The Soul And The City: Plato’s Political Philosophy

The purpose of this essay is to understand Plato’s statement in the Republic that philosophers will not be rulers or that philosophers will not rule. Plato is a renowned philosopher and the Republic is one of the most academically famous philosophical works. The statement is vast and realistic in such a way that it is virtually impossible that rulers will ever be philosophers due to the knowledge they possess. The ruler’s and philosopher’s mindsets vary in many ways such as education, thinking, perception, and ethics. The definition of democracy clearly communicated by Plato is designed by the majority to protect the minority’s interest and is different from the ruler’s view. (E-International Relations, 2020).

Political decision-making requires strong judgment and skills, which are required for the national security interest and economic stability. The philosophers aim to produce a systematic result and are keen to develop an idea or unrealistic situation, which is not possible for any state. Furthermore, Plato’s idea of justice is linked with the specialization of structuring the city or state. The philosophical view explained that individual justice is associated with state justice (Politics.virginia.edu, 2020). A great controversy has been shown by the people over the years on the statement mentioned above. The rulers and philosophers hold a different view in identifying the major problems of the state or the problems faced by the rulers. The political view has gained a lot of attention in the past decades and most countries influence their political regime system via strong leadership and rule. Philosophers aim to produce an idealistic situation and work to attain unrealistic circumstances that are unable to achieve or impracticable (Waterfield, 2010)

Plato’s Republic is one of the best western philosophical books. It aims to capture the realism, ethical and political arguments where morality can be achieved through the ideal elements of the ideal community. His contributions and arguments were made to define the concept of morality, which is defined as the primary goal of education. The comparison of societies with each other and the people acting in the society to make the region a better place in order to enhance the democratic level in a state (Protevi.com, 2020). The republic aims to evaluate the three levels such as image, action, and discussion rationally.

The first section defines the actions of the rulers and the philosophers which are taken to positively affect the societies and the state. The spiritual nature of the philosophers impacts the perception of people and their behavior towards taking rational action. The action process is essential for the people or rulers and directly affects the people in terms of solving the potential problems of society. The second part defines the image of the political people which they made to enhance the powerful individuals of the society. The image is both a positive and a negative image of others. In particular, the rulers of the country significantly impact the minds of people. The third stage concentrates on the philosophers and their knowledge-sharing process in the societies (Waterfield, 2010).

The exposure of rationalism is defined in the book which determines the rational thinking and actions leads to prosperous results whereas unstable situations lead the persons to problematic circumstances. The relationship of wealth and citizenship is defined to enhance the political rulers and their consequent actions toward democracy. A vast discussion has been made on the distinction over the rulers and the philosophers, moreover, the book discusses the variance level of perception of both philosophers and the rulers (Dobbs, 1994). Political stability influences the systematic procedure and processes of the regime that affect the country.

The western civilization and various subjects of philosophy have been discussed in the book, which discusses the justice of the society independently, and as a whole system. Several challenges have been discussed in the book to ensure the nature of justice and injustice in societies (Ryanfb.github.io, 2020). The process of scrutinizing the lack of unity in societies complicates the roles and responsibilities associated with males and females. This section outlines the clear distinction of the ruler and philosopher’s perception, education, motivation, and actions. Plato’s republic is a contribution to ethics, good and bad decision-making is affected by the education level and the shaped perception of citizens (Plato.stanford.edu, 2020).

Plato’s Republic is often considered a utopia. Political utopianism is described as the ideal and impractical state of the political regime in a country. The idealistic situation is not practiced in the state, thus this concept brings a challenge to the rulers and philosophers. The concept defines the political idealism situation, which is more preferred by the philosophers, and they act to determine the power within the city and reorganize the factors which support the ideal political and democratic situations.

Plato presents the essential fundamental principles of constitutions that need to build. Many scholars have discussed the concept of political utopianism and the philosophers prefer the understanding of this concept (Czigányik, 2017). To understand the topic several principles and disciplines are designed in order to analyze utopianism. Political foundations were built due to the systematic structuring of the democratic rule in a country. The concept of justice has played a significant role in shaping the government; moreover, justice is stated as the quality of people which is possessed internally.

Plato’s Republic claims that there are four main reasons to discuss the statement: “it is virtually impossible for the rulers to be the philosophers or philosophers will ever rule” The reasons are; motivational claim and ruling notoriously education and ethics.

The motivation aiming to the well-being of the whole country depends on the ruler’s political influence, hence Plato’s argument that philosophers will seek the good of the whole system and aim to protect the interest of its people due to the wide knowledge they gained (Philosophy.stanford.edu, 2020). It is mostly considered that rulers think and protect their own interests instead of trying to bring the best possible results for their political office. Philosophers are keener to shape the ideal regime in the country and aim to protect the rights of everyone, which is not practical and illogical but ideal. Justice is different in every country due to the various laws and implementation of regulations.

The philosophical view is different from the rulers; it aims to provide an understanding that the soul has a significant impact on the motivational level of rulers or people. Due to the superior values and beliefs, philosophers are not suited to hold the position of power or they are not fit to be the rulers (Klosko, 1988). Moreover, long-term rule is one of the motivations for the rulers or politicians, which they aim to exercise on the country’s regime. The motivation of philosophers is not applicable for realistic modern politics or states. The policies developed to maintain the stability of the state do not align with the motivation level of the philosophers (Waterfield, 2010).

Philosophers rule notoriously regardless of fame and power, they aim to exercise the ruling power to make a world a better place than it was in the past. The good for all is the rule considered by the philosophers, which is sometimes impractical. The ruling regardless of the long-term vision is not considered effective and it affects the stability of the government, which is likely to be more recognized by the political rulers. Philosophers aim to shape the behavior of people via shaping their own attitudes, skills, and set perfect examples for the people of the country (Philosophy.stanford.edu, 2020). The ruling authority of the philosopher significantly affects the platonic point of view, which holds the view of the spiritual distinction.

The level of education affects the rulers and their government system. The influence of the rulers is affecting the morale of the government officials and people of the country. The possession of knowledge influences the philosophers to be more systematic and idealized in their perception; moreover, their judgment is affected by morality and religious point of view (Bloom, and Kirsch, 2016). To be perfect and ideal in the practices of the ruling of a country, it is essential for the rulers to have democracy in a country. Furthermore, the philosophers lack this point of view, they are focused on the ideal state in terms of spirituality and morality, hence are considered as unfit to rule. Therefore, the rulers do not seek the ideal situations but to try to implement the necessary actions to minimize the gaps in the governmental practices (Assets.cambridge.org, 2020). Knowledge and information impact the perception of the philosopher and the ruler and a clear distinction between the two has been highlighted in the Republic by Plato. The point of comparison between the education of philosophers and rulers emphasizes political utopianism. To bring the necessary political change, education is a requirement that must be possessed by the rulers. Plato argues that philosophers meet the criteria of knowledge and education. Hence, by meeting these two very important and ideal criteria, they are already connected with political utopianism.

Ethics is defined as the dilemma faced by the people to act in a certain way where positive and negative effects are included and impact the state of democracy. The rulers possess the means to enhance the governmental level and strive for stable political situations in a state. Ethics include three elements such as human motivation, virtuous motivation, and imperfect virtuous motivation.

Human motivation or ruler’s motivation is to establish a systematic democratic government in a state that will significantly and positively impact a state’s political affairs. Philosophers focus on the importance of the inner motivation that directly shapes the behavior of citizens.

A person makes wiser decisions in relation to political dilemmas when their psychological level is functioning properly, moreover many are the factors that affect the decision-making of a ruler such as current circumstances and situations, and of course external factors related to economic conditions (Besser-Jones, 2012). For the perfectly virtuous motivation, different parts of the soul must be in harmony with each other. Unjust individuals, however, fail to be fair or wise in their decision-making process.

A ruler can experience imperfect virtuous motivation in a political utopianism when the psychological level agrees. The philosophers argue about the unjust level of an individual which affects the decision-making of an individual. Both the intrinsic and extrinsic level of motivation affects the imperfection in the various motivation. The philosophical point of view interprets the traditional values, lifestyle, and predecessor’s values (Annas, 1981).

This essay attempts to elaborate on the statement: “”Since Plato admits in his Republic that it is virtually impossible that rulers will ever be philosophers or philosophers will ever rule, the book is really an attack on political utopianism”. Plato’s Republic admits that it is impossible that philosophers’ qualities distinguish in terms of the motivational claim, rule, education, and ethics. The first part incorporates the introduction of the research statement. The major argument of this essay highlights the key features and important concepts of rulers and philosophers related to political utopianism. By analyzing the concept of political utopianism, it may be argued that the ideal situation of the state is recognized theoretically but it is highly preferred by the philosophers.

The concept of utopia drives the actions of the rulers in a democratic state to significantly impact society and its citizens. Political utopianism, and the theory of an ideal state,

fail to appreciate the autonomy of the political regime and its political system. The philosopher reveals some key points, which influence the ruler’s and the philosopher’s points of view regarding the political governmental system. Four main arguments are outlined in support of the initial statement. These are motivation, ruling notoriously, education, and ethical level. Various ethical factors are discussed in order to further evaluate the motivation determination of philosophers and rulers. The education level influences the individual’s abilities to analyze political situations and to implement the right actions. Ethics played a vital role in making a rational decision. The research aims to identify the philosopher’s point of view and the distinction of the concepts in relation to political utopianism.

References

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