Why Does Plato Argue That Rulers Must Be Philosophers?
Why does Plato argue that rulers must be philosophers?
Word Count: 2147
Philosophers love all truth, and hate untruth” (Plato. The Republic). This is the primary remise, upon which Plato basis his entire theorem of the philosopher King, and the justification for their ascension to power. A recurrent theme within The Republic is the exploration by Plato into what is the ideal society? Is it merely an abstract impossible concept, or is there an ideal method of how to organise ourselves into human communities? Within this essay I intend to examine Plato’s reasoning and justification for his belief in philosopher rulers and question whether they are, in fact, the best people to govern society.
The current democratic method of organisation of the “polis” was not suitable for Plato as he considered ruling far too vital a role in society to be left to the untrained. Instead, it should be left to those who have the knowledge and more crucially, the wisdom required to comprehend such a task. It is, however, at this point, we should consider that a significant factor in Plato’s opposition to democracy was that the Athenian democracy had condemned Socrates to death.
It is important to remember that the liberal democracy which we currently experience is very recent and not at all the concept of democracy that Plato speaks. In fact, the idea of all adults over the age of 18 being able to vote would indeed be absurd to someone such as Plato. The democracy, of which he speaks, would be of greater equivalence to a modern day referendum, in which all those eligible to vote gather to debate and eventually vote.
Plato thus set out to craft a new structural form for the polis, in simple, an ideal society. This constituted three general social classes and indirectly three separate polis’s within the whole Kallipolis.
At the lowest end of this, was the “producers”, although Plato pays little attention to this class, it compromises people who were engaged in economic
Word Count: 2147
Philosophers love all truth, and hate untruth” (Plato. The Republic). This is the primary remise, upon which Plato basis his entire theorem of the philosopher King, and the justification for their ascension to power. A recurrent theme within The Republic is the exploration by Plato into what is the ideal society? Is it merely an abstract impossible concept, or is there an ideal method of how to organise ourselves into human communities? Within this essay I intend to examine Plato’s reasoning and justification for his belief in philosopher rulers and question whether they are, in fact, the best people to govern society.
The current democratic method of organisation of the “polis” was not suitable for Plato as he considered ruling far too vital a role in society to be left to the untrained. Instead, it should be left to those who have the knowledge and more crucially, the wisdom required to comprehend such a task. It is, however, at this point, we should consider that a significant factor in Plato’s opposition to democracy was that the Athenian democracy had condemned Socrates to death.
It is important to remember that the liberal democracy which we currently experience is very recent and not at all the concept of democracy that Plato speaks. In fact, the idea of all adults over the age of 18 being able to vote would indeed be absurd to someone such as Plato. The democracy, of which he speaks, would be of greater equivalence to a modern day referendum, in which all those eligible to vote gather to debate and eventually vote.
Plato thus set out to craft a new structural form for the polis, in simple, an ideal society. This constituted three general social classes and indirectly three separate polis’s within the whole Kallipolis.
At the lowest end of this, was the “producers”, although Plato pays little attention to this class, it compromises people who were engaged in economic
Bibliography: Annas. J. 1981. An introduction to Plato’s Republic. New York. Oxford University Press: Blackburn S. 2006. Plato’s Republic A biography. London Atlantic Books Cross.R.C. and Woozeley.A,.D. 1964 Plato’s Republic a philosophical commentary. London. Macmillan Press Reeve, C.D.C. 1984. Philosopher Kings the argument of Plato. Plato’s Republic. Princeton: paperbacks Sterling R. & Scott W. 1985 Plato The Republic New York Norton & Co. Ltd Thompson. N. 1959 The Ship of State. Yale University: