State and The Individual

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of the City

Now, the members of this small group have tasted how sweet and blessed a possession philosophy is, and at the same time they've also seen the madness of the majority and realized, in a word, that hardly anyone acts sanely in public affairs and that there is no ally with whom they might go to the aid of justice and survive, that instead they'd perish before they could profit either their city or their friends and be useless both to themselves and to others, just like a man who has fallen among wild animals and is neither willing to join them in doing injustice nor sufficiently strong to oppose the general savagery alone. Taking all this into account, they lead a quiet life and do their own work. Thus, like someone who takes refuge under a little wall from a storm of dust or hail driven by the wind, the philosopher-seeing others filled with lawlessnessis satisfied if he can depart from it with good hope, blameless and content. Well, that's no small thing for him to have accomplished before departing. But it isn't the greatest either, since he didn't chance upon a constitution that suits him. Under a suitable one, his own growth will be fuller, and he'll save the community as well as himself.-Republic 496e-497a

Socrates says it is easier to examine the nature of justice in a city as it is larger than a soul to observe. Thus he draws an analogy between a city and a soul. Socrates begins to explain the making of a city with regard to different types of people and crafts they need to make an ideal city. Gradually they identify the necessity of education in the city in order to cultivate the required values, spirit and culture in the people of the city. The ideal city will also require a class of people to guard it, the guardians. The guardians must be raised from among the people of the city, by training children by carefully providing them with an education in music and poetry to enrich their souls and physical exercises to strengthen their body. As children’s minds are most malleable, representation of gods in poor images and deplorable acts as heroic acts will distort their souls. Thus, poetry that the children of the city get to hear must be good literature lest they will be made morally degenerate and evil. Hence there must be a censoring of the music and poetry in the ideal city so that no bad literature gets produced and circulated in it.

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Rhizomata, 2021

One puzzling feature of Plato’s Republic is the First City or ‘city of pigs’. Socrates praises the First City as a “true”, “healthy” city, yet Plato abandons it with little explanation. I argue that the problem is not a political failing, as most previous readings have proposed: the First City is a viable political arrangement, where one can live a deeply Socratic lifestyle. But the First City has a psychological corollary, that the soul is simple rather than tripartite. Plato sees this ‘First Soul’ as an inaccurate model of moral psychology, and so rejects it, along with its political analogue.

There are numerous interpretations of Plato's theory of justice as it relates to the ideal state, deeply intertwined with his political philosophy. This complexity makes understanding his interlocking ideas challenging, as he seeks to construct a theory of the ideal state. Plato's philosophy of justice, particularly in its political dimension, emphasizes integration as a fundamental factor in grasping his theory. This paper aims to elucidate the original concept of justice in Plato's state by delving into the roots of the Republic, analyzing its historical context. Plato's predictions reflect values and truths connected to politics and philosophy, emphasizing integration as essential to understanding his theory of justice, which lies at the core of his philosophy. This essay compares the relationship between the functions and class structure of the state. Plato classifies human nature into three components: reason, courage, and appetite, which correspond to three major classes in the state. The ruling class, educated in philosophy, governs the state. The military class, characterized by courage and strength, defends the state, while the professional class manages the everyday affairs of governance. Plato's theory posits functional specialization across all classes as fundamental to his ideal state. In essence, while Plato's imagined city may lack historical existence, it holds significant relevance in the realm of speculative human thought. Keywords: Justice. State. Function. Class. Rulers. Guardians. Producers.

Plato is one of, if not the most influential philosophers to ever exist in our long history, He was a great thinker who shared his knowledge to the educated and non-educated alike through his school he named the Academy. Unlike many thinkers at the time, Plato was born with an Aristocratic background, his father was a descendant of the old kings of Athens and his mother was the sister of a prominent figure in the Athenian oligarchy, so it is safe to say he had a good background. Under normal circumstances, Plato would be expected to continue his family's legacy and strive for a political career however, during his 20's he met an old guy named Socrates who made him his disciple and also thought him a lot of things in life. Socrates was very prominent in Plato's work as he used Socrates to get most of his ideas across. One of Plato's work which shows Socrates was the Apology, This shows what happened during the trial of Socrates for allegedly

Philosophical Remarks on City And Right to the City, 2021

In Plato's Crito, Socrates has an imaginary conversation with the Laws of Athens. Socrates, say the Laws, lived in Athens for seventy years, raised children there, and made no attempt to change its laws. Socrates never left Athens, not even to attend a festival. This tacit acceptance of Athenian law is a strong argument against escaping. Socrates' deep connection to the city is marked in Plato's Phaedrus, where it is remarked that Socrates never leaves the city. Plato's literary representations attempt to create a deep linkage between Socrates and Athens. This depiction, and the argument of the Laws in Crito, is deeply Platonic, but is it Socratic? Variant texts of Plato's Crito suggest that Socrates attended the Isthmian festival. According to other sources, Socrates also visited Samos, and descended to the Piraeus to observe the Thracian festival of Bendis. Socrates relished talking with foreigners, but in the Republic Plato dismisses their ideas on justice. In Republic I Socrates discusses justice with foreigners like the Sicilians Cephalus and Polemarchus, and the Chalcedonian Thrasymachus. Republic I functions like an aporetic Socratic dialogue; in the constructive Republic II, the foreign interlocutors are replaced by Plato's brothers Glaucon and Adeimantus. Plato's dismissal of foreign speakers in favor of those with family and friendship ties to the city, suggests his deep commitment to a bond of citizenship as a prerequisite for political theory. For Socrates, justice seems to be quite abstract and logical; for Plato justice is something that emerges organically from a deep bond of soul and body to the city.

Politics in our daily life: Issues about Democracy and Plato's Ideal Society In our world where power is everything, many people want to grasp what they don't know how to control and how to achieve. We are blinded by the power just like the light from the sun. Thus, making us live an unworthy life. Politics can make individuals Kings or Servants. It drives people to do things-that we must not. Politics controls the society, either bringing a society to flourish or destruction through abusing the power. We may not feel the effect of power in politics, maybe because of our privileged lives, and we might also have the power to live a comfortable life. But many of us can't, and live a miserable life. Not just because they are lazy, and not working hard enough, but because of injustices inside the country we lived in. The abuse of power is the main reason why some of us are living in poverty. And I think this is enough reason for everyone to be concerned and study politics. Throughout history, Politics is a display of power. From Kings and Queens, and Lords and Captains. They can command the entire republic or kingdom for themselves. Thus, they can also bring the kingdom to its destruction. Aside from kings and Queens, the rulers of a Monarchy, Athens reiterate a new kind of politics, they introduce the Democracy. And the