Why Socrates Hated Democracy
Why democracy is not the best form of government according to Socrates
The concept of democracy originated in ancient Greece. It is a word that consists of two words: dēmos ‘people’ and kratos ‘rule’. Most simply explained it is a rule of the people, rather than a select few. But this is all familiar to us.
What may be surprising is that the other child of ancient Greece, philosophy, often criticized the use of democracy as a form of rule.
The most prominent judge of democracy was no other than Socrates, the father of Western philosophy.
Even though we can not imagine a world without democracy and the idea of replacing it is absurd to us, we should still consider the opinions of a man who changed the way of thinking in the Western world.
The ship metaphor
In Platos’ work: The Republic, Socrates was debating Adeimantus on the characteristics of the “ideal state”.
He used the ship metaphor to point out the weak spots of democracy.
He asked the man in question:
Who would you rather have managing a voyage on the sea? Some random passenger, or a well-trained, educated, and experienced captain?
