Our apologies, you must be logged in to post a comment. In Plato’s ideal state, groups are divided into their social utilities such as a warrior population and an agricultural population, without the ability to willfully change professions. Plato’s ideal diet is an aristocracy, where knowledge and reason prevail. Those who once supported this ruling class begin to rebel against the would be tyrant. In a sense Plato wasn’t actually totally against democracy. To summarize, this theory of subjectivity that Platonic leads to elitist political position. Donald Trump’s ascent to power appears indicative of this revolt against libertarian politics that yearns for strong leadership, in light of these insights in Book VIII of ‘The Republic’. For those of you saying that the democracy is all that we have that is not true. Although plato was right, agreed but democracy remains the adorable and acceptable form of government. Plato's alternative to democracy is, that not the most numerous, but the best ones should be in charge. Rather, it elects popular spinsters who are effective in manipulating popular opinion. But while Plato may have sought to heal tyranny with medicine that tastes a lot like the disease, The Republic still carries its important messages. Athens is a city-state, while today we are familiar with the primary unit of governance operating nationwide. He was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing new gods, neglecting those of the city, which existed as an object of civic patriotism. More fundamentally, democracy lets people speak their minds and shape their own and their children’s futures. Plato S Arguments Against Democracy Calderoni Plato’s Argument Against Democracy Term Paper In Western culture, democracy is deemed as the most appropriate … During the Brexit campaign, a leading UK politician Michael Gove refused to name any economists who back Britain’s exit from the European Union, saying that “people in this country have had enough of experts”. colonial power was a democracy of sorts, and so the step There is a lot we can learn from Plato and his work in The Republic. Plato’s basic idea is that a regime is inherently defective if it gives people a right to participate in political office whether or not they have … Aspects of the liberal society illustrated here are today celebrated. Plato uses The Republic to deliver a damning critique of democracy that renders it conducive to mass ignorance, hysteria, and ultimately tyranny. History has shown a consistent pattern of subjugation, revolution and subjugation once again. We have universal voting rights, but the popular vote does not determine the presidency (see Al Gore), Very energetic blog, I enjoyed that a lot. The affluence, liberty, and peace arising from the spread of democratic values in the 20th century would afflict damage to Plato’s testimony for what appears to be an autocratic rule of dissonant philosophy. At this point, the newly appointed leaders become very nervous. (250 words)  - INSIGHTS, Inclusivity: The possible dream - Moneyweb, The Fragility of Democracy: Athens and the Thirty Tyrants | Classical Wisdom Weekly, EP 3: It's an AfterMath - Economics Design, Plato And Hobbes: On the Revolutions during Arab Spring | Vidhi Legal, Antigone: Democracy vs. Authoritarianism | Classical Wisdom Weekly, Top Ten: Most Terrifying Monsters Of Greek Mythology, Five Reasons Why Socrates Was A Terrible Husband, Prometheus The Creation of Man and a History of Enlightenment. The Electoral College. Only in the past few decades were we electing the Senators. He has already dealt with the Oligarchic society and character and now moves onto Democracy and … A vexing problem of democratic theory has been to determine whetherordinary citizens are up to the task of governing a large society.There are three distinct problems here. Collectively they had no desire to end the captivity of Africans. Lawrence Torcello, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology. Liberty Leads the People, by Eugene Delacrox. They should be the leaders of society. Try to become more meaningful. Plato’s critique of democracy is that democracy does not place a premium on wisdom and knowledge seeking as an inherent good, much like timocracy and oligarchy. From this revolution, blood will be spilled and many will die. Elected by the people, yet now he is protected from them. He wrote the book "the Republic." America was created as … And now the leader is a tyrant, born from democracy and propped up by the demand for liberty. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher who was a student and admirer of Plato, criticized his teacher’s purely theoretical approach. Plato correctly predicated this is a democracy governed by the wealthy and the rich where the poor remain poor and slavery is entrenched within the very laws and fabric of a democracy. The German Reichstag assumed the responsibility and offered to usher in a democracy, fearful of the rising communist appetite. We are in that situation. In his work, Plato lists 5 forms of government from best to worst. 83 quotes have been tagged as republic. Plato's main grievance with democratic culture is the notion that an ill-informed … But what is the demos? Certainly, the numerous executions would give reason to doubt the system of Athenian democracy. Unnecessary desires are desires that we are able to overcome, yet refuse to. Perhaps Plato was right, then: democracy is not the best possible political system. Written around 375bc, ‘The Republic’ still holds insights into ethics and political life that can teach the modern world many a lesson. A true philosopher is someone that is in love with knowledge and the search for true reality. The first, rather obvious, strike against Athenian democracy is that there was a tendency for people to be casually executed. All citizens (with the pertinent qualification of their being free men) were permitted the opportunity of equal political participation: Important decisions were made by the assembly, where each citizen had the right to speak and the majority of offices were assigned by lot. It is understandable why Plato would despise democracy, considering that his friend and mentor, Socrates, was condemned to death by the policy makers of Athens in 399 BCE. They had great ideas, but black people and Native Indians were clearly not included in the “people” they carried so much about. Socrates had opportunities to escape a number of times but … Plato predicts that the people will demand freedom at every turn, fighting any form of authority and demanding more liberty. I find this Plato essay filled with the childlike personality of who wrote it. Rather ironically, that is a freedom we are allowed. Professional prosecutors and judges did not exist in Ancient Athens. During this time of violent transition, the people will rally behind one man, or a few men, whom they believe to be their savior. When the smoke clears the old regime will be gone and a democracy will be supplanted. This new form of government empowered the common citizen in ways that were unheard of. The first, rather obvious, strike against Athenian democracy is that there was a tendency for people to be casually executed. Plato, therefore, believed that philosophers should rule — philosopher kings. Plato hated democracy for a number of reasons, least of all was Athens putting his friend Socrates to death. The excitability and emotion of people and their mass mobilization incites democracy to acts of hysteria according to Plato. And now he is a tyrant, the leader has no choice if he wishes to rule. Yet, we are allowed to doubt him if we wish. Join 3000+ fellow explorers trying to expand their thinking and reach a higher existence. This essay examines the Republic’s most important argument against democracy, and claims that it remains, even amidst the dominance of democratic theory, a powerful critique not only of Athenian democracy but also of representative democracy. A thinly veiled tyranny is better than outright oppression. Aside from inconsistency, Plato also insists that the hysteria of democracy leads to its demise in other ways: “An excessive desire for liberty at the expense of everything else is what undermines democracy and leads to the demand for tyranny”. During the Peloponnesian war, the ten treasurers of the Delian League were accused of embezzling funds from the Athenian treasury. Instead, we should seek out only the most knowledgeable candidate as it is he who holds the required expertise. Plato would likely attribute this despotism to the hysteria surrounding the Hindu nationalist stance that has delivered Modi two convincing victories at the ballot box. His attempt to separate ruling and wealth and to establish economic floors and ceilings for his ideal city seems especially instructive in view of problems in these areas that modern democracies have experienced. In the republic of plato plato in addition to sharing his views on justice shares his views on democracy using a fictionalized socrates to outline the most pressing issues. The first, rather obvious, strike against Athenian democracy is that there was a tendency for people to be casually executed. God Bless all who live in this great land. In 399bc Socrates was put on trial by a small group of fellow citizens acting as democratic citizen-prosecutors, people in this country have had enough of experts, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s revocation of citizenship from the Muslim minority, as Muslims are murdered on the streets, Aristotle pursued political knowledge with a historical appreciation and practical sensibilities, Evolutionary Ambition and its Contemporary Effects, Socrates on stage, with notes on the problem with democracy, When (And Why) You Should Break Your Principles. It is for this reason that there must always be some enemy combatant that the leader can cast blame upon. But it was not only his life that had an extraordinary impact on Plato; but also his death. While there have been instances of tyranny arising from democracy, as noted in the previous chapter, democracy has been widely successful. This essay examines the Republic’s most important argument against democracy, and claims that it remains, even amidst the dominance of democratic theory, a powerful critique not only of Athenian democracy but also of representative democracy. Reported in Thucydides’ book the History of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenian assembly, scared of further revolt, hastily sentenced all of the male citizens of the rebellious city-state Mytilene to death, while the women and children would be sold into slavery. The American Revolution was a war of independence To ensure their power, the leaders will create laws to bolster their position. During the course of his writings Plato differentiates between necessary desires and unnecessary desires. All desires and tendencies that threaten to corrupt leadership. 2017. It gives us pause and forces us to examine our own government. These men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 were “not” the founding fathers of a nation but founders of a nation of selected people.. Once we have tasted freedom we become drunk off it. Such has been the impact of Plato on Western thought that Alfred Hitchock Whitehead claimed: “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato”. What is interesting about their discontent, not a word about how this unjust happening happened. He initially criticises the imperfect society as a whole, before leading onto a criticism of any given individual within that society; the imperfect character. Such emotion, a Platonic viewpoint may claim, is conducive to political hysteria enabling a well-timed tyrant to capitalize on the will for strong leadership and violent retribution. It seems to all start with the rich getting richer too much. Indeed, it has been said that any philosophy after Plato can only be considered a footnote on any of his work. When the Weimar Republic was formed in 1919, there were hopeful signs that democracy would take root in Germany. The philosopher Plato discusses five types of regimes (Republic, Book VIII; Greek: πέντε πολιτεῖαι).They are Aristocracy, Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, and Tyranny.Plato also assigns a man to each of these regimes to illustrate what they stand for. These desires include luxuries and lavish possessions. We become obsessed with our freedom and become willing to sacrifice necessary things like social order and structure to attain it. It is a nigh time that we shall stop heading to democracy and start reverting to a full republic. Plato was repulsed by his city’s failure to benefit from Socrates and the execution influenced his conclusion that democracy is antithetical to philosophy. The ‘Mytilenian Debate’ in Athens, 427bc, stands as a flagrant example of this hysteria. A carefully selected elite should have a broad education in philosophy, history and political science. Plato would write about the trial of Socrates in his first essay. He will make soldiers of the slaves and the degenerates. up was not so revolutionary. Plato illustrates the ignorance that democracy yields in producing a captain: … the true navigator must study the seasons of the year, the sky, the stars, the winds, and all the other subjects appropriate to his profession if he is to be really fit to control the ship…[the electorate] think that it’s quite impossible to acquire the professional skill needed for such control and that there’s no such thing as the art of navigation. A calamity at the very heart of democracy, it would lead only to tyranny and subjugation. As democracy is preceded by rule of the rich, Plato believed that under a democratic regime, there would be considerable resentment against the … over the function of poetry are shown in The Republic by Plato and in The Defense of Poesy by Sir Philip Sidney. Socrates, another of Ancient Athens’ great philosophers, was Plato’s respected mentor and friend. (Plato, Republic, 282) Plato's opposition to democracy exploits another apparent tension within democratic theory. 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