The Criticism Of Democracy In Plato's Republic

In Plato’s Republic he offers several critiques of Democracy believing it is inefficient and leads to these known bad forms of government such as tyranny and oligarchy. Plato drives hard on Democracy’s excessive freedom and inherent class tensions, which both lead to issues within the state. These critiques Plato reveals will provide a persuasive case considering the well-known Democracy as an actual inherently bad form of government.

Plato had a large problem with the tensions Democracy would bring to the city. Plato believed in a hierarchy principle more so then feeding into our desires. Our desires here would be freedom, which Plato also sees as a threat to society in that excessive obsessions with freedom will lead to anarchy and tyranny.

Where the majority is ruling, the people must now be examined even further of course to determine the condition of the state, since Plato believes the care of the soul and the care of the city to be alike. Socrates imagines three types of people in a Democracy, the lazy extravagant people, the wealthy, and the average citizens who work and don’t have much money. These three people categorize the differences in opinions and motives of freedom in a Democracy. With the lazy extravagant people, they contain no city power, its simply people fighting for their power if they even bother to care. The wealthy are again the most powerful, and finally the working class, not having much assets or money, the majority and vulnerable part of the state. The working-class live on the idea that all appetites are equal and should be respected and Plato would also argue they are paid enough money and taxed less enough so the government can now run their business side of the city. Considering the political aspect now, these people are still the majority, the voters to decide how the state is run and who is to protect them. Socrates explains after he mentions the difference between unnecessary and necessary appetites: “At all these assertions he shakes his head. He lives from day to day to the end in the gratification of the casual appetites—drinking himself drunk while listening to the flute and soon putting himself on a diet.” Plato describes this as the “manifold life,” living the “good life” some would say, he believes this is the life those envy and strive for, therefore the life the majority look up to and attempt to live toward. Plato continues, “Now he follows eagerly in the steps of certain soldiers he admires; and soon he takes to trade, because he envies the successful trader.” Plato is now mocking the democratic man as he swings from desire to