Plato's Theory Of The Ideal State

Plato 's philosophy has an enormous impact on contemporary intellectual thought, but one of the most important parts of his heritage is the theory of the ideal state. The significance of this theory is explained by the fact that it absorbs almost all of his key ideas, such as the theory of the soul and theory of forms. In his dialog "Republic" Plato states the fact that state has all virtues that soul is likely to have. At the same time, a soul is a keeper of "eidos", so-called ideal forms which exist in transcendent reality. From the combination of these two ideas, we can see that people recreate the state on the basis of the form of ideal state.

After mentioning this fact, we should start with the analysis of the principles of Plato 's theory of the ideal state. However, the main thing that he intends to achieve in his state is justice. By justice, he understands the situation when “every one is doing his own work, and not being a busybody”. It is essential for us to remember that the well-being of the state is more important than the well-being of citizen – so-called "commonweal". To achieve this justice in the state he suggests a strict division by social classes, where each of them is performing his own function. He distinguishes three classes: the guardians, the soldiers, and the common people. According to Plato, only guardians have the political power, because they possess the necessary wisdom to rule the state. As for soldiers, their aim is to protect the state