To paraphrase Marx several centuries later, this can most easily be summed up as "from each according to his ability to each according to his needs," or, for Plato, "if each person does one thing for which he is naturally suited, and does it at the opportune moment" (48). Here, Plato is acknowledging that not every individual is equal, nor has the same abilities as everyone else. This, in the long-term, will bring about the best society possible, because each person is really actualizing -- called the "healthy city." To ensure that this happens, education must be healthy and must ensures that the right education be given to the right person. He focuses on the guardians of the city, and then turns to who should rule -- deciding that personal freedom is not really valued, but the ruler should uphold the good of the state. Social classes are quite rigid, and "natural" in that this is how a person's fate is decided so they may be the best at whatever it is helps society prosper. In many ways, particularly the longer section on what is required to become a proper guardian, Plato also speaks of love -- not erotic love, but a higher form of love. However, what is odd is that this form...
There is no upward mobility, no deciding upon one's future based on expressed gifts -- if one were musically inclined but born to a shepherd, one would like be, stay, and generations hence, remain a shepherd. But then, I wondered, this idea of personal freedom is really a modern notion, and had one not grown up with it, would it seem just as natural to place more emphasis on the good of society (as a body) than the good of the individual. Too, who in their right mind would want to rule in Plato's Republic? The ruler has no private wealth, can never do things that might make them happy, or even really actualize except in the sense of continuing society? And, ironically, the good of society means doing something that profits society -- so at times, the shepherd or farmer may be quite a bit more valuable to society than the poet or philosopher; for we cannot eat words.
However, the most important argument seems to be the happiness of the city. If responding to an inner need of fulfilling your tasks -- which derive from your very way of being- means happiness for each and every person living from the city, then it is easy to understand how personal happiness and justice contribute to social justice. Justice is the realization of the potential of all the individuals. This realization
While this is not yet true for the United States, might the country be dangerously close? If one could return to the events on 9/11, is it not possible that the diminished freedoms brought about by legislation such as the Patriot Act and its successor almost smack of tyranny? These are important questions to consider if the much-mentioned American "way of life" is to be preserved. Tyranny is far
From this we need to understand that the existence of entities, beings which superior power and knowledge is accepted. People not only accept that these being actually exist, but they obey their commands. From this one can deduce that morality is connected with power. People obey the commands of the gods because the gods are what they are. The implications are that on the one side, the gods have access
Plato and Death One of the most influential minds in western philosophy describing this search for meaning was Plato. Plato lived from 422-347 B.C, and was born into an aristocratic family in the city of Athens where he became a student of Socrates, and eventually a teacher of Aristotle. As a student of Socrates, Plato followed the structure of philosophical agreement to ensure a just society - no laws are to
Plato -- Life and Works Plato was born in Athens circa 425 BC, just after the onset of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. He lost his father at an early age, but through his mother's marriage to a friend of the leading statesman and general of Athens at the time, Plato became affiliated with some of the most influential circles of a city enjoying a Golden Age. The early
Plato's Apology Discuss the main points of Plato's the Apology The Apology is based upon series of speeches that were made by Socrates in 39 BC. He was standing trial for corrupting the youth of Athens by not believing in the gods of the city. This is because he would often question various ideas in order to have a greater sense of understand and enlightenment. As a result, there were several main
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