Corbin Hendrixson
Mr. Phil
Introduction to
Philosophy
29 February 2012
Plato’s
Society
Plato (427-347 BC) was a very influential and creative
thinker that has influenced the efficiency of our society operates by
questioning the efficiency its operation when during his time. When reading Passion for Wisdom, I read about Plato’s
opinion upon how society should operate, I became interested and decided to do
more research for myself. Socrates, Plato’s mentor, was persecuted by the
government and the church because of his preaching that alluded that the questions
of life could also be explained through science and not only through religion.
This experience probably influenced Plato to think that all modern forms of
government are corrupt and the only way for true justice, both for society and
for the individual, is through philosophy. He began to question the people in
power and their inability to accept that their ideas may be wrong. He is most well-known for his “major work in
political theory, where he believed that society can enjoy posterity and
harmony only if its people work in the class according to their natural
abilities” (Solomon p 38). From this statement, we can see that Plato believed
that not all men were created equal therefore would be no democracy in his
society; I did not let that deter my interest. The more research I did the more
that I started to understand Plato’s vision if human-kind decided or needed to
make a more efficient human society.
Plato
loved to show the problems with society through examples and stories. His most
famous analogy was from his book, The
Republic, in which he described man as being chained to the wall of the
cave, with his face against the wall. The shadows that are casted on the wall
is all that the men can see, therefore it is what they believe as reality. Then
one of them, a philosopher, turns his head around to see the source of the
shadows and even walks out into the sun where he can see the real reality of
the world we live in. Even though the shadows are real, they are just a
reflection of what is more real. Most likely this man would run back into the
cave to tell his fellow man how his world was impoverished and it is inferior
to the reality. Would these men then turn and kill this man for telling them
that their world lacks the perfect Forms of virtue, justice and courage? Plato
reference this to his mentor’s persecution and seems to be a major influence
when he created his ideal society. A society that does not cater to individuals
or to individual interest, but one in which the individual and individual
interest are subordinate to the common good (Solomon p 36). Plate also wanted
to employ censorship of art to those that only promote appropriate social behaviors
and attitudes. There would be no private owning of land and parents are would
not be the main providers of virtues, discipline and education but the state
would. Plato believed that in order for
this society to be successful, the least citizen most be considered just as
important as the greatest.
Plato
saw individual human-beings are not self-sufficient therefore, individuals
should come together in order to obtain the genuine necessities of life. He
thought that each individual had a place or a job that they could do very well
however it will vary depending on what abilities that they have. A man’s value
is dependent on the value that his job has on society therefore it is
inevitable that a social class or “divisions of the State” to be formed (Grube
p 78). He thought it was important that the head of state should not be an
average or mediocre man. Instead, society should be led by those that are very
wise and are good men that know best and have insight to virtue, “philosopher
of kings.” "Until philosophers rule as kings or those who are now called
kings and leading men genuinely and adequately philosophize, that is, until
political power and philosophy entirely coincide, while the many natures who at
present pursue either one exclusively are forcibly prevented from doing so,
cities will have no rest from evils,... nor, I think, will the human
race." (Republic 473c-d) He saw that these divisions that are factors in
our society were influenced by the modes of nature. He saw three divisions,
philosopher-kings-philosophers, warriors, and the people or mercahants. Plato
called the highest class “rulers” because they were the men of wisdom that
governed over society. These would be “kings of philosophers” that I spoke of
previously and they are responsible of making decisions that effect the whole
society. The second division is warriors who are responsible for the protection
of society while the last division would
be the merchants or the come people that would do their individual jobs
obediently and work on primiarly satisfying their apatite whatever it might be.
His reasoning of the three divisions is based on his observation that man has a
threefold divisions of intelligence (the rulers), courage (the warriors), and
appetite (the common people). Plato observed that some people listen primarily
with their head while others have an aggressive disposition that governed by
the heart through passion. The last classes, people that he saw as inferior,
acts to simply feed their appetites and he believed they were governed by their
liver (Kemerling). Even though Plato was for equality between people, even men
and women, he still saw people as being inferior and superior based on skills
that they did or did not possess.
He
also believes that everyone should have an opportunity to an education and that
people should start education at a very young age in order to awake the
individual to their natural position. The natural position is the position of a
person’s moral goodness. To put it another way, Plato thought that people
should be educated to work any way that is best to feed his moral goodness. He
planned that the education should start with by having a child play and
strengthen his body; from three to six, the child should learn religious
stories; from seven to ten, he should learn flexibility and agility through
gymnastics; from the ages of ten to thirteen, reading and writing; from
fourteen to sixteen, playing instruments and music; from sixteen to eighteen,
mathematics; from eighteen to twenty, he should become educated in military
strategy and drills; from twenty to thirty-five, those that have shown to excel
in these categories and are scientific and philosophical gifted should stay in
school and continue to learn. Others would join the warrior class and practice
military exercise and strategy while others will be placed in the lowest class.
(source) Plato believed that this education system would reveal what category a
person belongs to. Some give criticism of Plato because if we all have
different abilities then why do we have to go through the same education
system? He saw that people will not know what their natural abilities are
unless he had the opportunity to try everything.
The
area where Plato got most of his praise is his structuralization of the
government and society. Plato believed that the rulers should own no private
property, live and eat together at government expense, and should earn no
salary greater than the necessary to supply their most basic needs. With these
rules, it would eliminate anyone who would have a motive to seeking power of
leadership in order to gain a higher social status or wealth. Those that have
been chosen to be rulers would govern mainly from a concern to seek the welfare
of the state and all of its citizens. Plato’s society would be successful
because the rulers would have the virtue of wisdom and the ability to
comprehend reality and make impartial judgments about the problems at hand (Kemerling).
The warriors would have to possess the virtue of courage by being able to carry
out their task even when in the face of danger without regard for personal
risk. The rest of the people that live in society, would follow the leaders of
the state instead of pursuing their own personal goals therefore Plato says
they should practice the virtue of moderation from being loyal to your spouse
to not abusing drugs and alcohol (Kemerling). Some may begin to ask themselves
if individuals could be happy within this society with the different divisions.
Plato says “happiness is not for the privileged class of citizens but for the
city-state as a whole.”(
Solomon
p 37)
Ultimately,
in Plato’s society, everyone is equal, everyone is family. Imagine a world
where you did not have to experience racial or sexist prejudice. You are judge
strictly on the talents that you have and even if you do not have any talents
then you are still just as important to the man that has all the talents.
Everyone works together to try to make life easier on them and everyone that is
around them. Parents would treat every child like their child when it comes to
praising and disciplining. Plato’s idea of utopia is solid theoretically
however I do not believe that it would be possible in this day in age. His
theory is centered on the idea that people have the ability to be selfless and
act on the behalf of others instead for their own benefit. If there was a
catastrophic event that sent humanity back in time, then his idea of
constructing a society should be remembered. Possibly, in the future we can
develop a society similar to Plato’s where there is equality for all demographics
and individuals act for the benefit of the whole.
Bibilography
·
Kemerling, Garth. "Plato: The
Republic 1-4." Philosophy Pages. 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2g.htm>.
·
Solomon, Robert C., and Kathleen Marie. Higgins.
A Passion for Wisdom: A Very Brief History of Philosophy. New York: Oxford UP,
1997. Print.
·
Grube, G.M., trans. Plato: Republic. Ed.
C.D. Reeve. United States: Hackett, 1992. Print.
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