Plato’s Republic

1. Plato’s Republic Information from: 1Clark Wolf Director of Bioethics Iowa State University jwcwolf@iastate.edu 2 Plato's Concept of Freedom Explored Understanding the Philosopher's Views on Society and the Nature of Man by Nick DuBay, published Jun 07, 2007 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/259336/platos_concept_of_freedom_explored.html 3Doug McManaman The City-StateA Brief Summary of Plato's Ideal Statehttp://fmmh.ycdsb.ca/teachers/F00027452/F00027453/platoste.html 4Karin Burns 1/23/02 History of Philosophy Midterm Mrs. Basalyga http://karinburns.com/Portfolio/professional_writing/history/Plato%20Philosophy.pdf.

2. 1Some Background on Plato: • Plato: 427-347 BCE • Athens in 400-300 BCE: a place of high culture and intellect, in which philosophic dialogue could flourish (this may have been possible only because Athenians held slaves- the legacy is a mixed one!). Plato lived during a time of turmoil in Athens.

3. 1Reading Plato: • Socrates (469-399 BC)-neglected his work and family to wander streets and talk-Oracle at Delphi claimed that he was the wisest man alive. But Socrates believed that he knew nothing. Reasoned that if the Oracle was right, it must be because he at least knew that he was ignorant, while others falsely believed that they had knowledge. • Socratic Method- asking questions and offering counterexamples in a manner which ultimately leads the other person to reach the right (or at least a better) conclusion. • Philosopher as “gadfly” (to prick at complacently held prejudice, and ill founded opinion) or MIDWIFE (to help others to give birth to truth, by asking the right questions to help them to figure out what the answer might be). • Meiutic method: Philosophical dialogue aims to help people to give birth to their own ideas, not simply to persuade others or provide them with information. • Socrates condemned for being "an evil doer and a curious person, searching into things under the earth and above the heaven; and making the worse appear the better cause, and teaching all this to others."

4. Socrates on Rulers/Philosopher Kings: • 1Good people must be FORCED to rule. They will not Rule for money or honor, for the benefits of ruling well go to the ruled, not the ruler. [Plato in fact thought that the only people COMPETENT to rule would be those who don't want to do so.] • 2Instead of an emperor or a president or any other kind of democracy lead by an authority figure, Plato has the ideal of philosopher-kings as rulers. These philosopher kings would be a sort of well-educated, deep thinking ruler who could understand the forms and the importance of them in governing their nations . According to Plato, this philosopher-king would have a "naturally well-proportioned and gracious mind, which will move spontaneously toward the true being of everything." If these philosopher-kings were allowed to rule and implement his ideas and the forms, especially the form of the good, his republic would be realized and true freedom for all mankind would reign.

5. A Brief Summary of Plato's Ideal State • 4The good life is possible only in and through society (State).  Society is a natural institution.  Man is essentially a social and political animal.  The State exists for the sake of the good life.  Now according to Plato, the aim of the good society is neither freedom, nor economic well-being.  Rather, the aim of the good society is justice.  A true State, therefore, must be conformed to justice (the Ideal of which exists in the World of Forms).  And so the state does not decide what is just.  Justice is an object of knowledge, that is, it is one of the forms.  That is why the Statesman must be a Philosopher.  If not, he will only lead the state downwards toward self-destruction.  Justice in the state is analogous to justice in the individual, and the state must be structures after the pattern of justice in the individual. 

6. Justice in the State • Justice in the individual exists when the lower appetites are subject to governance of reason.  This is the state of peace or pax (harmony), and peace in the city state is analogous to peace in the individual.  Recall Socrates' self-rule.  Freedom means knowing what we ought to do (wisdom), and having the ability to do what we ought to do.  In other words, it is only when the appetites are subject to reason that I can do what I ought to do.  The unjust man cannot control his anger, or moderate his passion for money, etc.  So, for Plato, justice is a kind of order, a harmony between reason and the appetites.  A just man will not allow his anger to move him to do something that is irrational.  In this way, only the just man is truly free.  So too, only the state that is just is truly free.

7. 1Platonic Justice • A) To find what justice is in a state, we need to consider the different functions that must be accomplished within the state:  (i) Some jobs require only strength, some require craft-intelligence [The kind of intelligence that is displayed by craftspeople who shoe horses or make pots],  (ii) Some jobs require valor and bravery, and (iii) Some jobs require guiding intelligence and reason. • This is commensurate to Plato’s three parts of the soul:

8. 1Plato's Tripartite Theory of the Soul: • Our 'souls' have three aspects. Knowledge- wisdom, knowledge (Philosopher) (Just State) Spirit- energy, enthusiasm, valor (impetuous fool)(Timarchy) Desire- appetite (Glutton) (Democracy) • Faults of character as well as faults of political systems can be traced to unbalance: the wrong part of the (state/soul) is ruling!

9. 3,4Points to Note about Plato’s Ideal State • Censorship is necessary in the context of education.  For the good of the State, all poetry and drama that depicts the gods as indulging in gross immorality (violating oaths and treaties) will be censored.  The notion of an absolute right to free artistic expression is, for Plato, absolute nonsense. • Jobs: First, everyone in the state is established in his or her place in society based on ability. every citizen accepts one’s proper place and function for the sake of the idealized society. With these assumptions, Plato theoretically created a utopian civilization and this ideal state, as stated by Socrates, achieves justicethrough education, structure, and training. • Education:  must be for everyone.  Education in morality and philosophy is the most important (the true and the good).  This will be most conducive to the good society. • Private Property: Auxiliaries must possess no private property, but receive all necessities from their fellow citizens.  They are never to handle gold and silver.  If they are allowed to begin amassing property, they will very soon turn to tyrants. • Community of Wives and children:  In the two upper classes, there is to be no private ownership and no family life.  Marriage relations of citizens of these classes should be under the control of the State.  Family and private property are not to be abolished on the artisan level. • Wisdom (Prudence): The wisdom of the State resides in the small class of rulers or Guardians.Fortitude (Courage): The courage of the State resides in the Auxiliaries.Temperance:  The temperance of the State consists in the due subordination of the governed to the governing. Justice:  The justice of the State involves the harmony of all the parts (classes).  Everyone attends to his own business without interfering with anyone else's.

10. 3,4Points to Note about Plato’s Ideal State- slide 2 • An individual person is just when all the elements of the soul (concupiscible appetite, irascible appetite, will, intellect) function properly in harmony and due subordination of the lower to the higher.  So too, the State is just (a just society) when all the classes and individuals in them perform their due functions in the proper way. • To prove that justice can exist, Socrates created a state in which justice can be harvested. In this state, every man must have the fundamental basic needs of life, including food, shelter, and clothing to a reasonable degree. All men are allowed to have these basics rights of life which Socrates clearly stated. Beyond the basic needs to live, one must be given a certain task based on one’s abilities and/or traits so he can work. Each man must know his own occupation better than anything else and he must work hard at his job to ensure the community works well. This allows the society to work to its full potential with each person having a purpose and mission to fulfill. • Education is the most important task of the state. In order manage an idealized state for the benefit and justice for all, citizens are divided into classes based on their ability and educational achievement. The top class is the Guardians, citizens chosen by education and abililty to keep the peace. One must have extensive knowledge of both the arts and combat to achieve a perfect balance between mind and body. In order to be successful in one’s individual role, society’s principle virtues must be taught through literature and poetry. The mind contains most of one’s power -- without it being educated the body has no idea what to do. The physical strength of the Guardians is also quite useful. They need to be able to defend themselves if ever needed. The Guardians are supposed to represent the stronger class; therefore, they must possess both mental and physical strengths.

11. 1Socratic Paradox: • Thus the Socratic Paradox: No one knowingly (willingly, voluntarily) does wrong... All wrongdoing arises from ignorance. • This follows from Plato's view that morality involves a kind of knowledge or wisdom. Those who do wrong must lack this wisdom. But if we act as we do because we lack knowledge, our actions cannot be said to be truly voluntary. • Ex: Poisoning myself with arsenic laced coffee: Involuntary if I don't know the arsenick is there. • Ex: Cheating on an exam: I'm greedy for a higher grade and for the benefits it will afford. If reason were in command of my actions, I'd recognize that I'm trading my Honor (a higher good) for a mere grade. This is a bad bargain, and if I truly recognized that this is the exchange I'm making, I wouldn't sacrifice the greater good for the lesser.

12. 2Platonic Ideals- Forms: Plato's republic is an ideal society that he uses to unfold the secrets of the world upon the believer . He introduces the concept of the "forms" to us here by explaining that everything is a copy of a perfected form. Forms are the perfected versions of everything from geometrical shapes to ideals like freedom and goodness. For instance, beauty is real, but on earth, everything we would consider to embody beauty is merely a copy, from sunsets to flowers to grass. Another good example of one of Plato's forms is the circle. It is obviously not possible to create a perfect circle but you can create a copy of one here on Earth. Plato also writes about how he believes that art is even further from the forms than nature is. The forms exist outside of nature, and nature is concerned with copying them.

13. 1Problem of Universals and Properties: • Example: Cups and Ideas of Cups.Question: What is the relationship between the thing we drink from and the idea? • Example 2: Triangles and Ideas of Triangles:Question: What is the relationship between actual triangles and the ideas we work with when we do geometry? • Triangles First:Idea is more perfect, since actual triangles inherit the errors of those who draw them.Our true understanding of triangles is understanding of the idea, not the concrete.In this sense, the idea is "more real" than the instantiation. (What can this mean?) • Cups Second:Idea is more perfect (?) since actual cups leak...Understanding of cups is not about particular indivualsIdea (Plato thinks) is 'more real' than the instantiation. Actual cups are identifiable as cups only by virtue of their participation in the idea.

14. Plato's Theory of Ideas: • Ideas are real things. They are, in fact, more real than the visible things they describe. Wise people understand the ideas, not just the concrete individuals. We can “see” ideas only with they eye of the intellect. • In fact, Plato believed that all our knowledge of particular things is really knowledge of their ideas or forms. Knowledge of particular things isn't true knowledge, since these things change all the time. Ideas, on the other hand, are timeless and enduring. The same geometry that Plato knew is studied in High School classrooms worldwide.

15. 1The Allegory of the Cave • MYTH OF THE CAVE REVISITED: [517b] p. 169. Allegory explained. • HYPOTHESES AS STEPPING STONES: [511b] p. 167.