Installment 1
Section 8
With my
first installment, I will again be referring to the beliefs of Plato as
represented in “The Republic." Plato was
born in Athens in the year 427 B.C. He
held family ties to Solon, an Athenian lawmaker who played a vital role in what
led to the Athenian Golden Age, http://www.watson.org/~leigh/history.html.
Athens’ democracy was at its’ peak.
So what was it that signaled Plato to hold content towards democracy? It may have been in part, due to what took
place after the Peloponnesian War, https://www.britannica.com/event/Peloponnesian-War.
Democracy could not prevail over
this conflict. All principles of
democracy were lost and replaced with the tyranny of The Rule of the Thirty, http://www.ancient.eu/The_Thirty_Tyrants/.
Two of The Thirty were family members of Plato, Critias and Charmides. Their reign was short lived however. Growing tired of the oppression, factions of
Athenians decided to rebel. The Thirty
did not take kindly to this. They
answered with the execution of 300 citizens.
This soon led to a civil war in which The Thirty was defeated and all of
their troops executed. Critias and
Charmides were also executed. Democracy was
soon reestablished.
I can imagine this sparked a fire
within Plato. Why? Critias and Charmides held a special place
for Plato because they are the one’s responsible for introducing him to the
most influential character of his lifetime, Socrates. Socrates was a long time teacher to
Plato. Much of his philosophical view
came from the ideas of Socrates. It is
also a great possibility that much of his governmental view derived from
teachings of Socrates.
Socrates was an adult during the
Peloponnesian War. As a matter of fact,
it is said that he fought in the war. He
had the opportunity to view democracy before and after the war, as well as the
brief tyranny between. Socrates seems
the perfect man to make a positive change in politics. So then why did he remove himself from any
type of politics? He distrusted
democracy.
Socrates was a lover of knowledge above
all else. He believed that very few
possessed the knowledge to improve the young.
Democracy is a platform in which the political “few” control the
masses. Socrates did not believe they
were equipped with the knowledge to effectively do so. He also taught the most effective way to learn
was through questioning. The government
leaders did not like to be questioned.
On many occasions, they implemented terrible recourse on those who
openly questioned them. To Socrates, the
very nature of democracy made it a corrupt political system.
The culmination of Plato’s developed
content toward democracy could logically be associated with the unjust
punishment of Socrates. Socrates was
charged with impiety under what most believe to be false pretense. Plato was present at the trial and presented “The Apology” in hopes of sparing Socrates’ life. It would seem that notion fell on deaf
ears. Socrates was sentenced to
death. This may have been the last straw
for Plato and his tolerance of the obvious mob ruled democracy.
-An
interesting view in opposition to the common belief on Socrates’ trial: http://www.cam.ac.uk/news/socrates-was-guilty-as-charged
Socrates/Plato were right to be concerned about democracy, and what happens when uninformed mobs rule. But we're seeing today how unappealing it is to turn away from democratic principles of inclusion, and our history has shown us the defects of every alternative to democracy. Churchill was right, it's the worst form of government except all the others. So our challenge is to create an informed democratic citizenry, paradoxically harder than ever in this information age. But what's our alternative?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It would seem that we have been heading in the same path as Athens for decades, if not longer. Too many choose to believe what they hear rather than searching for the truth themselves. It is much easier to control an ignorant population than it is to control an informed one.
Delete