Kallipolis is a perfectly structured society in which justice is achieved at the social and interpersonal realms. It is ruled by a philosopher king, who maintain the peace and harmony in the ideal society. According to Plato in The Republic, the philosopher king possesses the qualities to be the rightful king to rule in Kallipolis. Philosophers are qualified to rule because they have a understanding of the Forms or the truth, their wisdom allows them to understand justice and their knowledge makes them superior than others. However, a philosopher can be a tyrant in disguise. A ruler needs to be able to interpret the nature of the world in order to rule a just state. Allegory of the cave is used to explain the formation of the philosopher.
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Plato’s myth of metals divides the society into three sections: the gold, the rulers; sliver, the auxiliaries and iron or bronze, the craftsmen or framers (Plato, Book III). The society functions because there is existence of four important virtues in the society, which is wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. Wisdom is dominant characteristic in the rulers, whereas courage is dominated in the auxiliaries (Plato, Book IV). Temperance is needed to control desires and pleasures. Rulers naturally are more temperance and temperance is needed to keep harmony between all classes. “It turns out that this doing one’s own work - provided that is comes to be in a certain way - is justice” (Plato, 433b). Justice is a helpful tool to preserve all four virtues in the soul. Nonetheless, the soul is divided into three different parts: rational part, spirited part and appetitive part. These aspects of mind correspond to the three classes of the state. Reason must be permitted to rule over the spirited element and rule over the passions, thus to secure justice (Plato, Book IV). Plato argues that philosopher kings are the reigning class because of their rare characteristics that makes them the rulers. The tripartite division of characteristic in the human mind showed that the each individual possess a characteristic that defines the individual and their occupation has best equipped to the person to pursue. …show more content…
A philosopher is superior in virtue because of the love for wisdom and strives for the truth, hence the rational part rules the soul. Plato argues that the philosophers are born with the philosophical nature, which involves courage, high mined, quick learners, know to retain information, just, moderation and graceful with their thoughts (Plato, Book VI). Their love for learning about the Forms and striving for the truth by denying falsehood. “A soul that is always reaching out to grab everything that is divine and human as a whole” (Plato, 486a). This shows that they know there are more important things, that has been revealed to their high mind. They do not fear death because they possess courage. Philosophers experience moderation because they have abandoned the pleasures of the body and are only concerned with the pleasure of the soul. They are not money lovers or bashful because they are aware of just. Philosophers are naturally inclined to learn, able to retain information and their thoughts are gracefully measured (Plato, Book VI). The philosopher’s nature has the proper aspects to be a ruler. These philosophical nature can be explained using the simile of the ship. This simile shows the a philosopher is rightful for its place. The wise man, the navigator of the ship knows better than the rest about navigating the ship. The navigators’ knowledge extends to the needs of the people and
Plato’s myth of metals divides the society into three sections: the gold, the rulers; sliver, the auxiliaries and iron or bronze, the craftsmen or framers (Plato, Book III). The society functions because there is existence of four important virtues in the society, which is wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. Wisdom is dominant characteristic in the rulers, whereas courage is dominated in the auxiliaries (Plato, Book IV). Temperance is needed to control desires and pleasures. Rulers naturally are more temperance and temperance is needed to keep harmony between all classes. “It turns out that this doing one’s own work - provided that is comes to be in a certain way - is justice” (Plato, 433b). Justice is a helpful tool to preserve all four virtues in the soul. Nonetheless, the soul is divided into three different parts: rational part, spirited part and appetitive part. These aspects of mind correspond to the three classes of the state. Reason must be permitted to rule over the spirited element and rule over the passions, thus to secure justice (Plato, Book IV). Plato argues that philosopher kings are the reigning class because of their rare characteristics that makes them the rulers. The tripartite division of characteristic in the human mind showed that the each individual possess a characteristic that defines the individual and their occupation has best equipped to the person to pursue. …show more content…
A philosopher is superior in virtue because of the love for wisdom and strives for the truth, hence the rational part rules the soul. Plato argues that the philosophers are born with the philosophical nature, which involves courage, high mined, quick learners, know to retain information, just, moderation and graceful with their thoughts (Plato, Book VI). Their love for learning about the Forms and striving for the truth by denying falsehood. “A soul that is always reaching out to grab everything that is divine and human as a whole” (Plato, 486a). This shows that they know there are more important things, that has been revealed to their high mind. They do not fear death because they possess courage. Philosophers experience moderation because they have abandoned the pleasures of the body and are only concerned with the pleasure of the soul. They are not money lovers or bashful because they are aware of just. Philosophers are naturally inclined to learn, able to retain information and their thoughts are gracefully measured (Plato, Book VI). The philosopher’s nature has the proper aspects to be a ruler. These philosophical nature can be explained using the simile of the ship. This simile shows the a philosopher is rightful for its place. The wise man, the navigator of the ship knows better than the rest about navigating the ship. The navigators’ knowledge extends to the needs of the people and