Photo from Wikipedia
It is not very often that I will write about ancient Greek philosophy, so enjoy this.
When I was in college, I majored in Political Science and one of my favorite courses was on political theory. Probably my favorite book we read was Plato's The Republic. It is a great piece of commentary on government and justice, and I can't recommend enough (though if you do buy it, I would also recommend having a copy of the Cliff Notes handy).
However, when I was reading it, there was something in the back of my mind that felt pretty disturbing. This can be summed up by a recent post on the Philosophy and Life blog by Mark Vernon:
Karl Popper almost did it for Plato, when he published The Open Society in 1962. A central plank of Popper’s defence of freedom was a fierce attack on what he called ‘utopian social engineering’. He cast Plato as the originator of a form of totalitarian politics that in the twentieth century threatened the whole world, in the form of the Marxist regime of the Soviet Union. In short, Plato was an armchair Stalin. The ancient Greek philosopher was responsible for nurturing the dream of all subsequent dictators, that they could design an ideal state that would never decay.This is not a stretch. In The Republic, Plato proposes some pretty drastic ideas in order to create the perfect, "just" society. From Wikipedia:
For over two and a half millennia, scholars have differed on the aptness of the city-soul analogy Socrates uses to find justice in Books II through V. The Republic is a dramatic dialogue, not a treatise. Socrates' definition of justice is never unconditionally stated, only versions of justice within each city are "found" and evaluated in Books II through Book V. Socrates constantly refers the definition of justice back to the conditions of the city for which it is created. He builds a series of myths, or noble lies, to make the cities appear just, and these conditions moderate life within the communities. The "earth born" myth makes all men believe that they are born from the earth and have predestined natures within their veins. Accordingly, Socrates defines justice as "working at that which he is naturally best suited," and "to do one's own business and not to be a busybody" (433a-433b) and goes on to say that justice sustains and perfects the other three cardinal virtues: Temperance, Wisdom, and Courage, and that justice is the cause and condition of their existence. Socrates does not include justice as a virtue within the city, suggesting that justice does not exist within the human soul either, rather it is the result of a "well ordered" soul. A result of this conception of justice separates people into three types; that of the soldier, that of the producer, and that of a ruler. If a ruler can create just laws, and if the warriors can carry out the orders of the rulers, and if the producers can obey this authority, then a society will be just.
The city is challenged by Adeimantus and Glaucon throughout its development: Adeimantus cannot find happiness in the city, and Glaucon cannot find honor and glory. Ultimately Socrates constructs a city in which there is no private property, women and children are held in common (449c-450c, 3 times), and there is no philosophy for the lower castes. All is sacrificed to the common good and doing what is best fitting to your nature; however, is the city itself to nature? In Book V Socrates addresses this issue, making some assertions about the equality of the sexes (454d). Yet the issue shifts in Book VI to whether this city is possible, not whether it is a just city. The rule of philosopher-kings appear as the issue of possibility is raised. Socrates never positively states what justice is in the human soul, it appears he has created a city where justice is lost, not even needed, since the perfect ordering of the community satisfies the needs of justice in human races' less well ordered cities.He also believed that democracy would degenerate into tyranny, and the best form of government is aristocracy.
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