Although today’s society views democracy as the ideal form of government, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato had different ideas of how a government should be structured. Born around 428 B.C. into an aristocratic family, “he almost certainly served in the military during the Peloponnesian war;” however, he did not involve himself in political affairs of the state. His reason for doing so was because he “withdrew in disgust from the evils then being practiced” (viii-ix). Yet, Plato still found politics fascinating enough to write entire works based on the subject, as seen in some of his writings including one entitled the Republic. In the Republic, Plato discusses his idea of an ideal political community—an aristocracy, which is accountable
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Plato believes that if an individual of one class tries to advance to a higher class, he will upset the balance of the city, stating “meddling and exchange between these three classes, then is the greatest harm that can happen to the city and would rightly be called the worst thing someone could do to it” (Book IV, 434b-c). Plato goes on to call meddling injustice, and while attempting to move into a higher class might cause a small disturbance by today’s standards, it would most likely not bring ruin to the city. However, seeing as one of Plato’s main goals for the Polis is a just city, any slight disturbance such as trying to move into another class because of money or virtue might disturb the balance and ruin the city in the long run. Plato’s tactic for getting each class except for the noblest class—the guardians—to work diligently and faithfully includes making them happy by providing them with certain things such as purple robes and gold jewelry for the farmers and couches and wine for the potters (Book IV, 421). His reasoning for these ‘luxuries’ is that if the people do not have what they need to be successful and happy in their craft, than the quality of their work will be much less than if they have nice objects. However, too much wealth can be detrimental to the workers as well, corrupting them and preventing them from paying …show more content…
This education of the guardians includes games in which the rules are followed, learning about mythological stories, but only ones where the gods are portrayed in a good light, as anything else would corrupt the future leaders of the city, and music and poetry which follow a certain pattern and rhythm (Book II, 377e, Book IV, 424b-e). Additionally, the guardians will be taught physical training and warfare (Book V, 467d-e). In educating the children in warfare directly, the courageous children can be selected and rewarded while the children who show cowardice will be relegated to a lower class. This intense education separates the true guardians from the rest of the children, therefore producing stronger future leaders for the Polis. When the guardians are selected, they must demonstrate the beginnings of four key virtues—wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice—in order to be successful leaders (Book IV, 429). Plato also separates the education of the classes focusing on the upper guardian class because they will have the most importance in the Polis and will have the most to learn. While the lower classes will also need an education, Plato skims over it because they will only need to learn one specific trade, a relatively small task compared to the guardians’
Plato believes that if an individual of one class tries to advance to a higher class, he will upset the balance of the city, stating “meddling and exchange between these three classes, then is the greatest harm that can happen to the city and would rightly be called the worst thing someone could do to it” (Book IV, 434b-c). Plato goes on to call meddling injustice, and while attempting to move into a higher class might cause a small disturbance by today’s standards, it would most likely not bring ruin to the city. However, seeing as one of Plato’s main goals for the Polis is a just city, any slight disturbance such as trying to move into another class because of money or virtue might disturb the balance and ruin the city in the long run. Plato’s tactic for getting each class except for the noblest class—the guardians—to work diligently and faithfully includes making them happy by providing them with certain things such as purple robes and gold jewelry for the farmers and couches and wine for the potters (Book IV, 421). His reasoning for these ‘luxuries’ is that if the people do not have what they need to be successful and happy in their craft, than the quality of their work will be much less than if they have nice objects. However, too much wealth can be detrimental to the workers as well, corrupting them and preventing them from paying …show more content…
This education of the guardians includes games in which the rules are followed, learning about mythological stories, but only ones where the gods are portrayed in a good light, as anything else would corrupt the future leaders of the city, and music and poetry which follow a certain pattern and rhythm (Book II, 377e, Book IV, 424b-e). Additionally, the guardians will be taught physical training and warfare (Book V, 467d-e). In educating the children in warfare directly, the courageous children can be selected and rewarded while the children who show cowardice will be relegated to a lower class. This intense education separates the true guardians from the rest of the children, therefore producing stronger future leaders for the Polis. When the guardians are selected, they must demonstrate the beginnings of four key virtues—wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice—in order to be successful leaders (Book IV, 429). Plato also separates the education of the classes focusing on the upper guardian class because they will have the most importance in the Polis and will have the most to learn. While the lower classes will also need an education, Plato skims over it because they will only need to learn one specific trade, a relatively small task compared to the guardians’