Plato’s Political Philosophy: Ideal City and Forms of Government
Plato’s Classification of Forms of Government
Plato’s Policy provides a classification of forms of government, distinguishing between:
- Monarchy: Which may be royalty or tyranny.
- Aristocracy.
- Oligarchy.
- Democracy.
The criteria used to distinguish these forms are:
- The number of those who rule: one (monarchy), a few (aristocracy), or all (democracy).
- The purpose of the scheme with regard to freedom, wealth, and legality. For example, a monarchy is royalty if it promotes citizen freedom, wealth, and respect for the law; otherwise, it is tyranny.
According to Plato, these two criteria are insufficient to determine the best form of government. The only valid criterion is what he terms “royal science” – political knowledge founded in philosophical understanding. This leads Plato to his second approach.
Plato’s Ideal City: A Theoretical Design
Plato constructs a theoretical design *ex novo* from his philosophical approaches, grounded in the belief that his philosophy is *the* philosophy.
This design is based on the following idea:
For the Greeks, there was an absolute identity between a citizen and their city. Only within their city could an individual become a complete human being. The worst punishment was banishment or ostracism. When a Greek citizen fell from grace, a vote was held. The penalty was often exile, and instead of ballots, oyster shells were used, hence “ostracism” is equivalent to exile.
For Plato, the individual is only possible in a just and right city, just as there will only be justice if the city is composed of just individuals. Therefore, for Plato, justice in the individual and the city are one and the same.
An individual was considered just when each of their functions served their soul appropriately. In a just person, the rational is wise and prudent, the irascible is brave, and the concupiscible is temperate. Psychic harmony occurs when each part fulfills its function.
The Structure of Plato’s Ideal City
For Plato, a perfect (just) city must mirror the individual. It must be divided into three orders:
- Rulers: Who must be wise and prudent (like the rational part of the individual).
- Guardians: Who must be courageous (like the irascible part of the individual).
- Producers: Who must be temperate (like the concupiscible part of the individual).
For a city to live in harmony, each class must fulfill its proper function with a particular virtue, thus producing political harmony and justice.
The Roles and Education of Each Class
Each class must be given specific characteristics to fulfill its virtue:
- Producers: Responsible for material maintenance (farmers, pastoralists, artisans, merchants, etc.). They will not receive any special education from the state and will acquire the techniques of their craft. They are allowed to own property.
- Guardians: Receive special education that Plato called “gymnastic” and “musical.” They learn subjects related to the Muses, which for Plato is the introductory curriculum at the Academy (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music). Gymnastic education consists of regulated exercise. Guardians could be either men or women, as Plato recognizes both have the same capabilities. They do *not* have the right to private property. They are maintained by the state and live in barracks. Their unions are monitored by the state, and the children of such unions become wards of the state.
From among the outstanding guardians, rulers are chosen. These individuals receive a higher education that enables them to achieve wisdom – the study of dialectics, allowing them to know the world of ideas. Thus, for Plato, rulers must be philosophers.
“The Laws”: Plato’s Response to Criticism
The Platonic project was never carried out. Even as a theoretical design, it was criticized in its time. Critics required Plato to reconsider some basic positions. Plato’s answer to this criticism is found in one of his latest works, “Laws.” In this work, Plato places a higher court above ruling principles: the laws themselves, the written laws or written constitution, whose mission is to prevent arbitrary rulers.