Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 82

International Conference on Management, Education Technology and Economics (ICMETE 2019)

An Analysis of Plato’s Political Thought

Lu Yali
China Jiliang University
Hangzhou, China

Abstract—This paper makes a preliminary analysis of Plato’s In Plato's philosophy, justice represents wisdom, bravery
political concepts from three aspects: the concept of justice, the and moderation. Plato pointed out that justice is not simply good
king of philosophy, and state system and the ideal state. Plato paid faith in words and behavior, such as debt repayment, not lying,
close attention to the decline of Athenian politics and the this is only a code of conduct, cannot be used as the correct
reconstruction of sound politics. He adhered to ideological and definition of justice; justice is not the interests of the strong, A
explanatory framework of ideal political philosophy and explored true ruler, like a captain at sea, must take into account not only
the relationship between justice and philosophy. Therefore, the his own interests but also those of the ordinary people, for only
analysis of Plato’s establishment of a complete judicial system in when the people live well and the country can be stable, justice
the Republic will help us understand his political blueprint. Plato
is not absolute freedom and simple democracy. The just order is
explained the two forms of justice: city-state justice and personal
justice, pointing out the direction for the justice pursuit of political
the harmonious, controllable and orderly operation of the
society and the individual at that time. In Paula’s ideal country, political life of the country, and the rights of individuals or
the king of philosophy is in a dominant position, and it is a groups can only be brought into play by justice.
necessary condition for the realization of the just city-state. When B. City-State justice and personal justice
the king of philosophy ruled, the Republic was realized. So, it is
valuable to probe into the ideological origin and political Plato divided the thought of justice into two concepts: city-
significance of Plato’s thought of philosophical king. state justice and personal justice, both of which are the
embodiment of justice in the real society. Individual justice is
Keywords—Plato; Politics; Republic; Justice; King of the epitome of city-state justice, and city-state justice is the
philosophy expansion of individual justice.
I. INTRODUCTION Plato believed that the city-state originated from people's
needs. If one wants to live, one must solve the different needs
Plato is one of the most outstanding philosophers in ancient such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, but
Greece, and he is also regarded as the founder of political everyone's ability is limited. When the limitations of people's
philosophy. The Republic is Plato's prime work, the thought is abilities and the diversity of needs collide, the social division of
broad and profound, the content involves the politics, the labor appears. Because no one can live on their own, people get
education, the military, the ethics and so on each aspect. Among together to learn from each other in order to form a survival
them, its political thought can be said to be very characteristic, society. Each person plays a different role in society. Plato
not only reflects the social state of the city-state at that time, but divided the city-state into three levels: producer, helper and ruler.
also expresses Plato's own political ambition and ideals. Because of the different division of labor at different levels,
II. THE ESSENCE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF JUSTICE there are different requirements for their virtue and quality. Plato
believed that rulers must have a higher level of wisdom than the
The word "justice" is one of the most central words in the other two levels in order to make political decisions for the city-
book "the Republic". In the Republic, Plato established a state. This wisdom is the knowledge of how to manage the
complete justice system, pointed out the direction of the pursuit country, is the ruler's exclusive philosophy of the country as a
of justice at that time, and drew a blueprint for a just country for whole; the auxiliary needs to have brave, heroic character. This
social politics. bravery is nurtured by a good education. With the right
A. Meaning of "justice" education, the helper can be clear about what should be feared
and what should not be feared. They can not only serve and
"Justice" is pronounced "dike" in Greek and transliterated as assist the rulers, but also protect the rights and security of
"Dike" in Chinese. she is the beloved daughter of Zeus, king of producers; producers are ruled civilian groups, solid efforts and
the gods, and Themis, the goddess of law, and one of the three know that moderation of desire is a requirement for them.
goddesses of time. Dike is the embodiment of justice, black and Therefore, producers should absolutely obey the ruling class,
white is her attitude to judge good and evil in the world. In Greek concentrate on production, and reduce their desire for money
mythology, the order to be followed by justice itself is divine, and power. In this way, the ruler’s rule with wisdom, the
and this order is strictly forbidden and single. If you want to be auxiliaries with bravery, and the producers with abstinence in
a just person, you must live in accordance with the order production. But unlike the first two, Plato believes that
prescribed by God. in China's "Ci Hai", justice has three "bravery" and "wisdom" can belong only to one class in the state,
meanings: the first is the truth of justice. In here, justice is said but "moderation" should belong to all citizens and should be
as fairness. The second refers to the appropriate meaning of the possessed by all classes. When these three classes complement
language; the third refers to the behavior in accordance with each other and each share, the city-state justice is formed. City-
certain moral norms.

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state justice is in fact the unity of wisdom, bravery and reaching the real state can we understand what the real idea is.
moderation. Plato believes that philosophy is to awaken people and lead
people to the truth. As a result, the king of philosophy, as the
And personal justice is the three classes of their own justice king of knowledge in the country, holds the state power and
requirements, they must each do their part, and loyal to their own receives a better and more comprehensive education than others,
responsibilities. Plato believes that there is a God-given reason so he has a better ability to carry out philosophical thinking and
in the depths of everyone's soul, but the dazzling human life will participate in political activities, and to convey knowledge to the
cloud this reason and produce improper desires. Therefore, general public. On the one hand, philosophers can use what they
people must always maintain rationality, with reason against have learned to participate in politics, he knows more about
desire, in order to achieve the purpose of distinguishing good politics, he can solve different political problems in reality,
and evil, understanding justice. In this way, as long as everyone come up with reasonable political solutions and provide quality
adheres to their duties in a down-to-earth manner, the lower political advice; on the other hand, Philosophers can teach others
class cannot overtake the upper class by improper means, and real knowledge in the way of discussion and debate, so as to
the city-state can maintain a stable order all the time. achieve the purpose of enlightening the people and spreading
III. THE THOUGHT OF THE KING OF PHILOSOPHY culture. Therefore, when a philosopher becomes a ruler, he can
enlighten the people and serve the country in political life and
To discuss Plato's political thought, we have to mention the social life. The legitimacy of the political power held by the king
word "king of philosophy". In the above, we learn about Plato's of philosophy is the source of knowledge. people regard the king
three strata in the construction of a just state system: rulers, of philosophy as a model and obey the king of philosophy, but
auxiliaries, and producers. Among them, the king of philosophy, in fact it is the recognition of authoritative knowledge.
as the ruler, occupies the core position.
IV. NATIONAL SYSTEMS AND IDEAL KINGDOM
A. Meaning of the King of philosophy
Plato believes that only those who have philosophical The city-states of ancient Greece were based on slavery.
knowledge can master political power and thus rule the whole However, the ways in which each city-state is in power, that is,
country. Therefore, in order to establish the state power, the first the political system, are various, and in practice, all kinds of
thing to do is to train enough good philosophers to make them political systems have shown their own characteristics and
monarchs or let the current rulers become people who advocate drawbacks. Philosophers are very concerned about this. Plato's
philosophical wisdom. That is, through the rulers to combine ideal city-state is undoubtedly the political expression of his idea
wisdom and power, which is also a necessary way for the theory, so he compares and analyzes his ideal political system
country to move towards justice. with other political systems at that time.

To become philosophers, rulers need to learn more than Plato lived in an era of fierce confrontation between
ordinary people, constantly improve their ability, so that democracy and tyranny, and he was critical of both. Plato
producers and auxiliaries can willingly assist. The philosophical divided the real city-states into five categories, one by one, from
king adopted the method of rule by man to govern the country, monarchy or aristocracy to honor, again to oligarchy, then to
which put forward higher requirements for the quality of the democracy, and finally to tyranny. Among them, the "honorary
rulers, only to receive a comprehensive and correct monarchy political system" is often said to be a Spartan state, which is
education, including learning the technology of governing the characterized by the country's military as the foundation of the
country, physical exercise, learning literature and art, and so on. country, attaches great importance to military honor, so it is
To cultivate a qualified ruler. In addition to politics and literature called "honorary rule" or "honorary political system". The
and art, rulers also need to increase their knowledge and auxiliaries in the city-states were neither kind nor good. when
cultivate their ability through the study of arithmetic, geometry, they took over the power of their parents to govern the country,
astronomy, music and dialectics, so as to better govern the army they despised education and were therefore unable to perform
and pursue the truth. In addition, it is important for the king of the duties of the auxiliaries, and eventually divided into two
philosophy to always love wisdom. they need to keep an eye on factions and fought against each other. This system lies between
the truth and be able to understand the beauty of the truth with the monarchy and the oligarchy, so it has the characteristics of
their heart. That is to say, they should be able to see the essence both political systems. In other words, the honor system is a kind
through the phenomenon, and be keen to explore the true nature of political system in which good and evil coexist; an
of the object. Only in this way can the rulers master the true "oligarchy" refers to a country dominated by an economically
knowledge in an all-round way, maintain rationality, and rich minority. In such a country, laws are also enacted on the
distinguish the truth and falsehood of good and evil. basis of the amount of property, and those with less property
cannot hold any position. Rulers love wealth, covet gold and
B. The role of the King of philosophy silver, waste and stingy. This is the characteristic of a typical
In the Republic, Plato vividly lets people understand oligarchy; then there is democracy, and Plato's democracy is
philosophy through cave metaphors. The sun outside the cave very different from what we now call democracy. This is a
symbolizes the idea of flashing, and the idea of good is the root system of government in which ordinary civilians are in power,
of all truth and reason. The people tied up in the cave symbolize also known as the civilian system. In the city-states of the time,
the majority of people who are uneducated and do not know the civilians were the majority. So, what Plato called democracy is
truth. When they saw the shadows on the cave walls, they a form of government in which the majority is in power. The
thought it was real. There are "ideas" in the real world, but they unbridled pursuit of freedom is a characteristic of democracy
are not aware of them. Only by getting rid of the false world and and the reason for its downfall; extreme democracy will make

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