The Republic – A book that is considered Plato’s magnus opus.
It is an attempt by Plato to define the ideal state.
And what an attempt that was. In 10 magnificent chapters,
the philosopher manages to immerse ourselves in dialogues illuminating cognitive brilliance and in
philosophical concepts of the greatest importance. All of Plato’s books have more or
less the same format. Socrates is the main hero,
so to speak, and he has dialogues with different Athenians, since Plato and Socrates
both lived in Athens and teached philosophy there. The main theme of the book is that of Justice.
With Plato’s background and experience living in Athens during the time of the
Thirty Tyrants, after the Peloponnesian War, many people suppose that his experience
triggered the inception of the Republic. Whatever the case, Plato created a philosophical
work of extraordinary significance that manages to inspire western thought till this very day.
Why do people demand justice? Why is justice at the epicenter of our experience? Is it because
we fear social punishment, or is it something more visceral that emerges
from our desire το co-operate and co-exist? According to Plato, justice is worthwhile
in and of itself. He begins to support
this thesis in a very interesting way. He introduces us to Thrasymachus, a Sophist,
a teacher-for hire for the wealthy sons of Athens. Sophists believe in subjective morality, or
moral relativism as we call it today. They don’t deem actions as right or wrong, but rather as
advantageous or disadvantageous for the people performing them.
Thrasymachus, during a discussion with Socrates, asserts that “justice is nothing
else than the interest of the stronger.” By that he means that the government is
concerned with justice and that people should just follow the rules of the government.
And Socrates refutes his argument in a quite lengthy, but, in my opinion, genius way,
by explaining him how governments can make errors. Then Thrasymachus posits that injustice
is better than justice because the strong realize how to take advantage of erroneous
systems to promote their interests. Socrates clearly disagrees with that and again
refutes the argument in lengthy but genius way. He proposes to look for justice in the city
first and then to proceed by analogy to find justice inside the individual.
Plato, from this deep discussion on justice, tries to extrapolate what
the “ideal” republic can look like. Political justice is
predicated upon harmony on the way society is structured.
An “ideal” state consists of three main classes of people— rulers, warriors, and craftsmen.
The rulers are philosophers who can reason and think deeply and provide
a good ruling system for the city. The warriors guard the city from
internal and external threats. The craftsmen are mainly producers
and provide the city with the necessary products and services required to run properly.
The reason Plato decides to use these three categories is because he believes that people have
three fundamental behavioral tendencies, appetite, spirit, and reason, and that in
every person one of the three tends to prevail. The ones who gravitate towards appetite should
become craftsmen, the ones in whom the spirit prevails should become warriors,
and the ones who hold reason as the ultimate virtue in life should become rulers, after
rigorous selection and long periods of training. A society is just when relations between
these three classes are balanced. Socrates doesn’t really explain how the
classification will ensue, but he suggests that all the citizens should be told a noble lie,
called “the myth of the metals” so as to promote allegiance to the State
and enforce its three-tiered social order. According to this “myth of the metals,” every
citizen is born out of the earth of the State and every other citizen is his brother or sister. Yet
god has created them differently, mixing different metals into their soul: gold for the rulers,
silver for the warriors, and brass or iron for the craftsmen. Children are usually made of the
same metal as their parents, but if this is not the case the child must either descend or ascend
in the social order.
As mentioned before, a society is just when relations between these three classes are balanced.
This is a direct parallel to the human soul. Plato believes that individual justice expresses itself
through the inner balance of the soul. Each individual soul is affected by
three separate parts. The appetite part,
lusts after money, food, drink, and sex. The spirit part yearns for honor.
The rational part desires truth and knowledge. In essence, we all have a craftsman,
a warrior and a philosopher ruler inside us. In a just soul, the power dynamics between
these three parts are specific. The rational part rules,
the spirit part enforces the rational part’s convictions and the appetite part needs to operate
according to the directions of the former two. Plato realizes that if the rational part doesn’t
rule, the whole constitution of the individual can fall apart. He also believes that the
just soul strives wholly towards the truth. The idea of truth is emblematic of his work and
it becomes apparent in the allegory of the cave. The cave symbolizes this limited world
that keeps us trapped and the shadows are the only things we perceive as real,
because of the limitations imposed upon us. When the prisoner escapes and gains access to
the outer world, he encounters the sun, which is the absolute truth.
Plato makes three important points in the allegory, with regards to the truth.
One, that it takes time to get accustomed to the truth and eventually reengineer one’s perception
in order to understand it and accept it. Number two, that once one sees the truth
and accepts it, one can never go back to their former state.
And number three, that the truth can be perceived as something dangerous by some people, because,
often, the truth hurts so much that people will feel that it's not worth risking what they have
for something so precarious. The manifestation of the truth seeking individual is the philosopher
king. That’s why he writes: “Until philosophers are kings,
or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy,
and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, cities will never have rest from their evils — no,
nor the human race, as I believe — and then only will this State have a possibility of
life and behold the light of day.”I am not sure if “The Republic” really constitutes an attempt
from Plato to create the ideal state or if it is an allegory and a critique
towards different forms of government. I am on the same page with Plato with regards to the idea that
we need more philosophers in politics, but I am not sure I agree with the rest. Philosophy allows
the thinking human to study the greatest problems of mankind in depth. Politicians don’t do that.
They are just actors in a flawed, and, mostly, corrupt system. Very few of them have actually
studied philosophy and the ones that did mainly scratched the surface. The difficulties of
political life are inescapable and require honest and responsible participation. Plato
believes in hierarchies and propaganda and that is very dangerous. He tries to create an elitist
society, both intellectually and hierarchically. Obviously with good intensions, but it risks
the fact that this regime can easily regress into authoritarianism. People that don’t belong in the
higher classes will always feel inferior and grow resent towards the other classes.
Resentment is a very dangerous feeling. Democracy is certainly flawed and prone to manipulation, but
a just state is a state that cares about the well-being of all citizens without discrimination.
Intellectual development should be the bedrock of all citizens and should encourage people to
participate and feel included. Especially when it comes to small scale experiments in governance.
In any case, the republic is a seminal work filled with great thought experiments orchestrated by a
genius format called Socratic dialogue. Plato is one of the pioneers of Western thought and
he will always fill our minds and souls with innumerable moments of inspiration and awe.