The Question of Justice
Thinkers for centuries have attempted to find a way to establish a republic or state with a system that ensures perfect justice. Many of these thinkers shared a common idea on what justice should look like but many also disagree on how they should go about establishing that republic. Plato and Aristotle exemplify this idea as although Plato taught Aristotle, they have vastly different answers to the question. Both wrote books explicating their different opinions, Plato wrote The Republic while Aristotle wrote The Politics. The two books work towards a common goal but they go about doing this in different ways. Plato argues for an oligarchy dominated by one percent of the population who are born with virtue and among …show more content…
and 2016 are very different but the ideas of Plato and Aristotle still can apply to the modern day. When comparing Aristotle’s and Plato’s ideas, realistically Aristotle’s ideas are the only ones that can be applied to the modern United States as they are similar to the democratic system in place. Aristotle, like many Americans, believes that the key to democracy “is liberty, according to the common opinion of men” (Aristotle, 154). America was built on a very similar principle in which the common opinion mattered and the government was established so people could pursue liberty and happiness. Plato’s ideas, on the other hand, would not fit into today’s society at all due to his ideas on power. Plato discusses how he perceives the guardians “to be more perfect men” than the rest of the population (Plato, 8). This is a kind of social-Darwinism which says that some people are better because of their birth into a social class. In the U.S., the belief is that anyone can climb up the social ladder and be a major success, no matter what. This would lead to a huge clash in ideas as people in the U.S. would not accept being born into any class. Plato also wants to establish an oligarchy which Americans would see as ridiculous given our democratic history. Additionally, Plato’s system would not work or be accepted because he supports a perfect unity in which the government should use “a considerable dose of falsehood and deceit for the good of their subjects” (Plato, 10). The idea that people would be ok with the government, even in the small ruling class, purposely using deceit would cause fury in the masses. In addition, people would question the ability of a deceitful government to rule fairly which would lead to doubt of Plato’s system. Finally, Plato’s opinion on families and love would simply not work in modern day America due to its radicalism. However, Aristotle’s less radical beliefs would be a great fit to American society as it would not
Thinkers for centuries have attempted to find a way to establish a republic or state with a system that ensures perfect justice. Many of these thinkers shared a common idea on what justice should look like but many also disagree on how they should go about establishing that republic. Plato and Aristotle exemplify this idea as although Plato taught Aristotle, they have vastly different answers to the question. Both wrote books explicating their different opinions, Plato wrote The Republic while Aristotle wrote The Politics. The two books work towards a common goal but they go about doing this in different ways. Plato argues for an oligarchy dominated by one percent of the population who are born with virtue and among …show more content…
and 2016 are very different but the ideas of Plato and Aristotle still can apply to the modern day. When comparing Aristotle’s and Plato’s ideas, realistically Aristotle’s ideas are the only ones that can be applied to the modern United States as they are similar to the democratic system in place. Aristotle, like many Americans, believes that the key to democracy “is liberty, according to the common opinion of men” (Aristotle, 154). America was built on a very similar principle in which the common opinion mattered and the government was established so people could pursue liberty and happiness. Plato’s ideas, on the other hand, would not fit into today’s society at all due to his ideas on power. Plato discusses how he perceives the guardians “to be more perfect men” than the rest of the population (Plato, 8). This is a kind of social-Darwinism which says that some people are better because of their birth into a social class. In the U.S., the belief is that anyone can climb up the social ladder and be a major success, no matter what. This would lead to a huge clash in ideas as people in the U.S. would not accept being born into any class. Plato also wants to establish an oligarchy which Americans would see as ridiculous given our democratic history. Additionally, Plato’s system would not work or be accepted because he supports a perfect unity in which the government should use “a considerable dose of falsehood and deceit for the good of their subjects” (Plato, 10). The idea that people would be ok with the government, even in the small ruling class, purposely using deceit would cause fury in the masses. In addition, people would question the ability of a deceitful government to rule fairly which would lead to doubt of Plato’s system. Finally, Plato’s opinion on families and love would simply not work in modern day America due to its radicalism. However, Aristotle’s less radical beliefs would be a great fit to American society as it would not