Plato's Republic

Introduction

The Republic is perhaps Plato's best-known dialogue and one of his most influential. In it, he explains, through the character of Socrates, the fundamentals of his political philosophy (presented, stylistically, via the concept of a Utopia), his ethics, and his theory of universals among other things. The work is also famous for its literary style: the text is presented as a discussion between Socrates and several other students at a dinner. The nominal goal of the Republic is to define justice. Given the difficulty of this task, Socrates and his interlocutors are lead into a discussion of justice in the state, which they see as the same as justice in the person, but on a grander (and therefore easier to discuss) scale. Because of this, some critics interpret Plato's ideal of a just state as an allegory for the ideal of the just person.

Discussion

The Republic bears little resemblance to the type of state that we, in modern times, know as a republic. Plato rejected democracy and used "The Republic" to criticize it for its alleged flaws, such as susceptibility to demagogues, rule by unfit "barbarians" etc. The concepts of democracy and of Utopia as depicted in The Republic are tied to the city-states of ancient Greece and their relevance to modern states is questionable(David, pp 141-158).

Justice is defined as a state where everyone is to do their own work while not interfering with the work of others. This conception of justice, striking to the modern reader, is closely linked to the Greek conception of fate or necessity, such as that embodied later in Aristotle's final cause. This definition of justice leads to a social structure radically different from most previous and subsequent states (Pierre, pp 67-299).

The ideal city as depicted in The Republic should be governed by philosopher-kings; disinterested persons who are to rule not for their personal enjoyment but for the good of the City-State. Socrates points out the human tendency to corruptionThis article are about political corruption. For other uses, see Corruption (disambiguation In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse of public office for private gain. All forms of government are susceptible in practice to political corruption(James, pp 3-35). The concept of power occurs in multiple areas. Physics Power (physics is the amount of work done per unit of time. Electric power Social Power (sociology) Political power Reserve power (international), the ability of national states to influence or and thus tyranny; therefore ruling should only be left to a certain class of people whose only purpose is to govern in what is deemed a just manner, and who are somehow immune to corruption. At this point, it is clear that the Platonic society is to be highly hierarchical. In addition to the ruling class of philosopher-kings, there is also to be a military class, and a lower class of the common people (Leo, pp 234-103).

Plato believes it is the role of a central government to determine what positions people will have in society. This belief ...