In search of an ideal society (The Republic - Plato)

Member Name: kafouroutsos

Product:	The Republic - Plato
Date:	12/02/06 (2017 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Classic Plato

Disadvantages: Many depending if you agree or not with Plato's views

Republic. The roots of the former word lead us back to the latin two wor equivalent res publica which roughly means "public affairs". However the original title in Greek "politia", has a similar though not identical. It is more closely related to the abstract concept of a state's constitution. Plato unfolds in this book, his whole conception of the ideal state, through a dialectic process, between Socrates and a group of Athenian citizens(Glauchon, Adeimantus, Thrasymachus among them).

Firstly, Plato through Socrates discusses the idea of justice, and by means of his proposal to study justice on the macroscopic level of society justice, he proves that there is no way that an unfair person can have a benefit to himself by virtue of this unfairness. Plato, early on introduces what he calls as the class of Guardians in a state, responsible for the government of a such a state. A whole discussion then begins, as to what the requirements of these guardians should be, leading to the conclusion that the ideal guardians of a state should be the philosophers. Poets, even Homer, are banned from such an ideal society, for reasons involving a harmful for the constitution representation of the world by them. Plato also subcategorizes the levels of thought given an hierchical structure beginning with conjectures and ending with dialectic. Intermediate stages are belief and understanding. The famous cave allegory is found on this text and it is the basic platform upon which Plato clarifies the various thought forms. Many other aspects of human and social behaviour are discussed such as the role of women in this ideal state, the ethics of music and many other. The various forms of states are also evaluated by means of their deviation from the ideal state. For example, for Plato, the state that is closer to the ideal state is the Spartan society.

It is maybe the most important political constitution book, widely and criticized over the years. One of the most famous critics is made by Karl Popper in his book "The open society and it's enemies". Whatever your feelings about Plato's ideas is, this book must be read by everyone that wants to have a certain kind with political philosophy and philosophy in general.

Summary: An ideal introduction to Plato's political thinking