Plato's Republic

How should I live my life? This, the most pressing and fundamental question of the human soul, is nothing short of daunting in scope. But Plato does not shrink from the effort to give a clear and comprehensive answer, and what is more, he does it in a strikingly lucid manner, using an analysis of society and government to attain his final goal.

Plato was born around the year 428 BC. into one of the most distinguished families of Athens. From boyhood he was a friend of the great philosopher Socrates, who figures in so many of his writings, including Republic (although unlike the other dialogues in which Socrates is the central speaker, Republic is not based on any factual encounter; rather Socrates becomes merely a mouthpiece for Plato's ideas). Plato lived at a time of turmoil in Athenian history: As a young man, he had had political ambitions; when the aristocratic Thirty took over from the discredited democratic government around 404 BC., they urged him to join them. But the thoughtful youth held back until their policies would become clearer. Horrified by the savagery they soon displayed, he hoped for better things when the democracy was restored, but its condemnation and execution of Socrates convinced him there was no place for a man of conscience in the in active politics of the world at that time. Hence, he turned to philosophy. He traveled widely, analyzing various governments and forms of government and coming eventually to the conclusions that "all existing states are badly governed..." and that "the ills of the human race will never disappear until those who are sincere and true lovers of wisdom attain political power, or the rulers of our cities learn true philosophy." This last is one of the core ideas of Republic. The accomplishments of Plato were many: he wrote more than thirty works (the exact number is in dispute due to some doubt about the authenticity of a few pieces), was one of the greatest critics of the Greek states' forms of government, and founded the Academy, a center of groundbreaking philosophical and scientific research whose establishment he considered his greatest achievement.

The question Republic poses and answers - how to live one's life - is a general one, not specifically what should one do with one's life but, more fundamentally, how one should live it. Plato not only undertakes to answer the question of what sort of life is best, but also to prove that to live an upright life is a laudable course of action in itself as well as that which brings one the most true happiness in this world. He goes even further than to prove a life spent doing justice intrinsically superior to a life spent in injustice; he also tackles the deceptively simple-sounding question, "Is the just man really happier than the unjust?" The shallow, formula answers to these questions are swiftly disposed of, and confusingly powerful arguments for the superiority of injustice and the greater happiness of evildoers are also met and overcome. He even ventures to ask what Justice itself truly means. It is not enough simply to have a vague idea or to accept traditional definitions; rather, one must fully understand the essence of Justice from the ground up to properly comprehend its value. With this, the hunt is on, and the search for proof of the intrinsic value of Justice swiftly becomes the motivation for the entire dialogue.

But it is a sweeping task to prove the intrinsic value of Justice for its own sake and that of living a just life; thus the dialogue quickly becomes likewise broad in scope. It is easier to perceive the details of the larger than of the smaller, therefore Plato proceeds to the main body of the dialogue, the analysis of the state in order to better understand the individual. He builds a perfect state as an intermediate step to analyzing the perfect man. So the question of how the individual should live is temporarily set aside in favor of investigation into what constitutes an ideal state, then once this has been determined (which understandably occupies the bulk of the dialogue) our initial question is resurrected and attacked with new insights which permit its resolution.

A full catalogue of what is covered in this ambitious dialogue would perhaps be too long to go into here, but besides the initial questions about justice and the life of the individual, some of the highlights include discussion of how to give the young a well-balanced education and how to detect and nurture the especially talented youth; the issue of basic virtues, their place in the state, and their corresponding role in the individual's nature; the role of women in society, which, as Plato proves by clear and rational argument, should be as equal as possible to that of men; and the brilliant discussion of the issue of the philosopher's role in life and in the state. Near the end of the dialogue, we return again to our earlier question of whether the just man or the unjust one is happier, by analyzing not only the misery of those unjust states which are their counterparts but also how either the individual or the state can fall into such an unhappy condition. The extent to which his insights into the flaws of different systems of government can be applied to today's world are amazing, especially considering the fact that they were written nearly 2,500 years ago. His observations of the failings and merits of democracy can be neatly applied to the United States government today, and the perceptions he offers regarding the tyrannical form of government are startlingly excellent parallels to Communism.

For both the individual seeking guidance with the issue of how to live and how to find clarity in life and for the student of government hunting for some basic insights into the nature of government, the individual, and the relationship between them, Plato's Republic is one of the best and most timeless works, classical or modern, to which one can turn.