PLATO AND GRECIAN SOCIAL THOUGHT
In turning to a study of Grecian civilization we find a development of
social thought which on the rational side excels in many particulars
the social thinking of the Hebrews, but which in its affective elements
falls far below the quality of Hebrew social thought. We may expect to
find, therefore, in Grecian social thought important new contributions
which are complementary to the legacies from the Hebrews, and which
when taken in conjunction with the early Christian forms of Hebrew
social thought constitute the main foundations of modern social thought.
The thought life of the Greeks reached the crescendo in the idealism of
Plato (427–347 B. C.) and the opportunism of Aristotle (384–322 B. C.).
In an idea-world Plato depicted an ideal society. After studying
158 constitutions, Aristotle formulated rules of practical social
procedure. Plato’s _Republic_ and Aristotle’s _Politics_ are the two
leading source books of Grecian social thought.
Plato and Aristotle were the first two thinkers in history who left
definitely organized analyses of societary life. Although in point of
time they stand close together, in content of social reasoning they
are at many places antagonistic. However, their high rank as thinkers
need not blind anyone to the fact that their social thought was in part
an outgrowth of theories held by predecessors. Antecedent to Plato
was Socrates and the Sophists; antecedent to these scholars was a
large number of thinkers who, incidentally to their main intellectual
efforts, gave expression to isolated but significant social ideas.
As early as the ninth century, B. C., Lycurgus declared that the state
owned the child, and urged a system of education which would prepare
the child for the state. Despite, however, of a similar emphasis by
many later Greek leaders, “Hellas” never developed a genuine national
unity. She experienced a temporary national patriotism only when
attacked by the Persians and at the seasons when the national games
were at their height.
It was Hesiod, the founder of Greek didactic poetry, who about 700
B. C. described the Golden Age and the subsequent ages of society.
Hesiod protested mildly against the social injustice in his time.[V-1]
In the following century, Anaximander, the philosopher, and Theognis,
the elegiac poet,[V-2] discussed the value to society of providing that
children should be well born and well trained--the fundamental concepts
of current eugenics and euthenics.
Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, about 590 B. C., began to put into
legislative practice certain ideas of social reform, thereby preventing
revolution. At that time it was customary to sell persons into slavery
who could not pay their debts--a procedure which Solon ended. The cost
of living was very high, consequently Solon forbade the export of food
products and thereby reduced prices for the consumer. He introduced
a measure which today would be considered revolutionary, namely, the
limiting of the amount of land which an individual might hold. For
the classification of people on the basis of wealth, he substituted
a classification on the basis of income. He lessened the severity of
the laws of Draco, and in other ways increased the freedom of the
individual. Although Solon’s régime was followed by a tyranny, Solon is
credited with initiating certain essential ideas of democracy.
After the Tyrants, Athens under the leadership of men like Cleisthenes
became “a pure democracy.” Cleisthenes democratized the Athenian
Constitution. For the four phylae he substituted ten phylae, or
units of government, thus securing a new and better distribution
of authority. He is credited with introducing ostracism as a mode
of punishment; he, it is alleged, was the first individual to be
ostracised by his government.
The fifth century precursors of Plato and Aristotle were numerous.
Aeschylus (525–456 B. C.), the first of the famous Athenian tragic
poets, described in general terms the evolution of civilized
society.[V-3] The artistic historian, Herodotus, developed through his
imagination a world point of view. From an almost unlimited store of
legendary and ethnological materials, he elaborated a planetary theme
which had its beginning in the Trojan War and its culmination in the
conflict between Eastern and Western civilizations. The basic social
principle in the writings of Herodotus is that downfall awaits the
insolent autocrats of earth. Herodotus describes the customs and habits
of the peoples[V-4] whom he visited on his numerous foreign travels
in such a detailed and elaborate fashion that he has been styled the
world’s first descriptive sociologist.
Pericles (495?-429 B. C.), perhaps the greatest statesman of Greece,
furthered the cause of democracy. His conception of democracy led
him to make the entire body of citizens eligible to office-holding.
Pericles initiated a social program which in certain aspects was
paternalistic. He instituted the plan of granting allowances for
performing public duties. As a result, unselfish public service was
minimized and political morale was weakened. Pericles was led into this
error[V-5] by the desire to compete for public esteem with Cimon, who
made extensive gifts to the poor in the form of dinners and clothes.
In his tragedies, Euripides (480–406 B. C.), aroused interest in the
experiences, not of legendary characters as many of his predecessors
had done, but of the ordinary members of Athenian society. He was a
spokesman for the emancipation of woman;[V-6] his writings reveal the
social changes that were occurring in the fifth century in Athens.
Likewise, the comedies of Aristophanes reflected social changes, and,
in addition, caricatured social conditions.
Hippocrates, the so-called father of medical science, wrote several
works which attracted the studious attention of Plato. He gave as
the first of two chief causes of disease, the influence of climate,
seasons, weather on the individual.[V-7] He might be called the
first anthropo-geographer. At any rate he opened the field which has
recently been so well covered by Ellen C. Semple in her _Influences of
Geographic Environment_.
By their disconcerting and sceptical teachings the Sophists, who
also lived in the fifty century, B. C., stimulated the intellectual
activities of Socrates. The influence of the Sophist leaders, such
as Protagoras, Gorgas, Callicles, Thrasymachus, brought forward the
problem of training pupils to solve civic questions rather than
scientific or philosophical questions. According to Plato, Callicles
believed that government was an instrument for exploiting the masses.
Thrasymachus argued that so-called justice is that type of activity
which favors the interest of the strongest members of society, and
that might determines what is called right.[V-8] Epaminondas, the
Theban statesman, personified in his own career an unusually high
interpretation of the concept of patriotism, perhaps a more unselfish
expression of patriotism than is represented by any other political
spokesman of the Hellenic states.
The argument of the Sophists that what is best for the individual is
best for society aroused the antagonism of Socrates (469–399 B. C.),
whose ideas are reported by Plato and Xenophon. Socrates, the son of
an Athenian sculptor, asserted that the qualities of justice, wisdom,
temperance, and courage, which make a person a good member of society
and which increase social welfare, are the same qualities which make
a person a good individual and secure his individual advancement.
Socrates spent many years at the market places, on the streets where
people congregate and at the public resorts in studying the actions of
individuals and in engaging them in conversation concerning their moral
life. As a result Socrates evolved a significant social philosophy.
The heart of this philosophy is found in the statements that virtue is
knowledge, not in the sense of mere memorized facts but of a thorough
understanding. If a person understands completely the good and evil
phases of a proposed act, he will choose the right. For example, when
one is completely convinced of the harmful effects of poor teeth, he
will employ the regular services of a dentist to keep his teeth in good
condition. When he perceives the evil effects of dishonesty, he will
establish honest habits. The conclusion might be drawn that social
virtue rests upon societary knowledge.
Socrates was convinced that something was fundamentally wrong with
Athenian society. Everywhere he saw that ignorance led to vice. Only
in the mechanical and professional activities did he discover correct
action, but this was preceded by correct knowledge.[V-9]
A good carpenter is an individual who thoroughly understands carpentry;
a good man is an individual who truly knows the value of good actions.
Similarly, it might be said that a good urban resident is an individual
who deeply appreciates what it means to have a city of mutually
developing people.
Socrates wished to make all men intelligent. His teachings raised the
deep-seated social question: How can social organization be made highly
advantageous to the individual, and the individual made so aware of
these advantages that he will always act socially?[V-10] Inasmuch as
Socrates left no writings, it is impossible to explain with certainty
his teachings. Fortunately, he left a permanent impress of his
personality on the lives of his associates, and particularly, upon his
able and brilliant pupil, Plato.
In the fundamental dictum that virtue is knowledge, Socrates is
theoretically correct, but practically he ignores the overpowering
influence that oftentimes is exerted by the instincts and established
habits. He underestimates the power that is represented by a deeply
ingrained instinct or a habit which has existed for several years.
Instincts and nearly all habits are firmly established neurologically,
whereas knowledge is often new to the individual and merely a veneer on
the surface of the individual’s life. The acquisition of knowledge is
no guarantee that instincts centuries old will be promptly overcome or
re-directed.
Furthermore, with a young child the instinctive tendencies begin to
assert themselves and to give direction to the growth of the character
of the child, long before his mentality has unfolded and developed
to the point where he is capable of genuinely understanding the real
meaning of many forms of activity, and where many phases of knowledge
are entirely beyond his ability to comprehend.
Little is known concerning Plato’s early life and training. The most
influential factors were the life and teachings of Socrates. The strong
Socratic personality left its indelible impress upon the thought-life
of Plato. As a young man, Plato became greatly interested in Athenian
social and civic life. When he was perhaps twenty-three years of age,
the self-styled “Fair and Good” rulers came into control of Athens. The
failure of these men, whom history calls the Thirty Tyrants, to govern
wisely, produced an attitude of thorough disgust in the mind of Plato.
Further, the legalized murder of Socrates by the restored democracy in
399 B. C. aroused the bitter antagonism of Plato to the existing forms
of government. In the years which followed the death of Socrates,
popular rule produced loose and licentious social conditions. As a
consequence, Plato turned to the realms of the thought world in order
to find a perfect society. As a result of his contact with every-day
life and government, Plato evolved in his mind an ideal republic.
The Socratic principle that virtue is knowledge was accepted by Plato.
In Plato’s thinking this proposition led to the generalization that
education is the most important thing in the world. Upon this doctrine
more than any other, Plato’s twentieth century influence thrives.
What shall be the nature of a world-molding education? Theoretically,
Plato gives his answer in his epistemology. Ideas are the ruling forces
in life. Over against the uncertain fluctuating sense world, Plato set
up a realm of eternal, changeless ideas. An individual man is simply an
ephemeral expression of Man. Plato created a concept of unchangeable
reality which he found in Ideas. These, alone, are the permanent,
worth-while elements which man must seek to know and understand.
Because of his aristocratic attitudes and of his early disgust with
the experiments in democracy in his day, Plato turned away in his
social philosophy from the direct study of the people, such as had
engaged the attention of Socrates, to a search for a just society in
the world of ideas. This line of thinking found expression chiefly in
the _Republic_, written during Plato’s mature manhood. A discussion of
these idealistic concepts is found in the _Laws_ and the _Politicus_,
the latter being written in Plato’s old age and representing a
partial reaction from the idealism of the _Republic_. Because of its
consideration of nearly every aspect of social life from a specific
viewpoint, the _Republic_ may be called the first treatise in social
philosophy. While it falls below the social writings of the Hebrews
in its dynamic and practical phases, it excels them in its unity, its
profundity, and its philosophic quality.
Inasmuch as Plato had turned away from an inviting though strenuous
public career to a private life of scholarly thought, his perfect
society assumed characteristics that were far from mundane. Because
Plato lived in a day of small political groups and in a country of
limited size, he limited his ideal society--to a group represented by
5040 heads of families. Consequently it is impossible to apply Plato’s
social ideas with accuracy to a modern metropolitan center of 5,000,000
people, or to a nation-state of 100,000,000 people. Several phases of
Plato’s thought, however, were given a practical turn in the _Laws_. In
revealing Plato’s social philosophy, the _Politicus_, or _Statesman_
ranks third.[V-12]
In Plato’s ideal society there is a hierarchy of rank, which
includes three classes of people: the rulers, or true guardians; the
soldiers, or auxiliaries; and the artisans, or the industrial and
agricultural workers. In introducing the ideal state Plato uses mature
individuals.[V-13] Out of the needs and through the activities of
fully-developed persons, Plato builds an ideal commonwealth.
No individual is self-sufficing. Each has his peculiar bias, or
ability. By uniting, all will profit. There are not only specialized
classes, but there is specialization within the occupational groups.
An essential rule for the building of a just society is that each
individual shall find his place in the social order and shall fulfil
his special function. Plato recognized the need for correlating the
diversities of nature and the different types of occupation.[V-14]
The common people are engaged in the foundational occupations as
skilled artisans. The advantages of a special education are not open to
them. They receive the common education, including gymnastic and music
training. But, in accordance with the aristocratic strain in Plato’s
social philosophy, it is useless to try to give a higher education to
that large proportion of the population who are mentally incapable of
profiting by higher education. The logic is good but the major premise
is faulty in this pedagogical rule.
The second class, the soldiers, will maintain order at home, repel
invaders, and conduct territorial wars. The growth of population will
create a demand for more territory. Other states likewise will need
more territory, and war will become inevitable.[V-15] Plato frankly
admits the territorial basis of wars. From this factor he sees no
escape, although he declares peace to be better than war.[V-16] In his
_Tamias_ and _Critias_ he pictured a peace-state, “Atlantis.”
The soldier’s occupation is an art which requires years of training.
The chief physical trait of a true soldier is courage. The social
psychological significance of a military régime is that soldiers
are continually inciting their country to go to war. Such a régime
raises up enemies against itself, many and mighty, and results
either in ruining the specific people or in enslaving the foes of
these people.[V-17] On the other hand, the non-soldier classes,
since they prefer to lead a peaceful life and seek to conduct their
affairs quietly, unduly endeavor to avoid war. By degrees they become
unwarlike; their children develop a like attitude. Eventually, they
find themselves at the mercy of their enemies and are enslaved.[V-18]
Among the members of the state there will be a few especially able
individuals, destined by birth and reinforced by training to be rulers
and true guardians of the welfare of all.[V-19] They are lovers
of wisdom and philosophy. Flabbiness of character, drunkenness,
selfishness are unbecoming to them.[V-20] Selfish living is
condemned.[V-21] The guardians are characterized, according to Plato,
by the greatest eagerness to do what is for the good of their country.
They show utter repugnance to anything that is contrary to the best
interests of the state.[V-22]
The guardians, however, rule aristocratically.[V-23] They do not
inquire of the citizens the kind of laws which they want passed, for
the same reason that a physician does not ask the patient the kind of
medicine which he wants. In the _Republic_, the _Laws_, and the other
dialogues where the nature of rulers and philosophers is discussed,
Plato’s “best men” show an indifference to earthly or material things
and uniformly seek righteousness, even social righteousness.
The candidates for guardianship receive first the elements of
education. At twenty years of age they must pass a general education in
order that they may go on with a special course, including arithmetic,
geometry, and astronomy.[V-24] At thirty they are subjected to a
further examination, after which the successful individuals devote
five years to the study of philosophy. At thirty-five they enter
practical life, hold minor offices, balance their theoretical training
by practical studies, and submit to diverse temptations.[V-25] They
undergo a civil service examination which extends over a period of
years. At the close they are subjected to a final series of three-fold
tests. The first test is that of logic; they must argue successfully
that it pays an individual, especially a guardian, to serve society.
The second test is that of fear; they are faced with dangers, for
example, the dangers to life, which beset those who undertake to
rule without favoritism and without compromising their principles
when confronted with the ambitions and desires of powerful selfish
interests. The third test is that of pleasure; they are submitted
to all the pleasures which thrill the heart of man. In other words,
they must show proof that the highest interest of the state is to be
the ruling interest of their lives.[V-26] Neither pain nor threats
must affect their loyalty. The temptations which come from pleasures
and enchantments must not disturb their self-control or weaken their
qualities of guardianship. From these requirements it will be seen that
Plato provided for a long period of intensive and extensive training
for the rulers. His idea varied widely from the ancient theory of the
divine right of kings and from the current practice of distributing
political spoils to friends.
Plato saw that the rulers when once selected and installed in office
would be tempted to become avaricious at the expense of the state.
Instead of becoming and remaining allied to all the citizens, they
will be prone to become tyrannical.[V-27] Plato perceived that it
would be difficult, after good rulers had been selected, to keep them
on the plane of good rulership. In order to preserve their virtue as
guardians and to remove the powerful temptation to wink at exploitation
that is carried on by the economically powerful, Plato indicated
certain protective devices. The guardians shall be permitted no private
property beyond a few incidentals. They shall not live in private
houses, but shall dwell and eat together. They shall receive a fixed
salary, sufficient to meet necessary expenses but no more. They shall
not be allowed to touch gold and silver or to wear gold and silver
ornaments. They shall be taught that they are made of divine gold and
silver, and therefore shall have no need of the earthly dross. They
shall not be subject to pollution from any earthly contacts. If the
guardians should acquire lands or moneys or homes of their own, they
would be unable to give their undivided attention to the state, and
they would become not guardians of the welfare of the citizens, but
tyrants, plotting and being plotted against.[V-28] In his zealous care
that the rulers might not be distracted from guarding with undivided
attention the interests of the state, Plato advocated community of
wives and children for the rulers.[V-29]
The question arose: Will the people be content to accept the division
of the population into hierarchal classes? In reply, Plato suggested
that the power of public opinion be utilized, and that all the
inhabitants of the state be taught that they are brothers, that is,
children of their common Mother Earth. This instruction will serve to
keep the masses in a humble attitude. Further, they are to be told that
different metals have been used by Mother Earth in making different
individuals. Those persons in whose make-up gold has been mingled have
the power of command and may become rulers. Others who are made of
silver may become auxiliaries, or soldiers; while the masses, being
made of brass and iron, are destined to become artisans.[V-30]
The objection is raised that people will not believe this “audacious
fiction.” The truth of the objection is admitted, and a solution of the
problem is offered. Teach the children the gold, silver, brass and iron
fiction; and they will believe it. When they grow to maturity, they
will tell their children, who in turn will teach it. Posterity, thus,
will accept it.[V-31] In this way Plato founded his social philosophy
upon education. Plato made clear that any kind of social or economic
theory can be foisted upon a whole people through the utilization of
the educational processes. A few selfish exploiters, by controlling the
educational system, can ruin a nation in a generation.
The guardians are instructed to examine the children in order to
discover of what metals they are made. Plato admitted a democracy of
talent in the sense that talent is likely to appear in the children
of brass and iron parents, while gold parents may beget brass and
iron children. If a gold child is found among the children of the
artisans, he is to be encouraged and trained to become a guardian.
If a brass and iron child is found among the children of the gold
parents, he must descend the social scale and be trained for husbandry
or artisanship.[V-32] Plato foresaw the fact, now scientifically
established, that geniuses are born indiscriminately among all classes
of society from the highest to the lowest. They are just as likely
to be born in the hovel or overcrowded tenement as in the spacious
and luxuriant palace. Consequently, society should seek out potential
genius and give it opportunities commensurate with its possibilities
and not allow its dynamic and divine spark to be snuffed out in a
heavy-laden tenement atmosphere.
Furthermore, according to Plato, the guardians are to seek out the
imperfect children and put them out of the way as easily as possible
and without attracting public attention.[V-33] If the capable must
devote their energies to the care of imperfect children, they would
presumably be wasting their ability and would be prevented from
devoting themselves to upbuilding the state. This doctrine neglects
the consideration of the harsh, unsympathetic attitude which it would
engender. Although rigorously eugenic, the doctrine is undemocratic,
unchivalric, and unChristian. It is thoroughly aristocratic.
The guardians are to supervise marriage. Plato especially deplores
the fact that almost all persons choose their life-partners in
marriage without proper regard to the kind of children that will be
procreated.[V-34] The marriage relationship should not be primarily
an individual affair, but should be governed by the thought of the
children that are not yet born and by due regard to the welfare of the
state and society.[V-35] The true purpose of marriage is not found in
wealth or power or rank, but in the procreation of healthy minded
children. Marriage is sacred in the highest degree because it is
socially necessary. Plato deplores class marriages, that is, marriage
within temperamentally similar groups. Persons of gentle nature seek
persons of gentle nature; the courageous seek the courageous. It would
be better if the gentle would seek the courageous in marriage, and
vice versa.[V-36] Marriage is sacred, and hence should be subjected to
strict eugenic safeguards.
The guardians shall prevent the extremes of poverty and riches.
With far-sighted social wisdom Plato points out that poverty is the
parent of meanness and viciousness, and that wealth leads to luxury
and indolence.[V-37] Both result in discontent and both cause the
deterioration of the arts. The poor man cannot properly equip or train
himself, or enter into his work painstakingly; the rich man will grow
careless and no longer act diligently when he comes into the possession
of unlimited wealth.[V-38]
In the acquisition of wealth the laws of imitation function powerfully.
One person accumulates property; others are immediately stimulated to
do likewise. In consequence, all the citizens may become lovers of
money.[V-39] But a money-loving public would be disastrous to the state.
The larger the amount of wealth that an individual accumulates, the
more he will want to accumulate. The momentum of the desire for
money-getting is socially destructive. The more the individual is
hypnotised by the wealth-getting delusion, the less attention does he
give to the maintenance of virtue. When the desire for virtue is in
competition with the desire for riches, the former decreases as the
latter increases.[V-40]
When the state becomes established on a property basis, the rich
exercise power and the poor are deprived of it.[V-41] In ordinary
times the rich are as indifferent to the welfare of the poor as to
the development of virtue, but in times of group crises they will not
despise the poor. In the days of prosperity and peace the poor man is
given the hindmost position, but when war comes, “the wiry, sunburnt
poor man” is placed in battle at the side of the wealthy man[V-42]--and
social democracy obtains. But in battle the poor man fights longer
and better than the rich man “who has never spoilt his complexion and
has plenty of superfluous flesh.” In the words of the poor man Plato
draws the astounding conclusion that many persons are rich because no
one has had the courage to despoil them.[V-43] At this point Plato has
given a striking explanation of the rise of socialism, syndicalism, and
economic radicalism.
When you see paupers, according to Plato, you may safely conclude that
somewhere there are also present thieves, robbers of temples, and
malefactors.[V-44] The causes of pauperism are given as (1) a lack of
proper education, (2) ill-training, and (3) unjust social laws and an
unjust constitution of the state.[V-45]
Plato suggested two instruments for preventing extreme wealth and
poverty--legislation and education. Each individual is to be guaranteed
a minimum amount of property. He may acquire as much as four times
this amount, but above the maximum a one hundred per cent excess tax
operates.[V-46] Plato planned a form of communism, not primarily to
secure the material well-being of the state, but to safeguard the
rulers against falling before selfish temptations. Plato also wanted to
protect the state from splitting asunder because of the distractions
that arise from labor-capital controversies. By educational means the
children are to be trained to be satisfied with the necessaries of
life[V-47]--at least some children are to be so trained. Parents should
bequeath to their children not riches but the spirit of reverence.[V-48]
The guardians shall be censors. They shall establish a censorship over
the arts in order to protect the children from seeing indecent sights
and hearing vulgar sounds. The works of fiction shall be censored in
order to prevent the children from reading and adopting bad ideas. The
creative artists shall be prevented from exhibiting forms of vice and
intemperance, in order that the future guardians may not grow up in an
atmosphere contaminated by images of moral deformity, and in order that
all children may develop in an environment of fair sights and should
and may receive unhindered and unhampered the good in everything.[V-49]
The guardians shall protect the _mores_. When Plato described a
perfect state, any change in the established customs would mean
retrogression.[V-50] Hence, the rulers should jealously guard the
customs, allowing no insidious innovations. Further, if any change is
permitted to take place in small things, there may be no stopping the
spirit of change.
Plato rested his argument for an ideal society upon the education of
wise leaders. Their judgment is better even than government by law.
Law is too rigid and inflexible. In view of the changeable character
of human conditions, which Plato recognized, no final or absolute laws
can be laid down.[V-51] The chief advantage of laws, however, is not
that they make men honest but that they make men act uniformly, and
hence in a socially reliable way. Laws are to be respected because they
represent the ripe fruits of long experience.[V-52]
Considerable attention is given to penology in the _Laws_.[V-53] In
view of the sanctity of custom and of the necessity of law, obedience
is a highly important social virtue. In theory Plato is modern and
scientific, for he advocated punishment, not as a vindictive but as
a preventive and reformatory measure.[V-54] Reformation is the true
aim of punishment.[V-55] In practice Plato is rigid and harsh. For
example, beggars are simply to be sent out of the city and out of the
country.[V-56] The death penalty is utilized freely.[V-57]
Plato opened all occupations to women as well as men, even the highest,
that of ruling.[V-58] The only difference between the sexes that needs
to be recognized occupationally is that men are stronger physically
than women.[V-59] Women, like men, vary in occupational temperament.
One individual is fitted for one kind of vocation; another, for some
other type of work.
Although the fundamental importance of bearing children is appreciated,
Plato observed that it is unnecessary that a woman devote her whole
life to the rearing of children. All women should have opportunities
for the development of their personalities. Those women who have
special talent for public service should enter thereupon. Although
a social conservative Plato admits an innovation in the ideal
republic--universal woman suffrage.
Since women have the same duties as men, they receive the same
opportunities for training. Women must share in the toils of war and
the defense of their country.[V-60] Women are priestesses;[V-61] they
serve on committees for the regulation of marriage, and for deciding
divorce cases.[V-62]
Although Plato was averse to change, he advocated a dynamic type of
education. This educational system, however, is to be definitely
controlled by the guardians. It is also paternalistic. Common education
shall be of two kinds: gymnastic, for the body; music, for the
soul.[V-63] Gymnastic training will produce a temper of hardness, and
music will lead to gentleness. The extreme of the one is ferocity and
brutality; the extreme of the other is softness and effeminacy.[V-64]
When taken together, they produce a well-ordered personality. The one
sustains and makes bold the reason, the second moderates and civilizes
the mildness of passion.[V-65] Gymnastic exercises provide for the
care and training of the body through childhood and youth so that in
maturity the body may best serve the soul.[V-66] Music, including
literature, trains through the influence of its qualities of harmony
and rhythm. For example, through exercises in harmony the child
develops a harmonious temperament.
Education is not a process of acquisition, but of the development of
the powers within the individual.[V-67] It is a life-long process;
it begins with birth and continues until death. It, however, slows
up as the individual grows old. An aged person cannot learn much, no
more than he can run much.[V-68] Education in the early years of life
is the most important. As a child is educated, so will his future
be determined.[V-69] A child should be taught early to respect his
parents. Great care should be given to the first years of life. From
three to six years of age the children in Plato’s republic come under
the supervision of chosen matrons and nurses.
Education shall be universal, but not compulsory, that is, all shall
be taught, but not compelled to learn. Education shall be made
attractive, almost a form of government.[V-70] The laws of imitation
shall be utilized. The tutor shall carry out his teachings in
practice.[V-71]
A well-trained individual is a replica of a just society. Plato draws
a parallelism, which is inaccurate, between the three classes in
society and three traits of the individual. The rulers, soldiers, and
artisans are compared respectively to the reason, the spirit, and the
passions of the individual. The passions must be subordinated to the
spirit, and both must be controlled by reason. The result will be a
just individual.[V-72] In society a similar hierarchal relation shall
hold between the rulers, soldiers, and artisans. The fundamental aim
in education shall be to secure a change in the attitudes of people.
Such changes are more important than modification in external matters.
Thus, according to Plato, the divine foundations of a state are laid in
education.
Religion plays a basic rôle in the ideal Republic. Plato held that
belief in God superseded in importance the doctrine that might is
right. Impiety undermines the strength of the social kingdom. God
created the individual for the whole, but not the whole for the
individual. The worship of God is necessary for the individual in
order to prevent him from reverting to selfishness and from making his
humanitarian beliefs purely egoistic phenomena.
Inasmuch as Plato outlined at the start a perfect republic, any change
would likely constitute a deterioration. But even an ideal state is not
immune to the entry of destructive ideas. The wise men, the rulers,
are not proof against the temptations of absolute power. To remove
the stirrings of self-interest in the minds of the guardians, Plato
planned a communistic order. He overlooked, however, the weaknesses of
communism, but these were pointed out at a later time by Aristotle.
In spite of excellent safeguards the wisdom of the best rulers will
occasionally fail them. Sooner or later they will err. In examining
the youth they will allow warrior youth to be trained for the guardian
class. With their spirit of contention and of ambition for honor these
adventitious guardians will start the perfect state upon the downward
road.[V-74] When the rulers seek personal power and honor, the ideal
republic will be superseded by a timocracy.
In a timocracy the ruler with the most private wealth will possess the
greatest personal power and receive the highest honor. Moreover, other
persons will be stimulated, thereby, to acquire wealth and power. In
the meantime the masses will lose nearly everything. The result is an
oligarchy in which the wealthy are honored and made rulers.[V-75] The
poor are treated with dishonor and deprived of position.
In such an oligarchic state there is a fundamental division; there are
two states instead of one. In spirit, the rich and the poor comprise
separate states. They live in the same territory but are conspiring
against one another.[V-76] Social stability is destroyed by the
conflicts between the extremes of countless riches and utter poverty.
The propertyless hate and conspire against the propertied.[V-77] Civil
war ensues. Because the wealthy have fallen into carelessness and
extravagance, and because the poor possess superior numbers, the poor
are the victors. A democracy--the rule of the Demos--comes into being.
Everyone rules.
But the populace is not fitted to rule. They are without experience.
Since the drones are numerous among the common people, the drones
manage almost everything in a democracy.[V-78] Excess of liberty
among people untrained for liberty leads to anarchy. Individuals will
set themselves up as the special friends of the common people. These
self-appointed friends of the people will prove to be self-seeking
tyrants; the democracy will be transformed into a tyranny--the lowest
state of all in Plato’s five-fold devolution.
With distrust of the masses and with a paternalistic government, Plato
coupled a belief that the individual must participate in the life of
society. Social justice does not consist in doing good to one’s friends
and ill to one’s enemies, or in catering to the interests of the most
powerful. The theory that might is right is repudiated.[V-79] A just
society is one in which every person has found his place of greatest
usefulness to the state and fulfils his entire obligations in that
place. On the whole Plato exhibited an impassioned faith in the moral
and social order.
Plato believed that Ideas are real and that they are the tools with
which the world is made over. He perceived perfect Forms, even a
perfect social Form. Through intellectual control, Plato planned a new
social order.