Plato's Ideal State

I'm quite curious of your opinions on Plato's Ideal State. Do you agree with it? Do you think its plausible or is the world not virtuous enough?

Theodoros wrote:I'm quite curious of your opinions on Plato's Ideal State. Do you agree with it? Do you think its plausible or is the world not virtuous enough?

I am inclined to view his concept of the ideal state to be, first and foremost, a metaphor for the ideal state of the soul, the three ranks of people being analogous to the parts of the tripartite soul.

In the arena of politics, it would, in my view, likewise be a perfect model for government, because when an individual is harmonized with themselves, they naturally and freely attempt to be in harmony with those around them. If most people in a government set up like this were to achieve this, then the government on the whole would function superbly. That said, most people aren't like that. Far from it.

Which one? The Republic is an exploration of the virtues using the design of a state as as thought experiment. The Laws sets out a constitution for a possible Greek state, but that obviously requires Ancient Greeks to implement it.

Nevertheless, I think Plato's ideas are a valid criticism of democracy. They are also close to those of Confucius, and I believe he would have approved of China in its best periods. If the Chinese can recover from the infatuation with Western ideas that characterised both Sun Yat-sen and Mao Zedong, they may yet set us a good example.