Q.

Discuss Plato’s contribution to Western Political Thought with special reference to

his understanding of an Ideal State.

INTRODUCTION [1 PAGE]
"Until philosophers are kings or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power
of philosophy, cities will never rest from their evils." - Plato, The Republic, 4th century B.C.

Plato (427 B.C. to 347 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher from Athens. He was born in a
noble family in Greece. He is widely considered as the pivotal figure in the history of
Ancient Greek and Western philosophy. Plato was the disciple of Socrates and
teacher of Aristotle and founder of Academy, one of the most popular institutions of
learning in ancient Greece. He played a significant role in shaping Western political
thought. He travelled all across the world and gave his philosophy in the form of
Dialogues or lectures. He wrote texts like Theatetus, Promenades, Sophist, Philebus,
and Timaeus, but his most important philosophical contributions remain to be
Republic, Laws and Statesman. His ideas laid the groundwork for democracy and
influenced many philosophers that followed.

Plato witnessed the most troubled period of Greek history. In the Peloponnesian War
(431–404 BC), Athens was defeated by Spartans. Further, his teacher Socrates was
executed by the reactionaries. These developments made Plato to be a strong critic
of democracy and termed it as ‘rule of ignorance’. Therefore, Plato desired to create
an ideal state ruled by a philosopher king. Plato belonged to the school of idealism
which believes that human idea creates and determines the material and not vice
versa.

PLATO’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT [2 PAGE]

“Western thought, one might say, has been either platonic or anti-platonic but
hardly ever non-platonic”. – Karl Popper

Plato’s political philosophy has had a profound influence on Western political thought
throughout history. His ideas about justice, virtue, education, and the role of the state
have shaped subsequent political theories. Plato’s emphasis on the philosopher-ruler as
the ideal leader laid the foundation for discussions about the role of intellectuals in
politics, as seen in later thinkers like John Locke and Karl Marx. Some of the major
contributions of Plato to the western political thought are:
1. Justice: Plato said justice is an essential element for the sustenance of any society
which holds well even today.
2. Functional specialisation: Plato’s classification of the society into three classes
based on the function and occupation is also witnessed in modern industrial
societies.
3. Knowledge is virtue: Plato gave importance to the rule of knowledge. This applies
to modern day rulers.
4. Empowerment of women: Plato thousands of years ago saw women as equal to
men in the political affairs. He thus sowed the initial seeds of feminism.
5. Importance of education: He emphasised on state controlled education and
provided detailed scheme on education. In today’s world both democratic and
totalitarian regimes accept the importance of education.
6. Socialism: Plato spoke about communism, abolition of private property and the
importance of state control much before Karl Marx.
7. Organic theory of state: Plato is considered as the ‘father of organic theory’.
He emphasised that the state is a whole and the individual is a part of the whole.
8. Revolution: Plato spoke openly about revolution. He urged the people to revolt
against tyranny in Athens and thus became the forerunner of modern day
revolution.

Plato's political philosophy, which emerges from his writings, has its special importance in
the history of western political theory. Plato was the first systematic political theorist and a
study of the western philosophy of tradition begins with his masterpiece, the Republic, Jowet
rightly describes Plato as father of philosophy, politics and literary idealism. Plato's
contribution to the western political thought is without any parallel. He was given it a
direction, a basis and a vision. Political idealism is Plato's gift to western political philosophy.
He innovated novel ideas and integrated them skillfully in a political scheme. His radicalism
lies in the fact that his rulers are rulers without comforts and luxuries possessed by men of
property. Plato's attempt in the Republic is to portray a perfect model of an ideal order. Plato
was the first to allow women to become rulers and legislators. His scheme of collective
households, temporary marriages and common childcare were accepted as necessary
condition for the emancipation of women by the socialist of the 18th and 19th centuries. The
whole bent of Plato's Political thought was the welfare and development of the community.

Plato, a renowned ancient Greek philosopher, made significant

contributions to Western Political Thought. One of his key ideas was the
concept of an Ideal State, which he discussed in his famous work, "The
Republic." Plato's understanding of an Ideal State can be summarized as
follows:

Plato was deeply influenced by Socrates’s views on virtue and his method of dialectics,
which is explicitly evident in his own writings.
PLATO CONCEPTION OF IDEAL STATE [1 PAGE]

Plato’s concept of the ideal state is given in his book ‘The Republic’. It explores the
characteristics of a just society. It also contains his ideas about ‘Justice’, ‘Education’, ‘Ideal
Man’ and best form of government. In the Republic, Plato constructs the state in three
successive stages: The healthy state , the luxurious state, the just state or the ideal state.

Plato was influenced greatly by Socrates' dictum that "virtue is knowledge." Only wise
people, he believed, should rule. As a result, he devises a plan for an ideal state in which only
a select few are permitted to rule after extensive training. Plato's Ideal State is the literary
manifestation of the Socratic doctrine that reality inheres in the idea of a thing. According to
Socrates, Beauty could exist without a beautiful thing. An ideal can exist without an outward
concrete manifestation. Plato's Ideal State is an Idea which according to Plato can exist
without being realised in concrete actual states.

The ideal state or the Kallipolis, sometimes dubbed as utopian, is a magnificent achievement
of Plato’s thought, his crowning jewel. Complete with metaphysics of transcendental forms
that sustains the absolute goodness and perfection of the ideal state philosophically; an
enabling and expansive theory of education that underwrites the principle of division of
labour in practice; and, communism of wives and property that serves as system of checks
and balances in the polis, Plato is able to rationally build an aesthetically unsurpassed edifice
of state that is geared for one purpose alone—the institution of justice in society. In a phrase,
Plato’s ideal state is nothing but the coming into flesh and blood of the Socratic dictum
“virtue is knowledge”.

Plato’s political thought begins with the dictum of Greek thought: “The state comes into
existence for the sake of life and continues for the sake of life”. Plato claims that the state
does not arise from a rock or an oak, but rather from the necessities of human life. Plato
believes that the state exists to improve the quality of life for its citizens and to achieve
justice for all. The goal of society, according to Plato, is not just to offer freedom or to
promote economic well-being, but something more, and that aspect is justice. In fact in
Plato’s thought the issues of human conduct and just social order are intertwined. To institute
justice in the Kallipolis, Plato imagines a number of distinguishing characteristics for its
realisation:

IDEAL STATE AND JUSTICE: [ 1 PAGE]

Justice lies at the heart of Plato's ideal state. For Plato “State was the ideal for which justice
was the reality”. According to Plato, state is the product of human soul which is composed of
three elements, such as reason, courage/spirit and appetite.

THREE CLASSES OF CITIZENS IN THE STATE

Corresponding to these three human elements, there are three classes of people-
1. Guardian Class OR The Guardians or Rulers OR The rulers or guardians- leaders, noble
class: According to Plato, the state's guardians or rulers must be philosophers because
they are responsible for organizing the state's life. The leader of the state will be selected
from the guardian class. They must be best person of the guardian class, intelligent,
 powerful, and careful only of the state. Plato's ideal state is to be ruled by the philosopher
king because Philosophers will use their knowledge of goodness and virtue to help
citizens live a virtuous, happy, and fulfilled life and they are aware of what is truly true
and good.
2. Auxiliaries The auxiliaries- the military class: They are devoted exclusively to the
conduct of war. Members of this class must be courageous and intellectually gifted. They
must be philosophic; for they must know who are the true enemies of the state and must
be very well educated.
3. Producing Class/ The artisans- the working class: Weavers, farmers, artisans, musicians,
poets, tutors, cooks, shoemakers, carpenters, nurses, smiths, and so forth are among them.

Each class has specific roles and responsibilities. They contribute to the overall harmony of the state.

Plato’s State is like an individual. All the individual elements like Reason, Spirit and Appetite
should be present in the state in the form of Workers, Soldiers and Philosophers. Reason
exists in the Philosopher or ruler. It means the ability to think intelligently. Spirit exists in the
auxiliaries or Soldier. It means courage and valor. Appetite exists in the Worker or artisan. It
means great interest to work and produce results immediately. Wisdom is the quality of the
Philosopher. Courage is the quality of the Soldier. Appetite is the quality of the worker.
Thus, the state reflects human nature. The State is like a large individual. The state is
individual writ large. The object of the Ideal State is good life or goodness.

[1 page]
There are certain reasons for the formation of the State. The first reason for the formation of
the state is economic motive. Everyone wants to satisfy his food and other needs. So, there
should be people doing economic activities. The Workers are engaged in economic activity.
Secondly, there is the need for protection. The soldiers are engaged in protection of the state.
Thirdly, there is the need for government. The philosophers will take care of it. Plato’s
Philosopher is like a King. He is called the Philosopher King. There is the rule of Philosophy
through the Philosopher King. He is the head of the State. The Philosopher King represents
Reason. He is engaged in the government of the state. The Philosopher King makes laws. But
he is above law. However, he is a true statesman.

Plato has advocated for functional specialisation and division of labour among these three
classes of people.

When these three classes of people perform their respective duties without interfering in
each other’s affairs then justice prevailed. Justice results from each element in society
doing its appropriate task, doing it well and doing it only. Thus, in an ideal state, the
philosopher king is to rule the state, the soldiers are to be in charge of defence of the state and
the producing class are to produce food and other necessary goods for all.

Therefore, it can be seen that in the Platonic state, there is the system of specialization of
functions. Plato believed that by removing the source of conflict between people and classes,
division of labour and functional specialisation would lead to state harmony and unification.
Plato's functional specialisation was founded on his knowledge of human reciprocal wants
and the necessity of division of labour.
It means that there is a special group of people to take care of each function of the state like
production, protection and government.

[2 page]
Features of Plato's Ideal State. The following are the characteristic features of Plato's Ideal
State:

The Salient features of Platonic Ideal state can be summarised as follows:-

1. An ideal state is ruled by the Philosophers or Rule of Philosopher King : The first and the
most characteristic feature of Plato's Ideal State is that in it there is a government of the
Philosopher-rulers who are embodiments of wisdom, Perfect Knowledge, Reason
personified. The Philosopher-rulers are above passion and prejudice. They represent
virtue in action. They are absolute in ruling over the subjects. Neither there is a restraint
of law, nor of custom, nor of public opinion on them. The proposition that the
Philosophers who possess knowledge should rule as a right, is the central point of the
whole scheme of Plato's Ideal State.

2. Equality of Men and Women: In Platonic State, there is equality of men and women. Both
men and women are equals. They have equal status in society. Both men and women
should have equal education also.

3. State-controlled Education prepares the Philosopher King or State controlled education

system: The education system is under the full control of the state. There is a complete
scheme of education promoted by the State. The Ideal State is a straight product of
Education in as much as the Educational system prepares and trains the Philosopher-ruler.
It is to promote social justice and individual justice.

4. Spirit of Justice in the Ideal State. There prevails the spirit of Justice in the Ideal State
Justice in the state means the due performance by each individual of the functions for
which he is best fitted by aptitude and training. No individual should interfere in other's
sphere.

5. Class Division in the Ideal State. As a corollary of the preceding feature, the society in the
Ideal State is divided into three classes-Rulers, Soldiers and Peasants all performing their
function most dutifully. The lowest is the Peasa class, cut into various sections-such as
artisans and farmers and sculptors concerned only with producing articles of
consumption. Above it, there is the Ruler Class concerned only with the duties of
statesmanship.

6. Functional specialization in Ideal State: There is the principle of Functional Specialisation

which prevails in the Ideal State. Every person performs only those functions for which
he is fitted and gets training in order to perform his functions efficiently. The spheres of
activity for all classes are demarcated. No class interferes with the sphere of the other
class. The philosophers will take care of government. The soldiers will take care of
protection. The workers will take care of economic production.

7. Role of education: In Plato's ideal state education plays a critical role. Plato believed that
virtue is knowledge, and thus in order for the three classes to perform their duties
 effectively, they needed to be properly trained and educated. The primary goal of Plato's
educational plan was to generate philosopher rulers.

8. Communism of wives and property: In ideal state Guardian class have communal life.
They will have no private property, no family, no permanent marriage, and no affiliation
to children. In platonic state, only the lower class can have family and private property.
Only producer class were allowed to have private property, family life but were not
allowed to participate in politics.

9. Control of art and literature: In Platonic state, there is control of art and literature. Cheap
and wrong ideas should not reach the people. People should read only literature which is
of high moral value and wisdom.

Such is Plato's Ideal State, an idea of the best state-a picture of the city in the heavens
unrealised.

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF PLATO'S IDEAL STATE [2 PAGE]

Major Criticisms of Platonic Ideal State:

The following are some of the criticisms of Platonic Ideal State:
1. Platonic state is a totalitarian state: The Platonic state is ruled by the Philosopher King.
Therefore, it is a one man show. It is not a democratic situation. It leads to absolutism and
totalitarianism.
2. It is Tyrannical in Nature. Plato favours absolute rule of the Philosopher king. His belief
that those alone will rule who have the knowledge makes his rulers absolute and
concentrate unlimited authority in their hands.

The truth that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is bound to reflect on
the philosopher king. Degeneration of moral values among the philosopher rulers will surely
make them tyrants.

3. Under-development of human personality: There is strict functional specialization in

Platonic State. The rulers should have the element of reason only. The soldiers should
have the element of spirit only. The workers should have the element of appetite only.
Therefore, it affects the development of human personality. 9
4. Utopian State: Plato's ideal state is an ideal only. It is too idealistic to be practical. Plato is
hardly a political thinker. He is a moralist, an idealist whose concept of the ideal state is
entirely utopian. It is not based on reality. He imagines a 'city of nowhere.' It is a dream
city of Plato, which cannot exist on this Earth at least.
5. Anti-democratic State: Plato’s state is anti-democratic. It is ruled by a totalitarian king. It
is Against Democratic Values. The absolute and tyrannical rule of knowledge gives no
space to liberty and equality. These values are virtually sacrificed for the sake of
dominance of knowledge and reason. Artisans and toiless, who constitute a large chunk of
the society, are completely neglected. So this view of the ideal state is completely
opposed to the democratic values.
6. His Communism is not Practicable. The communism of property and families, which he
expects his guardians class to practice, is not only unwanted, but also impracticable. The
concept of communism of wives and property is antihuman. It is against human nature. It
is against basic human psychology and therefore almost impossible to implement.
7. No education for lower classes: in Plato’s state, there is any opportunity for education for
the lower classes. But at the same time, for the upper classes, the education goes up to the
age of 50.
8. It Restricts Human Growth. Plato favours strict division of work in his ideal state and
believes that this alone will establish justice. Men have to perform only assigned jobs and
do not have to meddle with the sphere of others. Now such a division will not allow other
traits of human beings to develop. Human personality will be a victim of partial growth in
such a system.

R.H.S. Crossman, therefore, says, “Plato’s ideas are the most savage attack upon liberal ideas
which history can show.” Sir Karl Popper accuses Plato as an enemy of the open society for
his advocacy of censorship of art and literature, rule of philosopher-king and class rule.

SIGNIFICANCE OF IDEAL STATE [ 1PAGE]

Despite all criticism, we cannot deny the significance of Plato’s Ideal State. Certain features
of the Ideal State, such as, functional specialization, division of labour, compulsory
education, equality of men and women and emancipation of women have exercised profound
influence on future thought and practice. In Plato’s favor, it may be said that for a thousand
years Europe was ruled by an order of guardians considerably like the one which was
visioned by him.

During the middle ages it was customary to classify the population of Christendom into
‘laboratores’ (workers), ‘belatores’ (soldiers) and ‘Oratores (clergy). The last group, though
small in number, ruled with almost unlimited authority over the population. Like Plato’s
guardians, the clergy were elevated to authority not by popular vote but through their
demonstrated ability in studies and administration. The Ideal State, thus, may be a utopia but
it is not a chimera, totally divorced from reality. The goal of the Republic is a just man and
by that process a just city.
Plato firmly believed that a just and virtuous man is possible but he had misgivings about the
Ideal State- “in heaven… perhaps, is laid up for the man who wants to see and found an ideal
city…. For him, it did not matter when the Ideal City existed or would exist, but he could
think of no other state except Ideal.
As Will Durant observed that “Plato died a sad man, knowing fully well the impossibility,
though desirability, of the Ideal State that he sketched so artistically and meticulously.” The
Ideal of human perfection and the possibility of attaining it is the vision and aim of Plato in
his The Republic.

Conclusion:

Despite the objections mentioned above, it is obvious that Plato's political views had a
profound influence on the political thinking of his followers in later ages. Without a doubt,
Plato has been chastised for articulating some utopian views. However, his utopian
tendencies do not negate his contributions to political thinking. Plato desired to establish an
ideal society ruled by a philosopher monarch who, according to Plato, was the epitome of
justice, virtue, and sacrifice. His political thought is marked by his emphasis on justice,
functional specialisation, feminism, and eugenics. His views on justice, functional
specialization., the rule of the wise and the virtuous, women's emancipation, the significance
of education, and other topics reflect Plato's eternal aspect.

The Republic of Plato has been interpreted as Utopia to the end of all Utopias. It is not
because of the cause that it is a romance, but because he has constructed an ideal state in it.
Plato has never thought of the possibility of the institutions of his ideal state has the
capability of ever becoming a reality or not. He has never thought of the impracticability of
his concept of ideal state. Plato has built his state on the analogy of an individual organism.
He always believes that the virtues of an individual and of the state were identical. He has
presented the view that an individual use to present almost the same features and qualities on
a smaller scale as society on a bigger scale.

Conclusion

Plato's ideas have had a profound impact on Western political thought. His theory of
ideas has been influential in the development of political thought. They are still
debated today, and they continue to be relevant to our own political problems. His
work is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to understand the nature of
justice, the ideal state, and the role of the philosopher in society.

There is hardly any doubt that Plato's ideal state is a dream city and can be found in clouds only.
Plato, who had learnt from Socrates that beauty can exist without a beautiful thing and like him, he
too believed that the idea is real, had actually conceived this ideal state as only an 'idea'. This was his
idea of 'Good'. Hence Plato's Ideal State with its Philosopher-Rulers cannot and does not exist on the
earth at least. One writer says "As for Philosophers they make imaginary Jaws for imaginary
Commonwealths.'' He himself knew about its impracticality and that is why he talked about his
second best state in his later writings like Statesman and Laws.

And lastly, his concept of Philosopher-King is the most utopian idea of Plato. At no time in the history
of the world such a Philosopher King has ever been in power.
REFERENCES
 Blitz, Mark. Plato’s Political Philosophy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010.
 Klosko, George. The Development of Plato’s Political Theory. 2d ed. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2006.
 Mara, Gerald. Socrates’ Discursive Democracy: Logos and Ergon in Platonic Political
Philosophy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.
 Schofield, Malcolm. Plato: Political Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
 Wallach, John. The Platonic Political Art: A Study of Critical Reason and Democracy. University
Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001.