Evaluate the acceptability of Plato's ideas about the state.

Essay Title

Evaluate the acceptability of Plato’s ideas about the state.

The main aim of the essay is to evaluate the acceptability of Plato’s idea about the state. Plato (428 -348 bc), has been recognised as one of the worlds earliest philosophers and political thinkers. His ideas have captured the imagination of many of the contemporary western world’s political and cultural representatives. His writings some commentators will argue, have been instrumental in the implementation of the concept of democracy, a concept, which has been recognised by some political commentators, as a right and proper system of government. Historically the normal image of classical Greek politics is of the Athenian ‘Participatory Democracy’. However Plato was fiercely opposed to this. From his work ‘The Republic’ which like most of work was of a series of dialogues in which a pure form of polity were outlined. The most fundamental concept of Plato’s philosophical thinking was his theory of ‘forms’ “in which observable reality, constantly in flux and in decay is regarded as a departure from pure forms or ‘ideas’, e.g. the idea ‘triangle or the idea of ‘horse’ which are necessary and unchanging” (Jary David and Dary Julia, page 493). Put into a simple terms, Plato is actually putting forward a concept which is mathematically based and concludes that objects which take a perfect form would be extremely difficult to make any better than the original. Therefore the idea that objects in the real world can take on the perfect form can be disputed, because the question is, who decides what perfection is. From these important political writings it became apparent that he vehemently opposed the concept of the philosophical justification of ‘rule’ by a small intellectual elite. Could this concept be recognised as the forerunner to Marxism ‘Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat’, because Marx, it has been said, has been influenced by Plato.

This is a preview of the whole essay

It would appear that Plato was of the opinion that absolute power should be the sole responsibility of the “ Philosopher Kings or Guardians” ( Robertson David, page 374, Dictionary of Modern Politics). Plato argued, that only after a strict training programme, which involved 30+ years at various stages of philosophical teachings in which all monetary and property holdings would be dispensed with, would they, the Philosopher Kings or Guardians, be able to dispense and be capable of seeing the morale and political truth properly. However these views have been understood by some commentators as a precursor to ‘Fascism and Totalitarianism’. However in the contemporary modern society it may appear that Plato’s concepts were aimed at small state like creations. Commentators have used ‘Athens’ as an example, where populations were numbered in thousands rather than millions, making the administration of these concepts much more viable..

These concepts have been considered by some commentators, to be ‘Structured’, therefore they have attained recognition in the modern world. Emile Durkheim ‘ One of the Founding Fathers of the modern concept of Sociology’ , considered that the idea of structure, was one of the most important and influential sociological constructs, that enabled both his concepts ‘ Organic and Mechanical Societies’ to function. Without structure society would quickly slide into ‘Anomie’ and Anarchy would reign. Could this concept be compared with Plato’s rule by the mob

The State.

The question is to evaluate the acceptability of Plato’s ideas about the state. The State or to put it another way the ‘Governments’, main function is the running of affairs which govern the whole country i.e. ‘the armed forces, police, civil service, the judicial service ect.

In a democracy there would be permanent members of these groups who would still be occupying positions of power although the government may have changed political direction.

This simply means that the Politicians can be thought of as, holding a temporary position. The Politicians are people who the hold positions of power and who have been elected by their representatives ‘The voter’. They remain there, until their term of office is complete or, until which time society is either satisfied or dissatisfied with

there performance and either vote them back in or dismiss them. These of course are in direct opposition to the concepts that Plato recognised. His concepts recognised, that once having undergone the extreme management training programmes that his Philosopher Kings or Guardians were to undertake, there would be nobody to vote them out, once elected they were there to stay. Perhaps the most relevant element in Plato’s thought, is not the undemocratic constitution, but the way in which he sees the role played by the State.

Plato’s idea of the purpose of the state is that it is there to enforce a decent living, actively encourage morality and religion, rather than to satisfy the demands of the population, or indeed just to keep law and order to allow freedom. In an ideal world this is “Utopia” which was a concept that Plato actively encouraged. However in a contemporary post modern society, this train of thought is undeniably unrealistic, where kindness and goodness is considered to be a sign of weakness.

There are some commentators who consider that comparisons can be drawn from a number of Plato’s concepts. For example two of the United Kingdoms finest educational institutions ‘Oxford and Cambridge’ provide many of the academic minds which may or may not, provide the training and management skills that may or may not, lead to political or intellectual greatness. Commentators may argue that this background may provide the ‘Philosopher Kings and Guardians’ that Plato recognised as being the cultured and gifted ones which had identified as being capable of ruling the people. Another important concept in Plato’s world, is the social standing of woman. In his society, woman were equal and were allowed equal opportunities, which in modern society, has taken many woman’s movements having to fight for decades to have the same rights as men.

There are commentators who perhaps argue over the precise definition of the concept of state because in essence it is a difficult one. It may be that in their opinion the

“The discipline of politics is wholly concerned with the state”, (Hawksworth and Koogan page 43). For others, politics exists in a social context outside the sphere of the state. Is the state therefore, just a governing body, which has a structure of legal rules and therefore a subspecies of society ‘Elite Group’ who wield ultimate power, or are they a body, which ultimately believes in the value and beliefs which encompass civil existence. Although, in this essay, we are not really concerned with what the founding fathers of Sociology ‘Durkheim, Marx , Weber’ had to say regarding the state, it should however be recognised that some of their views should indeed recognised.

They all recognised “that the organisation within the state, is therefore one form in which humans have organised their social existence” ( Hawkesworth and Koogan page 47).

Conclusion.

The central theme of Plato’s work is an attempt to describe the nature of an ideal society. In his view, it took the form of an “benign dictatorship which was dominated by a class of Philosopher Kings of Guardians”( Heywood Andrew, Politics page 13 ). These rulers would according to Plato perform these functions, because, “the people had neither the wisdom nor the experience to rule wisely on their own behalf”(Heywood Andrew, Politics page 4). This concept in essence derided the central theme of the Democratic Process, which as has been previously mentioned, has influenced many western political agendas. It appears therefore, that he does not support the concept of classical democracy. This concept is of course a complete contrast to what most commentators would describe democracy. Most will consider that it is based on the principle of ‘government by the people’. This implies that the people participate in making crucial decisions that may affect the structure of their lives that may determine the fate of society. The freedom to simply vote, to either choose a representative, or to dismiss them, would not be an option in Plato’s world. In a democracy, there is also an added feature of a framework which purports to protect and isolate abuse by the government and which gives the voter a chance to get rid of a politician who has abused their position. This small token of democratic freedom would have had no place in the State proposed by Plato.

Word Count 1443

Bibliography.

Jary David and Jary Julia: Collins, Dictionary of Sociology, 2nd Edition, Harper Collins

Hawkesworth Mary and Kogan Maurice: Encyclopedia of Government and Politics Routledge: Routledge.

Robertson David : Dictionary of Modern Politics, 2nd Europa Publications

Heywood Andrew : Politics, McMillan Foundations.