Comparing Knowledge In Republic And Cicero's Law

Nothing great can be achieved without knowledge. It is an extremely powerful tool and without it, we would not likely have the advancements we know today. Knowledge has been around for years, but it was not until the 6th century B.C. in Ancient Greece when knowledge grew exponentially with the help of Greek philosophers. Two pieces from this time period, Plato’s Republic and Cicero’s Laws, focus on the knowledge needed in order to govern well and live the best kind of life. After analyzing both pieces, it can be concluded that knowledge of intellect and philosophical intuition, not necessarily just laws themselves, is needed in order to govern efficiently and achieve the most ideal type of life.

Plato believes that in order to govern well,

The Ancient Greeks put a heavy emphasis on education because they wanted intellectual members of society. To illustrate, in Book V of Plato’s Republic, Polemarchus asks Socrates, “Then, if women are to have the same duties as men, they must have the same nurture and education?” Socrates affirms Polemarchus’ interpretation, displaying the importance of education among all members of society. Socrates recognizes that in order to achieve the most ideal life for society, they must promote self-development of all through education and knowledge opportunities. Furthermore, Socrates goes into detail about educating children from a young age about war: “I mean that we must mount them on horses in their earliest youth, and when they have learnt to ride, take them on horseback to see war.” He places value on this in case there are “chances the children must be at once furnished with wings, in order that in the hour of need they may fly away and escape.” This is an example of an opportunity for knowledge because the children are learning a skill through experience which will help improve the lives of society’s members in case of a war because the soldiers would have already been trained when younger. Book V also discusses the arts, music, and gymnastics, but moreover, Socrates explores even more areas in Book VII including, the study of calculations and numbers, geometry, astronomy,

In Cicero’s piece Laws, Marcus states that, “... law is prudence, the effect of which is to order person to act correctly and to forbid them to transgress.” The sources for these laws include: “what nature has granted to a human being, how many of the best things the human mind encompasses, what service we have been born for and brought into light to perform and accomplish, what is the connection among human beings, and what natural fellowship there is among them.” However, even if laws were to be implemented to enforce the ideal actions and behaviors of the members of society, humans will still deviate, regardless if there are laws to promote good and demote evil. Additionally, even though it is argued in Cicero’s piece that, “the primary fellowship of human being with god involves reason; and among those who have reason in common, correct reason is also in common. Since that is law, we should also consider human beings to be united with gods by law,” things will get in the way such as lust, money, or anything in between, unfortunately leading people away from what is considered “right” and towards what is considered “wrong”. The ideas that are considered “right” are naturally and mutually supported within a society, bringing people together and against what is considered deviant.

Knowledge of intellect and philosophical intuition, not necessarily just laws, is necessary for a society to govern efficiently