Republic (Plato)

This article is about Plato's dialogue named "The Republic", for Cicero's dialogue with the same name see De re publica.

Plato.

The Republic is perhaps the most influential treatise of political science ever written. Plato finished it around 390 BC 4th century BC. The dialogue concerns what is called philosophia peri ta anthropina (philosophy of the human things) and it encompasses the areas of economics, political sociology, political philosophy, ethics, justice and knowledge. The political ideas are presented through a paradigm of the good city which is the ground of a manifold of historical city-states differing in grade and declining in quality from its origin. Plato's conclusion is that the ideal community is ruled by philosophers. It is one of the cornerstones of Western philosophy.

The original title of the work is the Greek word politeia. "The Republic", which is the standard English translation of the title, is somewhat a misnomer, taken from Cicero; it could be named Citizenship.

Setting and dramatis personae

The Republic is one of Plato's longest dialogues, subdivided in 10 books for editorial reasons but more consistently in 12 sections preceded by a prologue and followed by an epilogue.

The main characters in The Republic are:

• Socrates
• Glaucon
• Adeimantus
• Minor roles for Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus and his friend Cleitophon
• Silent roles for Lysias and Euthydemus (both sons of Cephalus), the brothers of Polemarchus and Charmantides.

The scene of the dialogue is the house of Cephalus at Piraeus, a city-port beyond the walls of ancient Athens; it was the port of entry and exit for trade into Athens. Socrates was not known to venture outside of Athens regularly. The whole dialogue is narrated by Socrates the day after it actually took place, to Timaeus, Hermocrates, and Critias, among others.

Content

The Republic has a considerable length, articulated by dramatic scenes, and main topics of discussion well established by Francis Cornford, Kurt Hildebrandt and Eric Voegelin. Among them, they established the subdivisions marked by special formulae in Greek. One can refer to passages of the Republic by the Books, Chapters, and Stephanus pages of the manuscript and printing tradition.

Organization of the Republic

Prologue

(1) I.1 327a—328b. Descent to the Piraeus

(2) I.2—I.5. 328b—331d. Cephalus. Justice of the Older Generation

(3) I.6—1.9. 331e—336a. Polemarchus. Justice of the Middle Generation

(4) I.10—1.24. 336b—354c. Thrasymachus. Justice of the Sophist

Introduction

(I) II.1—II.10. 357a—369b. The Question: Is Justice Better than Injustice?

(1) II.11—II.16. 369b—376e. Genesis of the Polis

(2) II.1—III.18. 376e—412b. Education of the Guardians

(3) III.I9—IV.5. 412b—427c. Constitution of the Polis

(4) IV.6—IV.I9. 427c—445e. Justice in the Polis

(1) V.1—V.i6. 449a—471c. Somatic Unit of Polis and Hellenes

(2) V.17—VI.I4- 471c—502c. Rule of the Philosophers

(3) VI.19—VII.5. 502c—521c. The Idea of the Agathon

(4) VII.6—VII.18. 521c—541b. Education of the Philosophers

(1) VIII.1—VIII.5. 543a—550c. Timocracy

(2) VIII.6—VIII.9. 550c—555b. Oligarchy

(3) VIII.10—VIII.13. 555b—562a. Democracy

(4) VIII.I4—IX-3. 562a—576b. Tyranny

Conclusion

IX-4—IX.13. 576b—592b Answer: Justice is Better than Injustice

Epilogue

X.1—X.8. 595a—608b. Rejection of Mimetic Art

X-9—X.11. 608c—612a. Immortality of the Soul

X. 12 612a—613e. Rewards of Justice in Life

X.I3—X,16. 613e—631d. Judgment of the Dead

(1) The paradigm of the city - the idea of the Good, of the Agathon - has for Plato a manifold of historical embodiments. The embodiment must be undertaken by those who have seen the Agathon and are ordered through the vision. Hence, in the centre piece of the Republic, Part II, 2-3, Plato deals with the rule of the philosopher and the vision of the Agathon in the famous allegory of the cave, with which Plato clarifies his theory of forms.

(2) That center piece is preceded and followed by the discussion of the means that will secure a well-ordered polis. Part II, 1 deals with marriage, the comunity of people and goods for the guardians, and the restraints on warfare among the Hellenes. It has wrongly being described has a comunistic utopia, a word that is not even extant in classical Greek. Part II, 4 deals with the philosophical education of the rulers who will preserve the order.

(3) The central Part II, the Embodiment of the Idea, is preceded by the building of economic and social of order for a polis in Part I; and is followed by an analysis in Part III, of the decline through which the right order will have to pass. The three parts form the main body of the dialogue, with their discussion of paradigm , its embodiment, its genesis, and its decline.

(4) That main body is framed by an Introduction and a Conclusion. The discussion of right order was occasioned by a question whether justice is better than in justice, or whether unjust man will not fare better than the just man. The introductory question is balanced by the concluding answer that justice is preferable to injustice.

(5) The main body of the dialogue, together with its Introduction and Conclusion, finally, is framed by the Prologue of Book I and the Epilogue of Book X. The prologue is a short dialogue in itself and it portrays the common opinions doxai about justice. The Epilogue is not grounded on reason but on faith. It describes the new arts and the immortality of the soul.

Others divisions of The Republic are somewhat amateurish as they do not take into account the Greek text. Bertrand Russell sees three parts in Plato's Republic Template:Fn:

• Book I-V: the Utopia part, portraying the ideal community, starting from an attempt to define justice;
• Book VI-VII: since philosophers are seen as the ideal rulers of such community, this part of the text concentrates on defining what a philosopher is;
• Book VIII-X: discusses several practical forms of government, their pros and cons.

The core of the second part is discussed in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, and articles related to Plato's theory of (ideal) forms. The third part, concentrating also on education, is also strongly related to Plato's dialogue The Laws - see Laws (Plato) It influenced the

Definition of justice

The question with which The Republic sets out is to define justice. Given the difficulty of this task, Socrates and his interlocutors are led into a discussion of justice in the city, which they see as the same as justice in the person, but on a grander (and therefore easier to discuss) scale. Because of this, some critics (such as Julia Annas) interpret Plato's paradigm of a just state as an allegory for the paradigm of the just person.

Justice is defined as a state where everyone is to do their own work while not interfering with the work of others. This conception of justice, striking to the modern reader, is closely linked to the Greek conception of dike, the just order. This definition of justice leads to a social structure radically different from most previous and subsequent states.

The form of government

Socrates points out the human tendency to corruption by power and thus the road from timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny: ruling should be left to educated people whose only purpose is to govern in what is deemed a just manner, and who are somehow immune to corruption. That "good city" is depicted as being governed by philosopher-kings; disinterested persons who rule not for their personal enjoyment but for the good of the city-state (polis). The paradigmatic society which stands behind every historical society is hierarchical, but social classes have a marginal permeability; there arte no slaveasm no castes no discrimination between men and women. In addition to the ruling class of guardians phulakoi which abolished riches there is a class of private producers demiourgoi be they rich or poor. A number of provisions aim to avoid making the people weak: the substitution of debilitating music, poetry and theatre by an universal educational system, for men and women, a startling departure from Greek society. These provisions apply to all classes, and the restrictions placed on the philosopher-kings and the warriors are much more severe than those placed on the producers, because the rulers must be kept away from any source of corruption.

In PART II of the Republic the abolishment of riches among the guardian class not unlike Max Weber's burocracy leads controversially to the abandonment of the typical family, and as such no child may know his or her parents and the parents may not know their own children. Socrates tells a tale which is the "allegory of the good government". No nepotism, no private goods. The rulers assemble couples for reproduction, based on breeding criteria. Thus, stable population is achieved through eugenism and social cohesion is projected to be high because familiar links are extended towards everyone in the City. Also the education of the youth is such that they are taught of only works of writing that encourage them to improve themselves for the state's good, and envision (the) god(s) as entirely good, just, and the author(s) of only that which is good.

In Part III of The Republic stand Plato's criticism of the forms of government. It begins with the dismissal of timocracy, a sort of authotitarian regime, not unlike a South American military dictatorship. Plato offers a psychoanalytical explanation of the "timocrat" as one who saw his father humiliated by his mother and wants to vindicate "manliness". The third worst regime is oligarchy, the rule of a small band of rich people, millionaires that only respect money. Then comes the democratic form of government, and its susceptibility to being ruled by unfit "sectarians" demagogued. Finally the worst regime is tyranny, where the whimsical desires of the ruler became law and there is no check upon arbitrariness.

Theory of universals

The Republic contains Plato's Allegory of the cave with which he explains his concept of The Forms as an answer to the problem of universals.

The 'Just City in Speech'

The German-born American political theorist, Leo Strauss, sees a four-part structure of the dialogue: he looks at the entire dialogue as a drama played out between particular characters, each with particular points of view and levels of comprehension:

• Book I: Socrates is compelled by force to Cephalus's home. Three definitions of justice are presented, and all three are found lacking.
• Books II-V: Socrates is challenged by Glaucon and Adeimantus to prove why a perfectly just person, who is seen by the entire world as unjust, would be happier than the perfectly unjust person, who hides his injustice from view and is seen by the entire world as just. This stark challenge is the engine and drive of the dialogue; it is only with this 'charge' that we begin to witness how Socrates actually conducted himself with the young men of Athens he was convicted of corrupting. Because a definition of justice is assumed by Glaucon and Adeimantus, Socrates makes a detour; he forces the group to try to uncover justice, and then to answer the question posed to him about the intrinsic value of the just life.
• Books V-VI: The 'Just City in Speech' is now built from the earlier books, and three waves or critiques of the city are encountered. According to Leo Strauss and his student Allan Bloom they are: communism, communism of wives and children, and the rule of philosophers. The 'Just City in Speech’ stands or falls by these complications.
• Books VII-X: Socrates has 'escaped' his capturers, for he has convinced them, at least for the moment, that the just man is the happy man. He then spends much time reinforcing their prejudices. He displays a rationale for political decay, and he ends the dialogue recounting a myth, The Myth of Er, or everyman, which acts as a consolation for non-philosophers who fear death.

Reception and interpretation

Ancient Greece

The idea of writing treatises on systems of government was followed some decades later by Plato's most prominent pupil Aristotle. He wrote a treatise for which he used another Greek word "politika" in the title. The title of Aristotle's work is however conventionally translated to "politics": see Politics (Aristotle).

Aristotle's treatise was not written in dialogue format: it systematises many of the concepts brought forward by Plato in his Republic, in some cases leading the author to a different conclusion as to what options are the most preferable.

Ancient Rome

Cicero

The English translation of the title of Plato's dialogue is derived from Cicero's De re publica, a dialogue written some three centuries later. Cicero's dialogue imitates the style of the Platonic dialogues, and treats many of the topics touched upon in Plato's Republic. Scipio Africanus, the main character of Cicero's dialogue expresses his esteem for Plato and Socrates when they are talking about the "Res publica". "Res publica" is however not an exact translation of the Greek word "politeia" that Plato used in the title of his dialogue: "politeia" is a general term indicating the various forms of government that could be used and were used in a Polis or city-state.

While in Plato's Republic Socrates and his friends discuss the nature of the city and are engaged in providing the foundations of every state they are living in (which was Athenian democracy or oligarchy or tyranny - in Cicero's De re publica all comments, are more parochial about (the improvement of) the organisation of the state the participants live in, which was the Roman Republic in its final stages.

Critique

In Antiquity Plato's works were largely acclaimed, still, some commentators had another view. Tacitus, not mentioning Plato or The Republic nominally in this passage (so his critique extends, to a certain degree, to Cicero's Republic and Aristotle's Politeia as well, to name only a few), noted the following (Ann. IV, 33):

Nam cunctas nationes et urbes populus aut primores aut singuli regunt: delecta ex iis (his) et consociata (constituta) rei publicae forma laudari facilius quam evenire, vel si evenit, haud diuturna esse potest.

Indeed, a nation or city is ruled by the people, or by an upper class, or by a monarch. A government system that is invented from a choice of these same components is sooner idealised than realised; and even if realised, there'll be no future for it.

The point Tacitus develops in the paragraphs immediately preceding and following that quote is that the minute analysis and description of how a real state was governed, like he does in his Annals, however boring the related facts might be (...if, for example, the regnants refuse to declench a spectacular war,...), has more practical lessons about good vs. bad governance, than philosophical treatises on the ideal form of government have.Template:Fn

Augustine

In the pivotal era of Rome's move from its ancient polytheist religion to Christianity, Augustine wrote his magnum opus The City of God: again, the references to Plato, Aristotle and Cicero and their visions of the ideal state were legion: Augustinus equally described a model of the "ideal city", in his case the eternal Jerusalem, using a visionary language not unlike that of the preceding philosophers.

Utopias

Thomas More, when writing his Utopia, invented the technique of using the portrayal of a "utopia" as the carrier of his thoughts about the ideal society.

The Orwellian dystopia depicted in the novel 1984 (appearing a few years later) had many characteristics in common with Plato's description of the alegory of the Cave as Winston Smith strives to liberate himself from it.

More recently the Matrix saga has been compared with the kingdom of delusion against which Plato's characters are struggling.

Open Society or Closed Society?

The positivistic-minded 20th century commentators of Plato's Republic advise against reading it as a (would-be) manual for good governance: most forms of government discussed in The Republic bear little resemblance to more recent state organisations like (modern) republics, constitutional monarchies, etc. The concepts of democracy and of Utopia as depicted in The Republic are tied to the city-states of ancient Greece and their relevance to modern states is questionable. The city portrayed in The Republic struck some critics as unduly harsh, rigid, and unfree; indeed, as a kind of precursor to modern totalitarianism. Karl Popper gave a voice to that view in his 1945 The Open Society and its Enemies

On the other side, realistic commentators like Cornford, Gadamer, Hildebrandt, Voegelin and Strauss have other views. Hans-Georg Gadamer in his 1934 Plato und die Dichter (Plato and the Poets), as well as several other works, where the utopic city of The Republic is seen as a heuristic utopia that should not be pursued or even be used as an orientation-point for political development. Rather, its purpose is said to be to show how things would have to be connected, and how one thing would lead to another — often with highly problematic results — if one would opt for certain principles and carry them through rigorously. This interpretation argues that large passages in Plato's writing are ironic (which, of course, an unusually high level of proficiency in ancient Greek is required to detect). In this interpretation Plato's entire oeuvre is not totalitarian: it modifies the interpretation of the imagined city of Plato's Republic from an exclusive optimist Utopia, to an (at least) partial Dystopia.

Eric Voegelin in Plato and Aristotle, Baton Rouge, 1957, gave meaning to the concept of ‘Just City in Speech’ (Books II-V). For instance, there is evidence in the dialogue that Socrates himself would not be a member of his 'ideal' state. His life was almost solely dedicated to the private pursuit of knowledge. More practically, Socrates suggests that members of the lower classes could rise to the higher ruling class, and vice versa, if they had ‘gold’ was in their veins. It is a crude version of the concept of social mobility The exercise of power is built on the ‘Noble Lie’ that all men are brothers, philadelphia born of the earth, yet there is a clear hierarchy and class divisions. There is a tri-partite explanation of human psychology that is extrapolated to the city, the relation among peoples. There is no family among the guardians, another crude version of Max Weber's concept of burocracy as the state non-private concern.

Some of Plato’s proposals have lead philosophers like Leo Strauss and Allan Bloom to ask readers to consider the possibility that Socrates was creating not a blueprint for a real city, but a learning exercise for the young men in the dialogue. The ruling class will have ‘sacred’ marriages because these are the result of manipulating and drugging couples into predetermined intercourse with the aim of eugenically breeding guardian-warriors. In turn, Plato has immortalized this ‘learning exercise’ in The Republic.

Leo Strauss's approach developed out a belief that Plato wrote esoterically, an insight which although presently accepted by many North American academics, is still rather poorly conceived of. The basic acceptance of the exoteric-esoteric distinction revolves around whether Plato really wanted to see “The Just City in Speech” of Books V-VI come to pass, or whether it is just an allegory. However, it is clear Strauss never regarded this as the crucial issue. In fact, Strauss undermines the justice found in “The Just City in Speech” by implying the city is not natural, it is man made abstraction, and hence ironic.

One of the most convincing arguments against these less dismissive interpretations is that Plato's academy has produced a number of tyrants, despite being well-versed in Greek and having direct contact with Plato himself. Among his direct students were Klearchos, tyrant of Heraklia, Chairon, tyrant of Pellene, Eurostatos and Choriskos, tyrants of Skepsis, Hermias, tyrant of Atarneos and Assos, and Kallipos, tyrant of Syracuse. Against this, however, it can be argued, first, that the question is whether these men became "tyrants" through studying in the Academy (but rather that it was an elite student body, part of which would wind up in the seats of power, that was sent to study there), and, second, that it is by no means obvious that they were tyrants in the modern, or any totalitarian, sense.

Practicality

All these 20th century views have something in common: in spite of the near-to-impossibility to grasp the meanings of the ancient Greek for modern readers,the pedagogical value of The Republic is much greater than its pratical value. It is a theoretical work not a guideline for good governance. Plato scholars see it as their task to provide the background knowledge that is needed to enable a fair understanding of what was meant by the author of The Republic. Then the uniqueness of The Republic shows up in the way it clarifies genuine connections of political causes and effects in real life, precisely by providing them within a heuristically rich context.

Nonetheless Bertrand Russell argues that at least in intent, and all in all not so far from what was possible in ancient Greek city-states, the form of government portrayed in The Republic was meant as a practical one by Plato.Template:Fn

21st Century

By the end of the 20th century, some authors exploited Utopia/Dystopia ambiguities in their descriptions of imaginary societies. A book in this vein is Nobel Prize winner José Saramago's Ensaio sobre a Lucidez ("Treatise on Lucidity", 2004): an election count turns out 83% blank votes in one city of the country, without discernible reason. Is this democracy at its best or just a nightmare? Although the book is clearly meant as a political statement, it's left to the reader's "lucidity" to decide on the interpretation.

See also

• Mixed government
• Myth of Er
• Philosopher king

Notes

• Template:Fnb Eric Voegelin, Plato and Aristotle, Louisiana University Press, Baton Rouge, 1956.
• Template:Fnb History of Western Philosophy, begin of Book I, part 2, ch. 14.
• Template:FnbThis text by Tacitus also mirrors the first paragraphs of Polybius' Histories: Tacitus clearly sides with Polybius who also touts the importance of studying real history for improving knowledge on good governance - However Polybius can boast in these same opening paragraphs his story is about glorious facts and warfare; Tacitus argues the fact remains true, even if the story is less glorious. For this reason Tacitus' critique is only partially directed at Cicero, who learnt not less from Polybius and war heroes like Scipio, as from the more philosophical/utopian Greek writers.
• Template:Fnb History of Western Philosophy, end of Book I, part 2, ch. 14.

References

• Plato The Republic, (New CUP translation into English) ISBN 052148443X
• Plato Respublica, (New OUP edition of Greek text) ISBN 0199248494
• Bloom, Allan David. The Republic of Plato translated, with notes, and an interpretive essay. 2nd ed. Basic Books: New York, 1991
• Russell, Bertrand. History of Western Philosophy. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1946. - See: two chapters to Plato's Republic, plus a preliminary one on the origin of Plato's concepts: Book I, Part 2, Ch. 13-15.
• Strauss, Leo. 'Plato' History of Political Philosophy 3rd ed. University Of Chicago Press: Chicago, p. 34-68 1987.

External links

• Text of The Republic:
  • At Project Gutenberg: Benjamin Jowett's translation (including an elaborate introduction) : e-text N° 1497
  • At Perseus Project: Annotated text (English and Greek)
  • At MIT's "Internet Classics Archive": Benjamin Jowett's translation
  • RSS version of The Republic
• Ongoing discussion of Plato's text (and Popper's analysis):
  • On Bookshelved Wiki
  • On Meatball Wiki
• David Stansfield's (Neo-Platonist?) Serving Council of Philosopher Kings
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Ethics and Politics in The Republic