The Republic
The Republic
Plato tells the story from the point of view of Socrates.
I went down yesterday to the Peiraeus with Glaucon to pay my devotions to the Goddess, Athenia and also because I wished to see how they would conduct the festival since this was its first day. I thought the procession of the citizens very fine, but it was no better than the show, made by the marching of the Thracian soldiers.
After we had said our prayers and seen the spectacle we were starting for town when Polemarchus, the son of Cephalus, caught sight of us from a distance as we were hastening homeward and ordered his slave to run and bid us to wait for him, and the boy caught my attention from behind and said, “Polemarchus wants you to wait.” And I turned around and asked where his master was. “There he is,” he said, “behind you, coming this way. Wait for him.” “So we will,” said Glaucon, and shortly after Polemarchus came up and Adeimantus, the brother of Glaucon, and Niceratus and a few others from the festival. Whereupon Polemarchus said, “Socrates, you appear to have turned your faces townward and to be going to leave us.” “Not a bad guess,” said I. Do you mean to say,” interposed Adeimantus, “that you haven't heard that there is to be a torchlight race this evening on horseback in honor of the Goddess Athenia?” “On horseback?” said I. “That is a new idea. Will they carry torches and pass them along to one another as they race with the horses, or how do you mean?” “That's the way of it,” said Polemarchus, “and, besides, there is to be a night festival which will be worth seeing. For after dinner we will get up and go out and see the sights and meet a lot of the lads there and have good talk. So stay and do as we ask." “It looks as if we should have to stay,” said Glaucon. “Well,” said I, “if it so be, so be it."
Are people good?
Are people generally good or bad?
It's argued by the characters of The Republic that people are only good because they're afraid of being caught or because they want the rewards that come with having a good reputation.
The characters describe a man with a ring that holds the power of invisibility. With invisibility it's imagined that the man would act unjustly if he thought he could get away with it.
What would you do if you had the power of invisibility? Do you think you’d be able to act in a moral way with no accountability?
Can we conclude that morality based on reputational, financial and wellbeing consequences?
Is there any kind of Altruism that isn’t selfish? Is there any way to do something good without benefiting from it? Don’t tell anyone, do you yourself benefit? Perception of self or imagined assurance of secret goodness of others.
The Moral Animal
Creating your own society
Choose location of their own city and design the layout of their own city.
Ancient Greece is often imagined as a single great empire. However, it was in fact a collection of city states. Socrates, Plato & Aristotle lived at a time to see these separate city states live under different forms of governments. Some of these cities were under authoritative tyrants with a single individual calling the shots like a king. Some were oligarchies with a rich elite makes the rules for everyone. Other cities were complete democracies with every man able to vote on issues.
The Philosophers lived to see Tyrants get overthrown by those who have power, to see the powerful face revolutions of the masses and the masses get manipulated by a cult of personality figure and tricked into handing over control to a dictator tyrant. They’ve lived to see the cycle go around and it continues to even today. A selfish person can’t make fair decisions for all, the rich can’t oppress the poor and mob-will brings chaos.
Even thousands of years later, we see the Kaiser of Germany deposed in 1918. Germany became a republic, only for a cult of personality take their freedoms from them and install the Nazi Party in 1933.
In Russia, the hostility toward the Tsar brought on the Russian Revolution of 1918 and dreams of equality. However, in less than 4 years they had become a cult of personality under Vladimir Lenin.
We all want a short cut and someone to tell us how to think. We all want to feel like and convince others that we're in the know even when we're not. People work, raise families and health issues but without properly educating ourselves, we so often forfeit control over our own freedom. Freedom that has been fought for by our ancestors for thousands of years.
So they debated the best way to stop it. As he saw it, the problem with a few ruling people was greed for money and power. The problem with the masses was uneducated impulsiveness, absence of qualifications and easily swayed by emotions. He believed that the mismanagement of one lead to the other. Revolution after revolution in a cycle of disappointment.
Socrates asked the question, who should run a country? A small amount of people or everyone together? If a shoemaker specializes in making shoes, how can he also understand how to run a country?
P429 - demon haunted
Who should be in charge?
Socrates & Plato looked at the models of governing that have a single person in charge.
Even though Democracy originated in Greece, they didn’t think Democracy was good. Why would a farmer or solider know how to run an entire city-state? What is a farmer best at doing? What is a solider best at going? So if we want to be ruled by someone (which they called a Guardian), what should that person be they thought. A ruler. How does someone become a ruler before ruling?
Who do you expect to be a better shoemaker? Someone who makes shoes and farms, someone who makes shoes and swords or someone who makes just shoes?
Who should make decisions on economics, medicine and? A politician or groups of economist, doctor, scientist? Why do we have politicians deciding?
Guardians should be specially trained and educated to lead and protect. Individuals do better when they focus on one skill.
How would you educate someone to be a ruler? What qualities should we look for?
Socrates thought that One specially trained Philosopher King should lead a country. They should be trained in ethics to be selfless, thoughtful, moral and in control of emotions. How do you feel about this?
What other options are there?
Democrazy
Is it fair that everyone in a society gets to vote? Is that the fairest way to decide on problems?
Should only those educated on economics, sociology and international relations get to vote? Should people who spend their time working in the fields, drinking and watching reality TV get a say when it comes to make decision for the country?
Should different people’s votes be worth different amounts?
Forcing education on the masses, mandatory exams to earn the right to vote?
There’s a tugging between freedom and well-being. If there was such a leader who could run the country with goodness, we’d be taking away freedoms for exchange for wellbeing. If we leave decisions up to everyone we’re depending on the most popular views being the correct ones and we have the freedom and wellbeing is volatile.
Bottom of p427 - demon haunted and 434.
The education of the general public was hugely important to the founding fathers of America. "It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." - Robert Jackson, justice of the supreme court
“experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts” - Thomas Jefferson 1779
Everyone gets the right to vote and education and debate is encouraged. "Education is Patriotism" If you really care about your country you'll educate yourself on what's best for it. This would give the most people a voice and also inform them but the problem is it’s self-motivated. Why don’t you think people do it?
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.- James Madison
On Education all our Lives depend;
And few to that, too few, with Care attend: - Benjamin Franklin
Ability to reflect and reason separates us from the animals, shouldn’t we exercise it?
Pathos, Logos, Ethos
Everyday people have jobs, families and friends. Where would they find time to educate themselves? But if our freedom is dependent on it, shouldn’t we? Instead people become persuaded by TV, books, their friends, family and life experiences.
The Ancient Greeks identified three modes of rhetoric or persuasion. Which one should we use to educate the masses?
Comments
Post a Comment