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plato3

plato3 Plato’s Republic Plato, one of the most ingenious and powerful thinkers in Western philosophy, born around 425 B.C. Plato investigated a wide range of topics. Dominant among his ideas is an immense discourse called The Republic. The main focus of Plato is a perfect society. He outlines a utopian society, out of his disapproval for the tension of political life. Plato lived through the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), in which much of Greece was devastated. This created poverty and political confusion and corruption. Therefore, Plato created a sketch of a society in which the problems he thought were present would be eased. Essentially, The Republic deals with the question of justice and therefore with the questions “what is a just state?” and “who is a just individual?” Plato defines justice as mental health (harmonious whole) where each part has a function. Just like the senses -- each sensory organ is excellent if it performs its function, as the eye sees, the ear hears. Therefore, people are happy if they perform the tasks assigned to them by nature. This is the fundamental notion for his creation of an ideal city. It seems that everyone has a specific role to follow depending upon their abilities, both physically and mentally. What this means is that only a certain type of people have the capacity to hold an office, just as only a certain type of people have the ability to be farmers. Therefore, justice only exists in a city when a division of labor takes place amongst its residents. The ideal city classifies people into what they do best. Those who have an arête (an excellence) for artistry would be artisans, or moneymakers, and those with the most reason- the philosophers- to guide the city’s actions and perform in the cities best interest. A third class, auxiliaries, would be in charge of carrying out what the philosophers, guardians of the city, decided. Although, this system is a hierarchy with the philosophers at the top, but they are the only ones who can find universal truths and apply it and teach it to those who cannot see it. Plato also has three other virtues to help categorize those within the city and find justice in the city itself- wisdom, courage, and moderation, all ideals that would sustain the city and nurture it. Philosophers posses wisdom, auxiliaries courage, and all classes poses moderation. Wisdom is the whole knowledge, which describes the rulers of the city. The rulers should be the ones who incorporate philosophy and ruling together to rule the city wisely. Courage describes the guardians, whose job was to defend the city from invasion and take new lands for the city. The third virtue of the ideal city was moderation which is the concept of self-control and knowing ones role, also the concept of "one man, one job". The ideal city described in the work is picture perfect because it brings harmony among the different kind of people and the virtues that go hand in hand to bring justice about. Despite his emphasis of justice as a function of the perfect state, Plato also deals with justice as a personal virtue. There are three parts in the individual soul -- sensation, emotion, and intelligence. The just person has to know how to balance these aspects. Each person has to act in moderation to enhance the well being of the city. Food and possessions are matters of desire. Desire must be inferior to reason, or else they will throw the individual out of balance and lead him into injustice and unhappiness. Emotion (spirit and will) also can master desire. Plato also argues that justice exists in man's relations to other men, not just in man as an individual. Thus, it is an excellence in social organization and in the organization of the human soul. Plato constructed a model by which he proposed all governments evolve. He called it the Five Stages of Government. He suggested that there are five forms of government, which evolve out of one another; Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, Tyranny, and Aristocracy. A Timocracy is a government of the military and of honor. An Oligarchy is a government of the best citizens. Democracy is a government of liberty by and for the people. A Tyranny is a government of absolute power and dictation. And finally an Aristocracy is a government of philosopher kings. Each form of government arises out of another, and so they go about in a cycle. Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, Tyranny, Aristocracy, Timocracy, etc. Plato suggested that all governments, no matter how good, would out of necessity progress into other forms of government. He said that this decay was due to corruption in the form of government. This corruption resulted in the demise of that form of government and out of its ashes arose the next form of government in the cycle. Plato proposed that most new governments begin as Timocracys; governments of the military and of honor. There are always exceptions to every proposal, so this was not absolute. Since a Timocracy is a government of honor, one would think that there would not be any corruption. To the contrary, the Timocratic man quests for power and has a fondness for money. These weaknesses eventually lead to the collapse of Timocracy and the creation of the next form of government, Oligarchy. The Timocratic man's fondness for money carries over into the Oligarchal state; for an Oligarchy is a government of the rich and of money. Man's fondness of money leads him to seek out profits and to strive to be better than his brothers. Soon one man has majority of power in the Oligarchy and the people cry out. This leads to the Oligarchy's ruin. This outcry for liberty brings about Democracy. Where few make the decisions for the many, considering the good of the common people. However then people cry for more freedom and liberty. Plato suggests that this is the downfall of Democracy; the unending thirst for more liberty. The people demand more and more freedom, eventually spiraling down into anarchy; which is the extreme form of liberty. Out of this anarchy arises a tyrant, and Plato's cycle continues on. In conclusion, Plato, a political philosopher, was in the pursuit of philosophical truth and improving existing society. Plato sees the justice and law as what sets the guidelines for societal behavior. Justice is in one sense the greatest virtue for it is key to making people work together for the common good. If all the parts are to work together as a whole, each must have on function to excel at. So justice is a virtue, which must be connected to the function of efficient and healthful teamwork. Justice would be something like the moral mind, which guides the body in its activities. Justice then is the head, at the top of the hierarchy in social terms. When the other three virtues work together in orderly fashion within the state, justice is produced. But for justice to be produced, it must come from everyone doing his assigned function under the excellent guidance of the ruling class. Plato sees the justice and law as what sets the guidelines for societal behavior. Plato, a political philosopher, was in the pursuit of philosophical truth and improving existing society. Bibliography Hacker, Andrew. 1961. Political Theory: Philosophy, Ideology, Science. New York: Macmillan. Macdonald, Cornford, F. 1945. The Republic of Plato. London, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. Ostenfeld, Nis, E.1998. Essays on Plato’s Republic. Oxford: Aarhus University Press. Sesonoke, A. 1966. Plato’s Republic: Intrepratation and Criticism. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc. Von Laue, T., Perry, M., Jacob, M., Jacob, J., Chase, M. 2000. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics & Society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Bibliography:

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