Which Form of Government is the Most Virtuous?
Aristotle and Plato are two of the most famous philosophers of all of history. Both men were ahead of their time in regards to their beliefs and values. Both of them sought answers to unasked questions of the time, and both had different, yet similar, views on what the “ideal” state should look like. These two distinct philosophies beg the question: who’s perfect state was best?
Plato described a very utopian form of a city-state in Republic VI-VII. In these books, Plato’s characters, Glaucon and Socrates, argue about whether or not there is something more important than virtues and justice. From this, they agree that the form of good is of the highest importance. Socrates said, “It is our task …show more content…
As alluded to previously, the good state has to have leaders that are well educated and capable of dialectical knowledge or understanding. In Republic VII, Plato provides an allegory about a cave in order to point out the importance of this claim. The allegory begins with a man who has spent his whole life in a cave. This same man is taken out of the cave for the first time to finally see the light or “knowledge.” The man isn’t thrown into the light suddenly, but comes to find the light in a few stages. The first stage, conjecture, begins when the man still in the cave and can only see and hear from within the darkness. The second, sensation, starts when the prisoner can just see the light coming through the head of the cave. The third stage, knowledge, is when the man is brought completely out of the cave. At this point the man knows what the real world is, but cannot experience everything. This leads us to the fourth and final stage, dialectical knowledge or understanding. The man now understands that the sun is the source of true knowledge. Socrates said, “the power to learn is present in everyone’s soul and that the instrument with which each earns is like an eye that cannot be turned around from darkness to light without turning the whole body” (Republic VII, 9). Continuing on with the allegory, Socrates explains that the best ruler is the one who will go back into the cave after discovering …show more content…
Plato’s version of an ideal state is just an idea in theory. Plato did not go into specifics about the structure and organization of this perfect state. This utopian oligarchy is a good theory but not feasible in reality. Aristotle’s ideal state also has a few loopholes, and one of them is the idea of a citizen. According to Aristotle, a citizen has to have the capacity of reason. His theory excludes the young, old, women, children, and manual laborers. This leaves only a very small population with any say in the dealings of government. Everyone else in this definition is just a means to promote the overall good of the state. The next issue that Aristotle forgot to address was determining who exactly is virtuous. This theory is very context dependent, and not quite as perfect as he
Aristotle and Plato are two of the most famous philosophers of all of history. Both men were ahead of their time in regards to their beliefs and values. Both of them sought answers to unasked questions of the time, and both had different, yet similar, views on what the “ideal” state should look like. These two distinct philosophies beg the question: who’s perfect state was best?
Plato described a very utopian form of a city-state in Republic VI-VII. In these books, Plato’s characters, Glaucon and Socrates, argue about whether or not there is something more important than virtues and justice. From this, they agree that the form of good is of the highest importance. Socrates said, “It is our task …show more content…
As alluded to previously, the good state has to have leaders that are well educated and capable of dialectical knowledge or understanding. In Republic VII, Plato provides an allegory about a cave in order to point out the importance of this claim. The allegory begins with a man who has spent his whole life in a cave. This same man is taken out of the cave for the first time to finally see the light or “knowledge.” The man isn’t thrown into the light suddenly, but comes to find the light in a few stages. The first stage, conjecture, begins when the man still in the cave and can only see and hear from within the darkness. The second, sensation, starts when the prisoner can just see the light coming through the head of the cave. The third stage, knowledge, is when the man is brought completely out of the cave. At this point the man knows what the real world is, but cannot experience everything. This leads us to the fourth and final stage, dialectical knowledge or understanding. The man now understands that the sun is the source of true knowledge. Socrates said, “the power to learn is present in everyone’s soul and that the instrument with which each earns is like an eye that cannot be turned around from darkness to light without turning the whole body” (Republic VII, 9). Continuing on with the allegory, Socrates explains that the best ruler is the one who will go back into the cave after discovering …show more content…
Plato’s version of an ideal state is just an idea in theory. Plato did not go into specifics about the structure and organization of this perfect state. This utopian oligarchy is a good theory but not feasible in reality. Aristotle’s ideal state also has a few loopholes, and one of them is the idea of a citizen. According to Aristotle, a citizen has to have the capacity of reason. His theory excludes the young, old, women, children, and manual laborers. This leaves only a very small population with any say in the dealings of government. Everyone else in this definition is just a means to promote the overall good of the state. The next issue that Aristotle forgot to address was determining who exactly is virtuous. This theory is very context dependent, and not quite as perfect as he