Plato And Puritans: A Comparative Analysis

The world is made up of different communities, all with different outlooks on how the social, economic, and education policies should be run. Plato and the Puritans each had their own ideas of how their communities would be run, using different social, economic and educational policies. Using some of their polices, I am looking at how my own ideal community would come together and be run. By piecing together different points and ideas of both the Puritans and Plato, I can look at how I want my community to function. Plato believe that in a community the social structure should put people into groups based on their function or occupation. For example, first class is producers, second class is auxiliaries, and the third class is the guardians.

The Gentle People were those of the highest class, they were wealthier, more respected, had a title, and people would bow when they saw them. The middle class was the Yeomanry, they were less wealthy, less respected, but were called ‘Goodman’ or ‘Goodwife’ when addresses. The last class is that of the Laborers. These were the least respected, the least wealthy, addressed by their first name, and they worked for a living. The puritans believed that the wealth shouldn’t be equal, but is should be drastic either. They got rid of aristocracy, making it so that you could not be born into power. Giving away with the highest class, but they also didn’t allow poor people into their community. They wanted everyone to be able to thrive in their community, so the highest and lowest classes were not allowed in. The puritans did not believe in aristocracy, the thought that if God gave people power and wealth then they deserve that wealth and should be able to enjoy it, but someone born into the power and wealth was not given it by God, so they do not deserve to have it. If God did give the child who was born into wealth the ability to lead, then that child would be able to stay. But the child is not guaranteed to be able to stay in a position of power just because their parents were (Fischer 178). The puritans believed that God gave them certain abilities, and no matter what class you were born in, you had

I agreed with both social views that there should be classes, but there should not be three major classes that everything is broken down into. There is a bunch of different types of people and the classes should reflect that. I also agree and would implement the fact that just because you are born into something does not mean you are going to do a good job at it, or that you have a natural ability for it, each person should go where they fit best, and not because their parents were this, it should be what they are good at. For example, a child of two shoe makers should not become a shoe maker just because their parents were, they should if they have a natural ability to, but if they are better at making bread they should do that job instead. That is how I would implement the social ideas of Plato and the