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Plato thoughts on democracy
Plato thoughts on democracy
Plato's critique of democracy
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Plato thoughts on democracy
Plato thoughts on democracy
Plato's critique of democracy
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Plato thoughts on democracy
Brooklyn has been known to be more than just a borough. It has been known and accredited for being a community of peers. Despite the difference in areas, and environment Brooklyn is a place where people intend to look out for one another. However, some people had their own beliefs about Brooklyn itself and felt only “Poor people live in Brooklyn” (Mehta, pp1) however this is not the case. Just as Adam Bonislawski’s article “Is the New Brooklyn Economy For Real?” stated that the “New Brooklyn Economy” was in fact a place where it welcomed the passion driven, tech savvy and entrepreneurialism of the new era.
The basic and most important element of democracy is to understand that a democracy guarantees all humans rights. Not only that, but a democracy allows the citizens of that country to decide who will lead their country. Athenian Democracy: The Athenian Democracy is the first known democracy in the world. Athenian democracy was discovered in 508 BC by Cleisthenes.
Another example of the negativity of having an excess of democracy could be seen is with Shay’s Rebellion which showed one of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. With a direct democracy it is run by the people and every decision is made by the people. With this no state was willing to raise an army to put down Shay’s rebellion. On the other hand with a republic the states have to follow the rules stated within the Constitution. A Republic offered something that was able to limit the strength on the central government which was checks and balances within the three branches of the government, which ensured that one branch doesn’t get to strong.
He also believed that “the welfare of society had always been left to corrupt or incompetent politicians, ignorant voters, over-ambitious generals, and other people unsuited to run a state” (Plato: Democracy). He believed that philosophers should be in charge (Plato: Democracy) and in his mind, the government should be representative of the ordinary man. While Plato would never have considered himself a supporter of democracy, I believe that many of his ideas fit nicely into one. In my ideal government, the voice of the general public would be more important than those of politicians, because as humans, we are easily corrupted and when only a few individuals are in power, it is only the rich and powerful who end up with a
While some, like Plato in his The Republic, thought it weak to give government into the hands of the common people, Pericles countered this argument with a compelling argument of greatness. By putting government into the hands of the people, the people are united and more devoted to their country. Democracy bonds the people together in a way that no other government can understand. Pericles confidently states, “Athenians advance unsupported into the territory of a neighbor, and fighting upon a foreign soil usually vanquish with ease men who are defending their homes.”
Plato an ancient Greek philosopher, whose philosophical work influenced the founding of western thought. Born in 427 B.C in the town of Athens, during the time of the Peloponnesian War Plato witness the collapse of Athenian democracy and emergence of an Oligarchy, establish by the Spartan. The repressive system of government was known as the “the thirty” the thirty were elected officials who managed all of Athens affairs. However, the end result of the thirty was repressive governing for the Athenian people who were accustom to democracy. This was one major event, that had a profound impact on Plato life, due to the unjust ruling placed upon the Athenian people, by 403 B.C democracy was restored once again and Plato had an interest in politics,
According to Socrates perspective, the democracy of Athens was corrupt and even though they courts were made in such a way that everyone was judged fairly, it wasn’t such because there were no rules or principles set forth. When a person was brought to court in the Athenian court and the person spoke against the jurors or offended them, he or she could be prosecuted based on that. In summary, judgment was passed based on emotion rather than on justice. In the Apology, Socrates stated, “my present request seems a just one, for you to pay no attention to my manner of speech-
Failure during the Peloponnesian War caused Greeks to question democracy and traditional Greek values. Plato disagreed with the way the state was run, especially after Athens’ loss at war. He discusses the meaning of justice and outlines how the ideal state should be governed in The Republic. He believes that the ideal state should be governed by a class of guardian rulers, who were trained as philosopher-kings. These rulers are the only members of society who could understand the Form of the Good and would be able to rule justly and logically.
What is justice? This is the crucial question that Plato attempts to answer in his dialogue, The Republic. He conjures up an allegory that justice can be found in a person, and a person can represent a city. Thus, his entire dialogue focuses on this ‘just’ city and the mechanics of how the city would operate. His dialogue covers a myriad of topics about justice in addition to the human soul, politics, goodness and truth.
In his book The Open Society and its Enemies, Karl Popper criticizes that Plato’s philosophy set forth in his work The Republic is Totalitarian in nature. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the adjective “totalitarian” is defined as, “Of or pertaining to a system of government which tolerates only one political party, to which all other institutions are subordinated, and which usually demands the complete subservience of the individual to the State” (“Totalitarian”). By this definition and through a detailed analysis of his work, one can discern that Plato and his philosophy in The Republic are not as thoroughly totalitarian as Popper suggests. While Plato does advocate for the government of Kallipolis, the morally perfect city he
In Plato’s Republic, Socrates comes to the conclusion that we need to have a strong just society that is in the right order. In Books IV, V, and VI, Socrates explains that every society needs to be built on justice, everyone needs to have an occupation, and what a male and female household should look like. These are my prerequisites to what I consider essential to create a just society. Because without these qualities in an established society, you can hurt an entire civilization. And to Socrates argument, with an ideal king will come forms of co-operated citizens of a city.
In The Republic of Plato, Plato in the context of Socrates discusses what would be the ideal polis, and the ideal definition of justice. Justice is heavily discussed due in part to how influential it could be. Is it good because it just is, or is there more too it? In today’s modern world, most people are concerned about justice. When something goes wrong people lean towards vengeance and revenge.
Pericles ' viewpoint is nevertheless argued in The Republic, juxtaposing the qualifications of the ruling power and their competence versus the incapability of the general public to foster such a magnitude of power. Using "Socrates" as a fictional protagonist, Plato critiques democracy in The Republic. Through this protagonist, he reflects on the value of merits such as ‘justice, ' that are prevalent in the configuration of society as a whole and in the character of an individual being. He condemns societal democracy due to its foremost features such as freedom and equality. Although freedom is of utmost value to Plato, he is of the faith that freedom concocted with such a form of governance may run the risk of chaotic mobocracy.
I think Plato was encouraged to write that democracy is one of the worst regimes because of what was happening at the time. It is convenient for Plato to say that an aristocracy would be the best regime to come to power, because since it is the philosopher-kings that are most wise to rule, does that not make him a possible ruler in this regime? And to say that time will decay into a tyrannical regime is basically ignoring what the normal society might want for themselves. This, in my opinion, is a very straightforward view of something that does not calculate how the human being can react to this. They can, as a society, choose to stay in a democracy, or choose to go back to another type regime, that although not perfect, the citizens can accept its flaws, and attempt to fix it, while still staying in this
Plato believes that the highest class in society should represent and govern the people because of their skills and ability to produce and ensure a perfect society. Furthermore, I believe that good governance should consist of governing and controlling, freedom, justice and encourage