Plato's Argument

Knowledge is Sufficient to Qualify Philosopher as a Ruler

Plato insists on his proposition claiming that knowledge alone is sufficient to qualify philosophers to be the ruler “...provided that they are not inferior to the non-philosophers in virtue...they are superior pretty well for the most important one” (484d) and makes plausible arguments to support it by explaining the importance of knowledge of the form of good for the ruler in a perfect state and the most important virtue that only philosophers possess. The Argument can be formulated as: 1) philosophers have knowledge, and 2) philosophers are not inferior to the non-philosophers in virtue, and 3) Philosophers are superior pretty well for the most important virtue of understanding/knowing

However, none of the virtues he counts for a philosopher ruler is regarded anymore even as a value, so it certainly is not applicable to our society. Although many of western countries based their constitution upon the ideas of philosophers, I believe, the society and political section is getting biased increasingly. But, what if the world changes in a way that people refrain from today's pragmatism where they evaluate everything with its usefulness for their own sake regardless of its being good or bad due to lack of absolute good or bad. In this case, the guidance of philosophers for the governors would be necessary to renovate the political ground. This is a wishful thinking as Plato mentions, but I believe that one day, human beings would look for an ideal society and Plato's proposition might be a leading clue to make the future society. However, if he is read not attentively, one can derive fascism and racism from Republic, but I believe the ideal individual he proposes as the ruler should not extend to the whole society, say, a country as he never did so. Although he believes that there should be a hierarchy in the society, he puts the most responsibility on

to learn the form of the Good, because by taking this step he would understand the highest idea, the ground and origin of other ideas as he puts in the sun analogy, as Strauss put it “the first idea is the ground of both ideas and knowledge of ideas” (ibid.138).On the other hand, he declares that the most valuable qualities of a ruler come from his natural passion for the truth that perfects through time and education. Therefore, only a real lover of learning that has an intense erotic love for the truth and won't stop learning until he knows and lives and being nurtured by truth deserves to be the ruler. Such a person with a divinely inspired erotic love to true philosophy will be relieved of the pain when giving birth, say, to give birth to beautiful things through art, since art is the creation of the soul, and if all aspects of beautiful things are carefully thought, the ultimate object of love, the final revelation the form of divine beauty, will be seen. So, it reveals that he is a lover of the form of divine beauty, follows that he is ultimately a lover of the form of divine good, since the beautiful is the good. Since justice is to improve or retain the situation that is good, a notion of good and bad involves in justice. Justice is also an art so far as it serves for the others but not itself, and for its causing