Ideal state by Plato

The most outstanding contribution of Plato's political thought, as contained in the "Republic", is the
representation of human life in a state perfected by justice and govern according to the idea of the
Good (stall bacon). It has been lauded as a perfect model for the actual state, an ideal political system
to do away with the ills of a contemporary social order. In this time plato's presents a picture of an
ideal state. It finds its place in the impact that he received form the contemporary conditions of the
Greece.
The State
Plato's state was meant to be the state i.e. a type or model for all times and climes. Plato wanted to
show what in principle the state ought to be. He wanted to give the idea of the state, not worrying
about the practically of the idea.

Plato's philosophical views had many societal implications, especially on the idea of an ideal state or
government. There is some difference between his early and later views. Some of the most famous
policies are contained in the Republic during his middle period, as well as in the Laws and the
Statesman.
Objectives of the Ideal State
The objective of the ideal state at Plato is the "Good life" Plato build his ideal state in three successive
ways. The first ways he shows that men are different in degree only and not in kind. They should have
same eduction and should share the same public functions. In the second ways, Plato advocates the
abolition of the family on the basis of communism of property and wives. In the third wave he
interdicted the rule of philosophy. Knowledge is virtue and therefore the salvation of society depends
on government by philosopher rulers. The following are the specific objective of ideal state.
1. To ensure justice.
2. To create and ideal citizenship model.
3. Equality for all through communism.
4. State regulated education system.
5. Confirming reciprocity and unity.
6. Make good life.
Population of Ideal State
1. Producer Class: Producer class which represents the abdomen. It was also called the
workers. Example: The laborers, carpenters, plumbers, masons, merchants, farmers, ranchers,
etc. These correspond to the "appetite" part of the soul.
2. Warriors Class: Those who are adventurous, strong and brave; in the armed forces.
These correspond to the "spirit" part of the soul.
3. Philosopher Class: Those who are intelligent, rational, self-controlled, in love with
wisdom, well suited to make decisions for the community. These correspond to the "reason"
part of the soul and are very few.
According to Plato construction of an ideal state

The three elements of human

The varieties of human being Three class of social order
personality
Reason(philosophy) Man of god-rulers (philosophers) Military class (guardian)
Sprit(courage) Man of silver-soldiers (fighters) Military class(auxiliary guardian)
Man of iron and brass(husband
Desire(appetite) Economic class(toilers, artisans)
man, traders and workers)
Plato's ideal state represents a new social order in which the upper into owner classes live in a state
of special regimentation, representing the elements of reason and spirit. They are made to remove the
elements of appetite. This is to be done through a system of communism of property and communism
of family.

Plato, through the words of Socrates, asserts that societies have a three-way class structure
corresponding to the appetite/spirit/reason structure of the individual soul. The appetite/spirit/reason
stands for different parts of the body. The body parts symbolize the castes of society.

According to this model, the principles of Athenian democracy (as it existed in his day) are rejected
as only a few are fit to rule. Instead of rhetoric and persuasion, Plato says reason and wisdom should
govern. As Plato puts it:
"Until philosophers rule as kings or those who are now called kings and leading men genuinely and
adequately philosophize, that is, until political power and philosophy entirely coincide, while the
many natures who at present pursue either one exclusively are forcibly prevented from doing so, cities
will have no rest from evils,... nor, I think, will the human race." (Republic 473c-d).
Plato describes these "philosopher kings" as "those who love the sight of truth" (Republic 475c) and
supports the idea with the analogy of a captain and his ship or a doctor and his medicine. According
to him, sailing and health are not things that everyone is qualified to practice by nature. A large part
of the Republic then addresses how the educational system should be set up to produce these
philosopher kings.
According to Plato, a state made up of different kinds of souls will, overall, decline from an
1. Aristocracy (rule by the best): Aristocracy is the form of government advocated in
Plato's Republic. This regime is ruled by a philosopher king, and thus is grounded on wisdom
and reason.
2. Timocracy (rule by the honorable): In timocracy the ruling class is made up primarily
of those with a warrior-like character. In his description, Plato has Sparta in mind.
3. Oligarchy (rule by the few): Oligarchy is made up of a society in which wealth is the
criterion of merit and the wealthy are in control.
4. Democracy (rule by the people): In democracy, the state bears resemblance to ancient
Athens with traits such as equality of political opportunity and freedom for the individual to
do as he likes.
5. Tyranny (rule by one person, rule by a tyrant): It is characterized by an undisciplined
society existing in chaos, where the tyrant rises as popular champion leading to the formation
of his private army and the growth of oppression.
Criticism
1. An ideal state is a hypothetical concept.
2. If everyone gets equal advantage then all don’t work properly.
3. Plato cannot describe anything specifically.
4. Always state get priority.
5. Monopoly of force they decide to use.
The Concept of Plato’s Ideal State Essay

Introduction
Speaking about those who made a significant contribution to the development of
philosophy, it is necessary to pay special attention to their ideas connected to the structure
of a state. As for the latter, they may help to understand primary values and key ideas of
certain philosophers deeper. Although philosophy is often regarded as the world of
abstract ideas, many thinkers tried to express their attitude towards different government
structures and present their concepts of ideal states with wise ruler or rulers and happy
citizens. Plato who was one of the most famous Greek philosophers also described his
vision of the ideal state in one of his works.

Ideal State Concept

To begin with, Plato was extremely interested in politics because he believed that its
problems and challenges could be addressed only if rulers would be ready to consider the
key notions of philosophy. Therefore, he claimed that it was impossible to conduct a policy
that would make society better without applying the knowledge from different branches of
philosophy. Reflecting on the nature of policy, Plato was likely to associate it with the act of
salvation and protecting common people. To him, it was quite obvious that only those
political leaders who were philosophers could contribute to the development of the ideal
state. Speaking about the key values that such type of state could be based on, Plato paid
special attention to the power of truth and the common good. Moreover, it is necessary to
consider the great role of the state in the life of humanity that was another idea supported
by Plato. To be more precise, he believed that the creation of the new state by the
principles of justice working for both particular people and the entire society could become
the process helping to understand the nature of humanity deeper. Therefore, one of the
main concepts connected to Plato’s ideal state was justice that had to play the role of the
key-value able to unite individuals.

Many philosophers who lived in different periods of human history were likely to have
various opinions about social classes and communication between them. In many cases,
their opinions were somehow connected to their origin. As for Plato, it is known that he was
born in one of the richest and the most educated families of that time. Being a part of a
group that had access to knowledge and power, he believed that the state needed to have
some people who were cleverer than the others as it was one of the factors allowing the
society to survive (Jackson 15). Reflecting on the ideal state, Plato singled out three
functions of a state that he supposed to be the most important. They included control,
production of material values, and protection. Taking into consideration these functions, he
believed that it was necessary to have three social groups such as guardians, farmers, and
rulers who had to be philosophers at the same time. Despite the differences between these
social groups and various tasks that they were supposed to fulfill, Plato believed that such
a structure would help the society to develop. To him, justice was impossible without
allowing different types of people to devote their lives to the things that they liked the most.

Ideal State: the Division of Power

Moreover, Plato had a lot of ideas concerning the division of power in his ideal state.
Although he believed that democracy could not help to create prosperity, it did not mean
that his notion of justice was connected to the unlimited power of the rulers who were
supposed to be driven by higher purposes, unlike other social classes. There is no doubt
that Plato regarded the existence of social classes as a necessary division based on
people’s primary values. Unlike guardians and farmers, rulers were supposed to possess
the knowledge related to the meaning of life and the power of reason. The philosopher
considered rulers to be not only the cleverest individuals but also the people who could
promote moral values (Russell 14). Due to the power that they possessed, they had to be
impeccable.

Plato’s Ideal State: Rulers and Guardians

Discussing Plato’s vision of the ideal state, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that
two social groups such as rulers and guardians were interconnected. Thus, there was an
opportunity for guardians to show themselves in the best light, demonstrate their courage
and wisdom. Due to that, the best representatives of this group could join the ranks of
leaders. Nevertheless, Plato thought that the supreme power had to belong to only one
ruler. Thus, he thought that monarchy could be the basis of the ideal state. To become a
monarch, one had to be part of the royal family. Moreover, Plato believed that it was urgent
to educate future monarchs to secure the future of the state; in his opinion, being a child of
the ruling monarch was not enough for the person to accede to the throne.

Plato’s Ideal State: Conclusion

In the end, Plato’s concept of the ideal state was based on the principle of justice and
presented a kind of monarchy where citizens were divided into social groups by their
primary tasks. Among other things, the primary values of this state were connected to
education and morality, and this is why a lot of things that could become the sources of
immoral ideas were banned.
Works Cited
Jackson, Jeff. “The Democratic Individual: Dewey’s Back to Plato Movement.” The
Pluralist, vol.9, no.1, 2014, pp.14-38.

Video

https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-ideal-state-concept-plato-philosophy/

Plato’s Theory of an Ideal State

In his most celebrated book the Republic, Plato gives the theory of an ideal state. As far as a state is
concerned,Plato gives ideas about how to build an Ideal commonwealth, who should be the rulers of the
Ideal state and how to achieve justice in the Ideal state. Plato finds the state as the more suitable place
to discuss about the morality than an individual, because everything is easier to see in the large than in
the small. A state , says Plato , is a man ‘writ’ large against the sky.The elements that make up a city
correspond to the elements that constitute the individual human soul.

The justice of the city is the same as it is for the individual.For Plato,there is not one morality for the
individuals and another for the state. Like the tripartite individual human soul every state has three parts
which are its three classes.

The elements that constitute the human soul are as follows:

1.Bodily appetite,
2. Spirited elements
3. Reason
Like the tripartite individual human soul ,every state has three parts such as-
1. Producer class
2.Military class
3. Ruling classs

Plato finds the origin of the state in the various needs of people.Noboby is self-sufficient.So,to meet the
various needs men created the political institution.To Plato,in the beginning there was only one class
namely the producing class.Then emerged the guardian class.From the guardian class emerged the ruling
class.
In a state the producer class will consist of those people to whom the bodily appetites are dominant and
who live for money . The producer class is made up of farmer, blacksmiths, fishermen, carpenters áshoe
–makers,weavers,labourers,merchants,retailers and bankers.The life of the producer class is much easier
than the life of the rulers or the guardians.The life of the produce class follows the old familiar patterns
of home and property,family and children,work ,rest,and recreation.By nature the producers have
money.

Each member of the producer class will be educated by being taught a trade or a profession –
farming,banking,carpentry-according to his or her capabilities and to the needs of the society,both of
which will be determined by the guardians.

The military class will be drawn from that type of men to whom the spirited element is dominant and
who live for success in aggressive and courageous acts. The members of the ruling class will be drawn
from that type of man to whom reason is dominant and who lives only for truth.A state should be ruled
only by the elite group of the most rational.In the ideal state each of these three classes will perform a
vital function on behalf of the organic totality of the state.

Selection of the ruling class

Plato gives most emphasis on the selection of the ruling calss.The selection of the ruling class is from all
classes by natural intellectual capacity. women as well as men possess the natural capacity of intelligence
to become members of the ruling class.

Plato proposes that an ideal state will be governed by a person who is highly educated, has passion for
truth and has achieved the greatest wisdom of knowledge of the good. The ruler of this ideal state is
called the Philosopher king.

The Philosopher king has several important functions to perform. The rulers, said Plato, should be the
one who has been fully educated, one who has come to understand the difference between the visible
world and the invisible world, between the realm of opinion and the realm of knowledge, between
appearance and reality. The Philosopher king is one whose education, in short, has led him up step by
step through the ascending degrees of knowledge of the Divided line until at last he has a knowledge of
the good.

To reach this point, the Philosopher King will have progressed through many stages of education. By the
time he is eighteen years old, he will have had training in literature, music and elementery mathametics.
His literature would be censored. Music also would be prescribed so that seduction music would be
replaced by a more wholesome, martial meter. For the next few years there would be extensive physical
and mililary training.At the age twenty a few would be selected to persue an advanced course in
mathematics. At age thirty, a five year course in dialectic and moral philosophy would begin. The next
fifteen years would be spent gathering practical experience through public service. Finally, at age fifty,
the ablest men would reach the highest level of knowledge, the vision of the good and would then be
ready for the task of governing the state.

Both the ruling class and the military class are forbidden to possess any private property or any money.
They must live, men and women like soldiers in barracks, with common meals and sleeping quaters.
Their food, clothing and equipment will be provided by the producers. This food must be simple and
restricted to moderate quantities. They are too have no family life, in order to aviod any conflict between
family loyalties and their loyalty to the state.

When they are at the physical prime of life, their sexual gratification is restricted to officially designated
and infrequent occasions on which they are required to breed children to maintain the number of the
guardian class. These occasions Plato calls sacred Marriage which are temporary unions for the sake of
producing children.

Justice in the state

Like the the human soul, the justice will be achieved in a state when each class fulfils their respective
functions.Justice is a general virtue. It means that all parts are fulfilling their special functions. As the
craftsmen embody the element of appetite, they will also reflect the virtue of temperance. Temperance
is not limited to the craftsmen but applies to all the classes, for it indicates, when it is achieved, the
willingness of the lower to be rulled by the higher. Still temperance applies in a special way to the
craftsmen subordinate to the two higher levels.

The guardians, who defend the state, manifest the virtue of courage. To assure the state that these
guardians will always fulfill their funtions. Special training and provision are made for them. Unlike the
craftsmen, who marry and own property, the guardians will have both property and wives in common.
Plato considred these arrangements essential if the guardians were to attain true courage, for courage
means knowing what to fear and what not to fear. The only real object of fear for the guardian should
be fear of moral evil. He must never fear proverty and privation, and for this reason mode of life should
be isolated from possessions.

Thus,in his Republic Plato gives the theory of an ideal state. But later the theory of the ideal state was
severely criticized by Aristotle.