justice, nobility, and other ideas. He was a citizen of Athens, a Greek city-state, and a student of

Transcription

1 Plato One of the first political philosophers, Plato ( B.C.E.) examined human life in respect to justice, nobility, and other ideas. He was a citizen of Athens, a Greek city-state, and a student of Socrates. Plato also founded the Academy, a school where he taught students including Aristotle. Plato primarily wrote dialogues, a type of a drama where individuals engage in a conversation or debate. Typically, his dialogues utilized real events, places and people to symbolize concepts. Interestingly Plato himself never speaks in his dialogues. Instead, Socrates is usually the central character. Some scholars claim Socrates is Plato s mouthpiece. However, Plato s philosophy, in his dialogues, is not simply Socrates opinions. His philosophy is found in thinking-through the events, settings, and conversations in the dialogue. Plato composed many dialogues directly or indirectly examining democracy including The Apology, Gorgias, Statesman, and Laws. However, the most taught and influential Platonic dialogue concerning democracy is The Republic. The Platonic teaching concerning democracy, even in only The Republic, is complex. While he critiques democracy, Plato identifies advantages that exist in it alone. The Republic Modern liberal democracies embrace justice. Studying The Republic is important because it examines the questions of what is justice and should one be just. In the dialogue, Socrates builds a city in speech to discover when justice enters the city. The Republic proposes an analogous

2 nature between the city and man. Therefore, a parallel is drawn between when justice comes into being in the perfectly just city and the individual. Plato s city in speech is built on a noble lie (Book III), the equality of women and the dissolution of the family (Books IV and V) and the rule of philosopher-kings (Books V-VII). Since the perfectly just city requires philosopher-kings it appears Plato is anti-democratic; a view held by scholars like Karl Popper. However, Plato writes ironically (The Republic 337a). He does not seriously suggest creating the perfectly just city. Instead, the city in speech allows the reader to question if the analogy between the city and soul exists, if justice is a private or public activity and if justice is desirable. The discussion of philosopher-kings in The Republic includes the allegory of the cave (Book VII). An allegory is a literary technique where characters and events represent ideas. The allegory of the cave explains an individual turning from a perceived reality towards the truth. The allegory introduces a crucial Platonic concept the Ideas or Forms. The Platonic Forms are eternal, changeless, and perfect concepts, such as the good, justice and beauty, which exist in a world that transcends ours. The Forms are observed in our world but as imperfect reflections. These reflections are our opinions. According to Plato, the life of philosophy is best because studying opinions dialectically can lead to knowledge of the Forms. Democracy in The Republic The Republic states each regime has a prevailing characteristic. A democracy s prevailing characteristic is freedom, which allows individuals to partake in any desire. Since everything is of equal value, democracies are the gentlest regime (The Republic 558a). However, democracies

3 are a low regime. The Republic ranks the best to worst regimes as the perfectly just city, timocracy (a regime that praises honor), oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny (Books VIII-IX). The dialogue critiques democracy s attachment to freedom. Philosophy the best way of life requires distinguishing between better and worse, based upon knowledge. Democracy denies there is any better or worse. Therefore, a democracy cannot distinguish ice cream from an apple or lawful citizens from murders as better or worse. Plato believes inequality is natural. Thus, his critique of democracy is the regime s attachment to freedom prevents recognizing natural inequality. Lacking the ability to distinguish, among other things, democracies eventually decay into tyrannies. The Republic, however, states democracy, is probably the fairest of the regimes (557c). The dialogue praises democracies for what it earlier criticized; the embracing of freedom. The only regimes open to philosophy are the perfectly just city, which is impossible in practice, and democracy. Therefore, democracy is the only practicable regime for philosophy to exist. A philosopher requires freedom of thought, which democracy provides: For surely in a city under a democracy you would hear that [freedom] is the finest thing it has, and that for this reason it is the only regime worth living in for anyone who is by nature free (The Republic 562c). Thus, Plato s philosophy can only practically exist in a democracy. Plato on Democracy beyond The Republic While the freedom embraced by democracy provides the conditions for human excellence, philosophy, it also produces the conditions for moral and political corruption. Plato attempted, through political philosophy, to prevent this corruption. By showing that men who claim to know

4 something like justice were ignorant, Plato showed that men need an education of the Forms before claiming to know something. But, Plato s education exposes the tension between democracy and philosophy. Democracy needs a philosopher to educate citizens regarding the merits and shortcomings of various regimes, including democracy. The hope is such an education will make tyranny less feasible. Yet this education questions the city s cherished values. By questioning values, such as freedom, the philosopher puts their life in danger. For example, Athens put Socrates on trial and sentenced him to death (The Apology). Democracy may need philosophers to prevent tyranny, but philosophers might also destroy democracies. If the philosopher s education produces more philosophers they will judge the characteristics of a regime. Even if these philosophers decide freedom is good they will do so because freedom is good when instructed by the Forms, not because all opinions are equally valid. Furthermore, most people educated by Plato will not become philosophers. These citizens might learn to champion principles like honor instead of freedom. By attaching themselves to principles other than freedom, the citizenry may desire a different regime than democracy. The end result is Plato s teaching on democracy is not simply pro- or anti-democratic. Rather, his philosophy exposes the advantages and flaws of democracies. Freedom produces the fairest regime, but unguided freedom cannot maintain a regime. Ben Gross Further Reading Plato. The Republic of Plato. Trans. Allan Bloom. New York: Basic Books, 1991.

5 Plato & Aristophanes. Four Texts on Socrates. Trans. Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West. New York: Cornell University Press, Popper, Karl. The Open Society and Its Enemies. (2 Vols). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Samaras, Thanassis. Plato on Democracy. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Saxonhouse, Arlene W. Democracy, Equality, and Eidê: A Radical View from Book 8 of Plato s Republic. The American Political Science Review. Vol. 92:2 (1998): Strauss, Leo. Plato. In History of Political Philosophy Third Edition, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Thorson, Thomas Landon. Plato: Totalitarian or Democrat? Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, 1963.