Download Plato`s Republic PowerPoint

Plato’s Republic
Information from:
1Clark
Wolf
Director of Bioethics
Iowa State University
[email protected]
2 Plato's
Concept of Freedom
Explored Understanding the Philosopher's Views
on Society and the Nature of Man by Nick DuBay,
published Jun 07, 2007
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/259336/platos_con
cept_of_freedom_explored.html
3Doug
McManaman
The City-State
A Brief Summary of Plato's Ideal State
http://fmmh.ycdsb.ca/teachers/F00027452/F00027453/plato
ste.html
4Karin
Burns 1/23/02
History of Philosophy Midterm Mrs. Basalyga
http://karinburns.com/Portfolio/professional_writing/history/Pl
ato%20Philosophy.pdf.
1Some
Background on Plato:
• Plato: 427-347 BCE
• Athens in 400-300 BCE: a place of high
culture and intellect, in which philosophic
dialogue could flourish (this may have
been possible only because Athenians
held slaves- the legacy is a mixed one!).
Plato lived during a time of turmoil in
Athens.
1Reading
Plato:
•
Socrates (469-399 BC)
-neglected his work and family to wander streets and talk
-Oracle at Delphi claimed that he was the wisest man alive. But Socrates believed that
he knew nothing. Reasoned that if the Oracle was right, it must be because he at least
knew that he was ignorant, while others falsely believed that they had knowledge.
•
Socratic Method- asking questions and offering counterexamples in a manner which
ultimately leads the other person to reach the right (or at least a better) conclusion.
•
Philosopher as “gadfly” (to prick at complacently held prejudice, and ill founded
opinion) or MIDWIFE (to help others to give birth to truth, by asking the right questions to
help them to figure out what the answer might be).
•
Meiutic method: Philosophical dialogue aims to help people to give birth to their own
ideas, not simply to persuade others or provide them with information.
•
Socrates condemned for being "an evil doer and a curious person, searching into
things under the earth and above the heaven; and making the worse appear the better
cause, and teaching all this to others."
Socrates on Rulers/Philosopher Kings:
•
•
1Good
people must be FORCED to rule. They will not Rule for money or
honor, for the benefits of ruling well go to the ruled, not the ruler. [Plato in
fact thought that the only people COMPETENT to rule would be those who
don't want to do so.]
2Instead of an emperor or a president or any other kind of democracy lead
by an authority figure, Plato has the ideal of philosopher-kings as rulers.
These philosopher kings would be a sort of well-educated, deep thinking
ruler who could understand the forms and the importance of them in
governing their nations . According to Plato, this philosopher-king would
have a "naturally well-proportioned and gracious mind, which will move
spontaneously toward the true being of everything." If these philosopherkings were allowed to rule and implement his ideas and the forms,
especially the form of the good, his republic would be realized and true
freedom for all mankind would reign.
A Brief Summary of Plato's Ideal State
•
4The
good life is possible only in and through society
(State). Society is a natural institution. Man is essentially a social
and political animal. The State exists for the sake of the good
life. Now according to Plato, the aim of the good society is neither
freedom, nor economic well-being. Rather, the aim of the good
society is justice. A true State, therefore, must be conformed to
justice (the Ideal of which exists in the World of Forms). And so the
state does not decide what is just. Justice is an object of
knowledge, that is, it is one of the forms. That is why the Statesman
must be a Philosopher. If not, he will only lead the state downwards
toward self-destruction. Justice in the state is analogous to justice in
the individual, and the state must be structures after the pattern of
justice in the individual.
Justice in the State
• Justice in the individual exists when the lower appetites are subject
to governance of reason. This is the state of peace or pax
(harmony), and peace in the city state is analogous to peace in the
individual. Recall Socrates' self-rule. Freedom means knowing
what we ought to do (wisdom), and having the ability to do what we
ought to do. In other words, it is only when the appetites are subject
to reason that I can do what I ought to do. The unjust man cannot
control his anger, or moderate his passion for money, etc. So, for
Plato, justice is a kind of order, a harmony between reason and the
appetites. A just man will not allow his anger to move him to do
something that is irrational. In this way, only the just man is truly
free. So too, only the state that is just is truly free.
1Platonic
Justice
• A) To find what justice is in a state, we need to
consider the different functions that must be
accomplished within the state:
(i) Some jobs require only strength, some
require craft-intelligence [The kind of intelligence
that is displayed by craftspeople who shoe
horses or make pots],
(ii) Some jobs require valor and bravery, and
(iii) Some jobs require guiding intelligence and
reason.
• This is commensurate to Plato’s three parts of
the soul:
1Plato's
Tripartite
Theory of the Soul:
• Our 'souls' have three aspects.
Knowledge- wisdom, knowledge (Philosopher) (Just State)
Spirit- energy, enthusiasm, valor (impetuous fool)(Timarchy)
Desire- appetite (Glutton) (Democracy)
• Faults of character as well as faults of political systems
can be traced to unbalance: the wrong part of the
(state/soul) is ruling!
3,4Points
•
•
•
•
•
•
to Note about Plato’s Ideal State
Censorship is necessary in the context of education. For the good of the State, all poetry and
drama that depicts the gods as indulging in gross immorality (violating oaths and treaties) will be
censored. The notion of an absolute right to free artistic expression is, for Plato, absolute
nonsense.
Jobs: First, everyone in the state is established in his or her place in society based on ability.
every citizen accepts one’s proper place and function for the sake of the idealized society. With these
assumptions, Plato theoretically created a utopian civilization and this ideal state, as stated by Socrates, achieves
justicethrough education, structure, and training.
Education: must be for everyone. Education in morality and philosophy is the most important
(the true and the good). This will be most conducive to the good society.
Private Property: Auxiliaries must possess no private property, but receive all necessities from
their fellow citizens. They are never to handle gold and silver. If they are allowed to begin
amassing property, they will very soon turn to tyrants.
Community of Wives and children: In the two upper classes, there is to be no private
ownership and no family life. Marriage relations of citizens of these classes should be under the
control of the State. Family and private property are not to be abolished on the artisan level.
Wisdom (Prudence): The wisdom of the State resides in the small class of rulers or Guardians.
Fortitude (Courage): The courage of the State resides in the Auxiliaries.
Temperance: The temperance of the State consists in the due subordination of the governed to
the governing.
Justice: The justice of the State involves the harmony of all the parts (classes). Everyone
attends to his own business without interfering with anyone else's.
3,4Points
•
•
•
to Note about Plato’s Ideal State- slide 2
An individual person is just when all the elements of the soul (concupiscible appetite,
irascible appetite, will, intellect) function properly in harmony and due subordination of the
lower to the higher. So too, the State is just (a just society) when all the classes and
individuals in them perform their due functions in the proper way.
To prove that justice can exist, Socrates created a state in which justice can be
harvested. In this state, every man must have the fundamental basic needs of life,
including food, shelter, and clothing to a reasonable degree. All men are allowed to have
these basics rights of life which Socrates clearly stated. Beyond the basic needs to live,
one must be given a certain task based on one’s abilities and/or traits so he can work.
Each man must know his own occupation better than anything else and he must work hard
at his job to ensure the community works well. This allows the society to work to its full
potential with each person having a purpose and mission to fulfill.
Education is the most important task of the state. In order manage an idealized state
for the benefit and justice for all, citizens are divided into classes based on their ability and
educational achievement. The top class is the Guardians, citizens chosen by education
and abililty to keep the peace. One must have extensive knowledge of both the arts and
combat to achieve a perfect balance between mind and body. In order to be successful in
one’s individual role, society’s principle virtues must be taught through literature and poetry.
The mind contains most of one’s power -- without it being educated the body has no idea
what to do. The physical strength of the Guardians is also quite useful. They need to be
able to defend themselves if ever needed. The Guardians are supposed to represent the
stronger class; therefore, they must possess both mental and physical strengths.
1Socratic
Paradox:
•
Thus the Socratic Paradox:
No one knowingly (willingly, voluntarily) does wrong... All wrongdoing arises
from ignorance.
•
This follows from Plato's view that morality involves a kind of knowledge or
wisdom. Those who do wrong must lack this wisdom. But if we act as we do
because we lack knowledge, our actions cannot be said to be truly
voluntary.
•
Ex: Poisoning myself with arsenic laced coffee: Involuntary if I don't know
the arsenick is there.
•
Ex: Cheating on an exam: I'm greedy for a higher grade and for the benefits
it will afford. If reason were in command of my actions, I'd recognize that I'm
trading my Honor (a higher good) for a mere grade. This is a bad bargain,
and if I truly recognized that this is the exchange I'm making, I wouldn't
sacrifice the greater good for the lesser.
2Platonic
Ideals- Forms:
Plato's republic is an ideal society that he uses to unfold the secrets of the world upon the
believer . He introduces the concept of the "forms" to us here by explaining that
everything is a copy of a perfected form. Forms are the perfected versions of
everything from geometrical shapes to ideals like freedom and goodness. For
instance, beauty is real, but on earth, everything we would consider to embody
beauty is merely a copy, from sunsets to flowers to grass. Another good example of
one of Plato's forms is the circle. It is obviously not possible to create a perfect circle
but you can create a copy of one here on Earth. Plato also writes about how he
believes that art is even further from the forms than nature is. The forms exist outside
of nature, and nature is concerned with copying them.
1Problem
of Universals and
Properties:
•
Example: Cups and Ideas of Cups.
Question: What is the relationship between the thing we drink from and the idea?
•
Example 2: Triangles and Ideas of Triangles:
Question: What is the relationship between actual triangles and the ideas we work
with when we do geometry?
•
Triangles First:
Idea is more perfect, since actual triangles inherit the errors of those who draw them.
Our true understanding of triangles is understanding of the idea, not the concrete.
In this sense, the idea is "more real" than the instantiation. (What can this mean?)
•
Cups Second:
Idea is more perfect (?) since actual cups leak...
Understanding of cups is not about particular indivuals
Idea (Plato thinks) is 'more real' than the instantiation. Actual cups are identifiable as
cups only by virtue of their participation in the idea.
Plato's Theory of Ideas:
• Ideas are real things. They are, in fact, more real than
the visible things they describe. Wise people understand
the ideas, not just the concrete individuals. We can “see”
ideas only with they eye of the intellect.
• In fact, Plato believed that all our knowledge of particular
things is really knowledge of their ideas or forms.
Knowledge of particular things isn't true knowledge,
since these things change all the time. Ideas, on the
other hand, are timeless and enduring. The same
geometry that Plato knew is studied in High School
classrooms worldwide.
1The
Allegory of the Cave
• MYTH OF THE CAVE REVISITED:
[517b] p. 169. Allegory explained.
• HYPOTHESES AS STEPPING STONES:
[511b] p. 167.