Harrison Dunn

Social Foundations Final

Considered by many to be the greatest philosopher of all time, Plato is credited

with founding the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. In addition, his

many dialogues and other doctrine have shaped Western philosophy in a profound way.

Plato addressed a huge range of issues in his teachings, however his commentary on

the State and specifically the failures of Democracy in his work, The Republic, cemented

his place in history. By using practical allegories, Plato crafted an ideal society and

detailed the system of governance in place to ensure universal justice and reason. From

this material it can be safely assumed that in Plato’s eyes Democracy was a failed

system. Plato’s experience of growing up in a period of dysfunction in Athenian history

and his own relationship with the Athenian ruling class played a major role in developing

his incredulous attitude toward democracy. My own sympathies regarding Democracy

are closely aligned with Plato’s, as I also spent the vast majority of my time developing

into an adult as a member of a powerful Democracy that is arguably in the midst of one

of its darkest eras.

Plato grew up during an interesting period of Athenian history. While Athens is

often seen as pillar of Greek intellectualism and a liberal society, it did have its periods

of failed public policy and corrupt leadership. As Plato entered a period in his life where

is mind was most vulnerable to external influence, the Democracy in Athens failed twice.

Two times during his childhood the oligarchy of Athenian society was able to take control
of governing the city state, once due to internal strife and once due to Athen’s conquest

by Sparta. Both times the oligarchy’s failed and Democracy was restored in Athens.

However, Democracy also proved to be a failure during Plato’s adolescence and young

adulthood as the demos of Athenian society was responsible for many misguided

decisions. Pols of Athens were masters of rhetoric and were easily able to influence the

public and Plato realized this. Another event in Plato life that greatly affected his view on

Democracy was the execution of his good friend, Socrates. Socrates was put to death

by a democratically elected state, proving to Plato that the opinion of the majority can

often be misguided.

While Democracy had its flaws, other systems of government were no more

appealing to Plato. In 411 BC, when Spartan leadership but the oligarchy back into

power, Plato had an opportunity to play a role in politics but chose to ignore politics and

pursue knowledge and wisdom in solitude. The fact that Plato had two particularly

violent family members in Athen’s oligarchy played a major role in his decision to shun

active engagement in Athenian society. However, as Plato grew older he joined his

friend Socrates in the thinking that reason and justice were not just matters of personal

conduct, but important factors in the health of a society and so he began crafting his

own system of governance. Plato knew that the traditional government systems

ultimately resulted in tyranny as the internal forces of the state eventually lead the

weaker class to seek protection of their rights by vesting all of their power with a

Democratic demagogue who in turn becomes corrupted by power.

 Plato believed that informed reason was the cornerstone of any reasonable

society. Because of this belief, Plato called for a society ruled by a philosopher king who

was impartial in his desires but sought to make decisions regarding the state based on

reason and knowledge. Plato believed that society, like the body, was divided into three

parts. The stomach, represented by those who seek money (traders, merchants,

workers, etc), the chest, represented by those seeking honor (warriors, military leaders),

and the head, represented by those seeking wisdom and knowledge make up the entire

society. It was Plato’s belief that those (men and women, a departure from Greek

tradition) comprising the “head” of society should be tasked with leading it. The

members of the “stomach” would likely be preoccupied with their own personal gain and

the group of citizens making up the “chest” would be prone to seek personal glory while

risking the society’s health. Only someone guided by informed reason and with the right

set of knowledge (history, military strategy, economy, law) would be able to make the

decisions necessary to run the state, much like a captain and his ship. Plato points as

much out in his allegory of the ship.

My childhood experience, while far different than Plato’s in many regards, was

similar in that my society, the United States, has been in a period of disappointing

governance. While I was alive during the time of Bill Clinton and the incredible economic

growth that he oversaw, it wasn’t until the era of George Bush that I was old enough to

make my own assumption and opinions on the political process. It is my belief that the

last decade was essentially lost due to a misguided demos. Democracy failed two times
during the century at the presidential level and many more times at other levels of

government.

The “majority” of this country essentially endorsed the concept of uninformed

reason with the first election of George Bush, someone who would far from meet Plato’s

criteria for a competent leader as a near college drop out and former drug addict. Again

in 2004, the country’s majority blessed George Bush’s decisions regarding Iraq and the

Bush doctrine (for the first time in United States history, a president actively supported

the concept of preemptive war). These are just two examples of major failures this

decade alone, however there are more. Informed reason is completely missing from the

Democratic process in the United States, however rash public discourse and emotional

decision making has filled the void. According to Time magazine, only 77% of

Americans have high school diplomas. However, nearly all American’s have opinions

(which turn into votes) on the major issues facing the nation, whether policy in Iraq and

Afghanistan (according to National Geographic, 9 in 10 young adults can’t locate the

country on a map of Asia) or health care reform.

I’m conflicted about my stance on Democracy. I believe that it is the best system

practical enough for real world application. However, it is a system that can easily be

manipulated by influence and money. Also, the fact that the United States is essentially

a two party republic makes Democracy an even more difficult proposition. There is no

effective system of punishing elected officials for failure to execute the wishes of their

electorate due to the limited choice of political parties. In fact, the United States

Democracy is more apt to punish a politician for superficial reasons, like extramarital
affairs, than for policy failure. Plato’s system is attractive and I believe that if the right

man were alive to fill the role of philosopher king, the system would be successful (If

only for the duration of the king’s life, much like Luis XIV). However, I also believe that

the greed of man is two great and a better system of checks and balances must be

placed on Plato’s political system.