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Plato's Ideal State Analysis

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To what extent could Plato’s Republic be or not be justifiably characterized as a closed and authoritarian society without freedom? To begin with, the absolute theoretical basis required for complete understanding of the question and the further speculation on it consists of two important books: “The Republic” by Plato, where the philosopher introduces his conception of an “ideal state” and “The Open Society and its Enemies” by Karl Popper, the summarizing and systematizing overview of the original text. Let us start by considering Plato`s theory of ideal state. The main goal of Plato`s ideal state is an achievement of common good and happiness through the implementation of Idea of justice. By Plato, justice can only exist if every person …show more content…

The main difference between these two conceptions of state is that in the ideal state even a child of an ordinary craftsman can become a guardian, while a prospective guardian can be removed from the position. In the rest, we can fairly call the Plato`s Ideal state the closed society with totalitarian political system. Obviously, realizing the principles of such a state is undesirable. Its complete independence from other states prevents globalization and adoption of some new economical, political and cultural patterns, retarding development not only of that but also neighboring countries. Furthermore, rigid censorship, the limitation of arts and science for citizens will lead to spiritual impoverishment and cultural degradation. In addition, lack of private property and family relations eliminates people`s motivation for what they do as their material security does not depends on quality of work. They become passive and amorphous, indifferent to what happens to them and irresponsible for anybody but …show more content…

For the recent centuries human society has made a great step from the collectivist mind to individualist one. In the very basis of ideal state lies the division on three classes, but today people cannot be divided in such a way, because the sphere of their interests is various and unique. It is hard to imagine someone who will be able to choose one occupation to do for the rest of life. Moreover, nowadays it is impossible to stay apart of the world political arena. The achievement of any success and influence within your own state would be followed by forced involvement into international relations with other

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