Just Society In Plato's Republic

While some, like Plato in his The Republic, thought it weak to give government into the hands of the common people, Pericles countered this argument with a compelling argument of greatness. By putting government into the hands of the people, the people are united and more devoted to their country. Democracy bonds the people together in a way that no other government can understand. Pericles confidently states, “Athenians advance unsupported into the territory of a neighbor, and fighting upon a foreign soil usually vanquish with ease men who are defending their homes.” This, Pericles claims, is the might of democracy; the strength and excellence of many people rather than just that of a

He justifies the need for democracy, aristocracy and monarchy depending on location. The three philosophers use their judgment and prior knowledge on each other’s work to validate an ideal society, especially for the uprising continent of America. Governments are an established institution in every society. Though there are multiple types of governments, their purpose is fundamental to determining the influence on a civilization. Thomas Paine opposes the ideology of government, stating that, “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil,” (Paine 3).

Barber’s claim is sound because it agrees with the noble ideals set by our founding fathers and can be applied universally as every country naturally wishes to have a peaceful and educated society. Barber uses logic in arguing for mass public education, quoting two of the most influential founders of our democracy, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Barber knows that in a democracy, the people decide what is best for the nation, and if the nation is uneducated they will make the wrong decisions. Jefferson and Adams warn about those “tyrannies” of an uneducated society, which is why Barbers claims are truthful that education allows people to “think critically and act with deliberation”(6). To answer the question of how a society achieves equality and opportunity for its citizens, one should totally disregard William A. Henry’s callous remarks and illegitimate claims in his essay, “In Defense of Elitism.” His reasoning for selective educational opportunities tries to divide our country, which will discriminate individuals, amplify class

After the War of Independence, during Jefferson’s term, he starts to implement democracy, a system that is opposite to totalitarianism. In an article, Joseph Ellis expresses: “Stemming from his deep optimism in human reason, Jefferson believed that the WILL OF THE PEOPLE, expressed from elections, provided the most appropriate guidance for directing the republic’s course” (20b). In other words, Jefferson asserts it is the best for the government to have limited power and to leave more resources to the people because the power of democracy comes from the people. When the people have resources and rights, they will tell the government what is right, so it is absolutely unnecessary to deprive the people of centralizing powers. Not only Jefferson implements democracy but he acts as a democrat not a tyrant.

Joseph Daunis Three Classes and the Soul In Book IV of Plato’s The Republic, Socrates draws a comparison between the classes evident in their fictional city to the human soul. Socrates clearly defines the three forms he finds in the city as being the appetites of mankind, or in other words, all human desires, such as pleasure, comforts, and physical satisfaction. The second form discussed by Socrates is the spirit or the component of the soul which deals with anger and perceptions of injustice. The third and final form is the mind or reason, which analyzes and rationally weighs options and solutions to problems. Socrates compares these three forms of the soul to the three classes in the city: producers, auxiliaries, and guardians.

The Prime Directive In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand the society that she portrays lives under one injunction, or prime directive, for everyone to be equal. There are numerous rules and controls instituted to help keep the citizens’ in order and while some of them seem to be beneficial, others are constricting the basic rights that every person should have. The one thing that all of the rules do share in common is the restriction of a person's freedom, individuality, and life in general. Ayn Rand knew that by writing this novel, it would spark many conflicting views about equality and liberty in today's world. To start off, the rules exist to keep every person in the society equal to all of their fellow men and women.

In our modern day society, we live in a world in which equity is very important for us to achieve as citizens. Equity can be understood as recognizing that society needs differences in order to be successful. As we are humans, each one of us will be different from everyone else, and it is this difference that adds creativity and color to the world. However, in Kurt Vonnegut 's story "Harrison Bergeron", they live in a future world in which everyone is equal. A society in which the government enforced equality so much that they go to extreme measures to force everyone to be as equal as they possibly can be.

There's certain benefits to thinking this way though. It's very important to keep one's own happiness and well being at the forefront of their mind. People should not be expected to constantly cater to others. Selflessness is completely overrated. Equality is not wrong to want something for himself, especially after servicing others his whole life.

This logically leads to debates of human countryside, the success of knowledge, the distinction between presence and realism, the components of an real education, and the basics of principles. The republic is a Socratic discussion, inscribed by Plato around 380 BC. It is a 4 volume book. Plato 's advanced philosophical opinions appears in The Republic. The Republic is an inspection of the "Good Life"; the accord reached by applying pure reason and justice.

After these contracts are established, however, then society becomes possible, and people can be expected to keep their promises, cooperate with one another, and so on. I believe that thanks to the social contract we created justice and established what is moral and immoral for the whole society and not only on what we think could be moral or immoral. This topic may be controversial for some people because they will probably think that even though the social contract was created to be equal for all people there are some things until today that does not apply for all. But for me that is not a strong reason to do not believe in the Social contract I strongly believe in this theory because this is what makes a civil society with justice and morality. A philosopher Stuart Rachels suggests that, “ morality is the set of rules governing behavior that rational people accept, on the condition that others accept them too”.