Plato’s Republic and its Criticism from Will Durant’s Story of Philosophy
I just finished Will Durant’s The Story of Philosophy which is a great introduction to philosophy not only because it simply describes the best ideas of some of the greatest philosophers, it also gives the historical context. You cannot truly grasp how philosophers developed their ideas without the prior knowledge and discovery of the ages influencing their work. In addition, getting a feel for the philosophers’ personality at times shows the essence of their philosophy. This is a great introduction to an intimidating field.
Will Durant also offers the criticism of each philosophy, an invaluable addition to learning these new ideas. Given his first philosopher he writes about is Plato, he offers the criticism to Plato. For us to understand the criticism, I will in the following describe Plato’s work and weak points thus offering the criticism for you to see at first glance.
Plato’s Republic & Criticism
Plato’s great work of philosophy is a series of discourses made into a book called the Republic. These discourses revolve about the ideal way human society — or Ancient Greek society at the time — should be ordered for its most effective use to create a happy and prosperous society. His idea is that of a Utopia.
His main social ordering would be to organize society in three classes: soldiers, merchants and state administrators and all of them would be coordinated by one ruler, the philosopher king. This philosopher king would be the grand organizers to dictate the policies of the nation but a king would also be in place to manage the administrators of the state and more practical affairs. Unlike an aristocracy — part of his political cycle — this aristocratic structure would choose the philosopher king as the best and brightest. As for the social organizations of the other orders, these individuals would be chosen from early childhood based on promise and sent to training to hone either their militaristic, commercial or administrative prowess.
We see a few major hiccups in this utopian state. Who gets to choose who the philosopher king is and what do we mean by the best and brightest? What if the morality of this philosopher king or those who choose this king (or queen) is wrong? Surely the rise and rule of Hitler as the “philosopher king” was perceived by the Nazis as the right king (but was not). Moreover, children are to be separated at early childhood for their position to play in society neglects the role of rearing the parents of the child must play in the development of the child. The family under Plato’s Republic does not exist and arguably, this would be a major mistake the physical and psychological development of humans.
This system also neglects some of the talents individuals can develop to become good at a discipline. If a person suddenly gains an interest and develops skills for another social strata that person is not assigned to, does this system rule this person out regardless or new talents? It would seem that the Republic would foster inefficiencies. The philosopher king will not always be right: every person is plagued by biases and decision-making would be best when other perspectives can be given on issues.
It is said that the administrators along with the philosopher king would yield no economic power; it would rest mainly with the merchants. This seems to be misguided and nonsensical: how can a state rule without some form of economic power. Military power is derived from economic strength. If a state cannot collect taxes or issue bonds, then where does its power, on wishful hopes of the peoples abiding by every word of the state to do the biding of the latter? Merchants with their economic power could easily overthrow the philosopher king and establish an aristocracy or bourgeoisie ruling class with the depths of their pockets. Was is to become of the philosopher king and the administrators?
The Republic in Practice
These are criticism and may appear harsh to a piece of philosophy that whichever faults it may contain, make it noteworthy and foundational to the study of philosophy nevertheless. Perhaps we should evaluate use cases to measure its viability as a social system. Luckily, there was a trial of the Republic.
Will Durant details in his book that Plato, yearning to put his Republic to the test and seeing fertile soils for his philosophical brainchild, went to the king of Syracuse to install a Republic upon the king’s demand. Upon arriving, Plato told the king that he unfornately — if he was truly wishing to establish the Utopian Republic Plato conjured — that he would have to leave his position as king and become the philosopher king of the state, handing over the power and everyday responsibilities of the king to someone else. Displeased and imbued with rage, the king of Syracuse rejected Plato’s demand and sold him off to slavery.
Remember: In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they are not.
