Plato: Political Philosophy

Introduction

When reading the philosophies of a political thinker, one must maintain a multi-dimensional perspective, taking into account three fundamental aspects that significantly shape and enrich one’s understanding of their work.

1. Firstly, the personal life experiences of a philosopher. These experiences, whether marked by triumph or adversity, invariably mould their worldview and beliefs, influencing the very foundations upon which their philosophical edifice is constructed.
2. Secondly, contextualising a philosopher within the socio-economic and political milieu of their era. The prevailing conditions, whether marked by social upheaval, economic inequality, or political transformation, provide the backdrop against which their ideas are formulated. The philosopher’s engagement with the socio-political dynamics of their time, their reactions to the prevailing power structures, and their critiques of existing norms all serve as windows into the pressing issues of their day.
3. Lastly, the temporal dimension of a philosopher’s life and thought. Just as seasons change, so too does the human mind evolve over time. The age at which a philosopher articulates their ideas holds intrinsic importance. Early writings may exude the fervour of youthful idealism, while later works may reflect the wisdom borne of experience and reflection. The process of refinement, reformulation, or even the outright transformation of philosophical views throughout a philosopher’s life is a testament to the dynamic nature of intellectual inquiry. Understanding this evolution, punctuated by shifts in perspective, allows us to grasp the depth and breadth of their intellectual journey.

Thus, these three interwoven facets — personal life experiences, socio-economic and political context, and the evolving nature of a philosopher’s thought — are vital threads that together compose the fabric of their ideas.

Plato is no exception

Plato-His Life

Plato was born in Athens in c. 427 B.C.E. Plato´s real name was Aritocle, but he came to be called Plato, meaning huge or broad, because of his tallness and broad shoulders.

1. Family Background: He belonged to a higher aristocratic class and one of the old ruling families of Athens, the queen city-state of ancient Greece and the centre of Greek philosophy, arts, and science.
2. Personal Failure: Coming from a distinguished family, he was naturally destined to take an active role in political life. But this never happened. Although he cherished the hope of assuming a significant place in his political community, he found himself continually thwarted.
3. Decadent Society: He could not identify himself with any of the contending political parties or the succession of corrupt regimes, each of which brought Athens to further decline
4. Mentor: He was a pupil of Socrates, whom he considered the justest man of his time, and exerted a large influence on philosophy. The pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology and ontology; Socrates’ concerns, in contrast, were almost exclusively moral and political issues.
5. Socrates Execution: In 399, when a democratic court voted by a large majority of its five hundred and one jurors for Socrates’ execution on an unjust charge of impiety, Plato concluded that all existing governments were bad and almost beyond redemption. “The human race will have no respite from evil until those who are philosophers acquire political power or until, through some divine dispensation, those who rule and have political authority in the cities become real philosophers.”

Plato's time

He lived in a decadent Athenian state, ruled by a succession of corrupt regimes, each of which brought Athens into decline. Until his mid-twenties, Athens was involved in a long and disastrous military conflict with Sparta, known as the Peloponnesian War.

Thus, his failures to achieve a high political post, the execution of his mentor by a democratic government, the decadent society, and warfare during his youth, had a profound effect on him, reflected in his political philosophy

C. Core Ideas of Plato’s Political Philosophy

1. Three Faculties of Soul
2. Class Division or Professional Specialization
3. Societal Justice
4. Nature of State and Democracy
5. Rule by the philosophers
6. Education and Training

1. Three Faculties of Soul

According to Plato, the soul is the incorporeal, eternal occupant of a person’s being, or the psyche of a person, which decides how people behave. Synonymous with the mind or the self, please do not confuse it with the ordinary meaning of the soul.

Plato maintains that the soul of every person is like a three-storey building, i.e., it has three parts or faculties.

1. ErosL Located in the stomach, it is the lowest part. Being the appetitive part, in which lives the love and desires of worldly goods and wealth.
2. Thymos: Located in the chest, it is the spirited part in which resides courage & love of fame and glory.
3. Logos: Located in the head, it is the rational part. The home of reason is the mental capacity to know the ultimate meaning of justice, goodness, virtue, and beauty in their abstract form

He further holds that the personality of every person is predominated by one of three parts of his soul. Thus, those in whom Eros dominates are keen to enjoy material goods, while those in whom Thymos is predominant would love to achieve glory. People with prominent logos become thinkers

2. CLASS DIVISION/ PROFESSIONAL SPECIALIZATION.

Based on the above-mentioned three-fold division of the human soul, he logically divides his ideal state into three classes, following the threefold division of the human soul.

1. Artisan Class: Consists of all citizens who are predominated by the appetitive part of their soul. The largest segment of society, are merchants, traders, farmers, and other manual workers who provide the state’s material needs. They are allowed to have private property and family
2. Auxiliary Class: Consists of all those citizens who are predominated by the spirited part of their soul, interested in glory, i.e., the military officers and soldiers, as well as administrators. They forgo private property & family, as it hinders devotion to the service of the state
3. Guardian Class: Consists of all male as well as female citizens who are predominated by the rational part of their soul, lovers of learning. Few in number, they are the philosopher rulers. They forgo private property and family, as it hinders devotion to the service of the state

All the males and females of the upper two classes are to live a collective life in the state barracks and are to be very simply fed and clothed by the huge artisan class. Besides, they are to mate without any formal marriage under the state’s supervision in special seasons.

How these three classes are formed and how it is decided who would go into which of the three classes is answered by Plato in suggesting a rigorous education and training programme for the first 18 years of a person’s life.

Children are separated from their parents, taught multiple academic courses, and given training in various fields. They then decide who is fit to become a Ruler and who is suitable as an Auxiliary by conducting tests. Based on the results, they are assigned their respective classes and statuses.

During these continuous trials in childhood, youth, and manhood, “children are to be moved from class to class according to merit and capability”. However, special care should be taken to select Guardians by keeping a close watch on their behaviour.

We must choose only those Guardians who are most likely to devote their lives to doing what they judge to be in the interest of the community, and who are never prepared to act against it. A close watch must be kept on them at all ages, to ensure they are groomed well.

3. Justice in Plato’s Political Philosophy

It is the definition of justice by Plato that links politics to ethics and ethics to “good” or “virtue” on the one hand and leads to the three-fold division of the soul, and stratification of the ideal state into three classes.

Similarly, it is this particular definition of justice that justifies his ideas about professional specialization, rule by the philosophers, equality of men and women, and communism of property and wives in the two upper classes, on the other hand.

Plato rejects the traditional definitions of justice, which treat justice as something external and maintains that justice is internal as it resides in the human soul, It is the right condition of the human soul, the longing of the human soul to do a duty according to its nature

Striking an analogy between the human organism and the social organism, Plato asserts that a human organism contains three elements, namely Reason, Spirit and Appetite. An individual is just when each part of his soul performs its functions without interfering with those of other elements.

Correspondingly, there are three classes in the social organism: the philosopher class, which represents reason; the auxiliaries class of warriors and defenders, representing spirit; and the appetite instinct of the community, which consists of farmers, and artisans and are the lowest rung

Thus, according to Plato, the ends of justice are met when these three different social classes engage in mutually beneficial enterprise, perform what they are best fit to do, and are unified into a single community by mutual interests. All are happy because they get what they wanted

1. Philosopher-rulers enjoy respect and contemplative leisure, but not wealth or honours
2. Guardian class, the second class in the city, has military honours, but not leisure or wealth
3. Producer class, family life, wealth, and freedom of enterprise, but not honours or rule

Consequently, an ideal city is a just city because everyone is happy doing work according to his calling; producers supply the city with goods; guardians, defend it; and philosophers, attuned to virtue and illuminated by goodness, rule it impartially for the common benefit of all

4. State and Democracy in Plato’s Political Philosophy

According to Plato, a state comes into existence “when a group of people get together and settle in one place, and have various requirements.” This definition is the basis of all of Plato’s ideas about his “Ideal State.”

Living in a highly unstable and unchecked Athenian democracy of the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.E., in which all governmental policies were directly determined by the often changing moods of the people, Plato raises several objections to democracy.

He claims that democracy is a danger due to excessive freedom. Everyone has a right to rule over all sorts of selfish people who care nothing for the people but are only motivated by their desires and can attain power. He criticizes it for three reasons:

1. Fear of Anarchy: Although Plato firmly believes that freedom is a true value, he condemns democracy as it involves the danger of excessive freedom, of doing as one likes, which leads to anarchy.
2. Danger of Tyranny: Plato believes that equality brings to politics all kinds of power-seeking individuals, motivated by personal gain rather than the public good. Democracy is thus highly corruptible. It opens the gates to demagogues, and potential dictators, leading to tyranny.
3. Statecraft needs Expertise: Plato argues that ruling a state is a craft, and politics needs expert rulers who cannot come to it merely by accident but must be carefully selected and prepared in the course of extensive training. Making political decisions requires good judgment.

“Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.” Plato

5. Aristocracy of Philosopher-Kings

Plato’s political philosophy revolves around one theme, namely Justice, and three pillars: professional specialization of society, strict regimentation of the state, and the aristocracy of Philosopher kings. Why? Because of his views about human nature

Plato is deeply pessimistic about human beings. To him, most people have become corrupt, irrational, driven by their appetites, and egoistic passions, and informed by false beliefs. They obey laws because they lack the power to act criminally and are afraid of punishment

However, he also believes that human beings are not vicious by nature. They are social animals, living in communities and exchanging the products of their labour is natural for them, so they have capacities for rationality and goodness.

So based on these two premises, humans are good by nature but bad society corrupts them, which logically leads Plato to conclude that once political society is properly ordered, it can contribute to the restoration of morals, which ultimately leads to justice as defined by him

Thus, a good political order, good education, and good upbringing can produce “good natures; and [these] useful natures, who are in turn well educated, grow up even better than their predecessors”. However, Plato does not see the best sociopolitical order in a democratic republic.

Instead, Plato suggests that the state should be ruled by those who can distinguish between true and false beliefs, who love knowledge and are motivated by the common good, and who are not only master theoreticians but also master practitioners.

Then who are these supermen who can heal the ills of society? To Plato, these are Philosopher guardians educated and trained in special academies. They cannot be democratically elected, must be chosen as leaders and educators of the political community to bring justice to society

Main Traits of Philosopher Kings

Please remember, Plato’s philosophers, men and women, are not those who can usually be found today in departments of philosophy and who are described as “prisoners who take refuge in a temple”. Rather, they have the following traits:

1. Well-trained All-rounders: Initially chosen from among the brightest, and most courageous children, they go through a prolonged educational training that begins with gymnastics, music, and mathematics, and ends with dialectic, military service, and practical city management.
2. Practitioner Philosophers: They have superior theoretical knowledge, including the knowledge of the just, noble, good, and advantageous, but are not inferior to others in practical matters as well.
3. Visionaries: Being in the final stage of their education and illuminated by the idea of the good, they are those who can see beyond changing empirical phenomena and reflect on such timeless values as justice, beauty, truth, and moderation. Goodness is the ultimate state of their mind

Why do philosophers want to become kings?

If the life of the philosopher-rulers is not one of private property, family wealth, or honour, and if the intellectual life itself seems so attractive, why should they then agree to rule? Plato’s answer is, in a sense, a negative one.

They will approach ruling not as something really enjoyable, but as something necessary. Not only because they will be best prepared for this, but also because if they do not, the city will no longer be well governed and may fall prey to economic decline, factionalism, and civil war.

How to save philosopher kings from corruption?

Are philosophers incorruptible? Not necessarily, but we can minimize possible corruption, even among good-loving philosophers. How? They can neither enjoy private property nor family life!

Plato believes that if the philosopher-rulers were to acquire private property and enjoy private family life, they would soon become masters of citizens rather than their leaders and allies. Remove the incentive for corruption. Give them enough to survive. And that too communally!

6. Education and Training

Plato regards education as a means to achieve justice, both individual justice and social justice. According to Plato, individual justice can be obtained when each individual develops his or her abilities to the fullest. In this sense, justice means excellence. Plato treats the subject of education as an integral and vital part of the wider subject of the well-being of human society. The ultimate aim of education is to help people know the Idea of Good, which is to be Virtuous.

For the Greeks and Plato, excellence is a virtue. According to Socrates, virtue is knowledge. Thus, knowledge is required to be just. From this, Plato concludes that virtue can be obtained through three stages of the development of knowledge: knowledge of one’s job, self-knowledge, and knowledge of the Idea of the Good.

According to Plato, social justice can be achieved when all social classes in a society, workers, warriors, and rulers are in harmonious relationships. Plato believes that all people can easily exist in harmony when society gives them equal educational opportunities from an early age to compete fairly with each other. Without equal educational opportunity, an unjust society appears since the political system is run by unqualified people; timocracy, oligarchy, defective democracy, or tyranny will result.

However, Plato disagrees with this notion since business is concerned mainly with profit, whereas a true education is concerned with the common good based upon the rational principles of individual and social justice