems to be saying that it is not enough to know the form of tables or trees, one must know the greatest form--form of the good--in order to rule. The reasoning for this is if you know the good, then you will do the good. Therefore, Philosopher Rulers are by far the most apt to rule. In The Republic (Jowett, trans. 2000), Plato builds around the idea of Philosopher Rulers. Even though it is not his primary point, it certainly is at the core of his discussion of the ideal state. The question that arises is, 'Why do you need ideal states which will have philosophers as rulers?' There are many layers to the answer of this question. The first thing is that a state cannot be ideal without having philosophers as rulers. This answer leads to the question, 'Then why do you need ideal states to begin with?' Plato starts with a discussion of Justice, which leads to the creation of the ideal state. The reason why an ideal state is needed is to guarantee the existence of Justice. This does not mean, though, that there cannot be states without Justice. Actually, Plato provides at least two reasons why the formation of a state cannot be avoided. They are as follows: 1) human beings are not self-sufficient so they need to live in a social environment, and 2) each person has a natural aptitude for a specified task and should concentrate on developing it (Jowett, trans. 2000, pp. 56-62). Although a person is not self-sufficient, a composition of people (a state) satisfies the needs of all its members. Furthermore, members can specialize on their natural fortitudes and becom...
