- Socrates
- gave method of dialectics to develop a spirit of inquiry
- said not enough to know what constitutes life but more imp to understand what constitutes good life
- an unexamined life is not worth living
- theory of knowledge which said there is distinction b/w real knowledge and illusion of knowledge. Acc to him source of real knowledge is our soul. It can be gained not just be experience but by logical reasoning which he calls as dialectics.
- Knowledge is the source of good life.knowledge becomes virtue only when applied. Use knowledge to challenge social norms and customs (e.g. RRM Roy, IC Vijayanagar)
- PLATO:
- Introduction: father of political philosophy, the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle.
- Book- the republic: concerning justice
- context: wanted to find the reasons for the loss of Athens to Sparta in the Peloponnesian war.
- Why Athens lost to Sparta in the Peloponnesian war:
- Athens was democratic (hence Plato opposed to democracy) while Sparta was a rigidly run warrior society.
- Athens was divided between rich and poor.
- the elites in Athens were taught by the sophists
- the sophists were utilitarians who taught money,power rather than knowledge will help in leading a good life.
- taught to take populist decisions and not right decisions
- Sophists: is should govern ought, for Plato ought should govern is
- His ideas-
- He was a radical, suggests far sweeping changes in society and polity.
- Uses Socrates theory of knowledge in his theory of ideas.
- To build an ideal state you must first have an idea of an ideal state
- To have an idea you first need to have knowledge .
- To get knowledge he suggests theory of education.
- Says political philosophy has a social purpose, i.e. to give good life to people.
- Theory of ideas-
- Derived from Socrates's theory of knowledge
- ideas belong to the world of god
- reality is just a poor manifestation of ideas
- Ideas are transcendental and do not change with time
- Gives allegory of caves to show that Idea is the ultimate reality
- Theory of souls/ myth of metals- Kallipolis- A just city: there are three classes of men:
- men of reason(guardians)- gold
- soul has seen perfect manifestation of all things in the world of god. So when it sees worldly things it starts comparing and maximum amount of recollection can be done by the person in whom reason dominates
- men of courage(Auxiliaries)-silver
- men of appetite(civilians)- copper
- Acc to him some are born rulers and some are not- believes in natural inequality of man
- men of silver and copper must follow men of gold blindly
- Theory of communism, only for guardian class(rulers + soldiers)
- This is to put additional safeguards on phi king to not getting him corrupt
- common ownership, no private ownership
- proposed communism of property and of family and wives
- In Digha Nikaya (a Buddhist text) the reason for corruption for humans is his indulgence in building private property and setting up house with their wives)
- NO property so no lust for corruption
- No family so no nepotism and favouritism
- It would free women
- Plato vs Marx communism
- Theory of philosopher king
- “Until philosophers are rulers , there is no end to people’s predicament.
- “one man institution, no questioning
- the king would be a philosopher who would have “true knowledge.”
- He was against the idea of democracy as for him general people must not indulge in decision making
- One who doesn't has lust to power is fit to rule. he accepts kingship as responsibility towards state. ”Those states are best to govern where the rulers are reluctant to govern.
- Not only he is the symbol of knowledge but also of sacrifice.
- Problem:
- Plato’s diagnosis is correct but prescription is wrong. Power has corrupting influence
- Men who are interested to rule would be more apt to rule. Though we can put in a system of checks and balances.
- Ashoka is the best example of philosopher king.
- Theory of Justice-
- For plat justice is functional specialization. Justice is when everyone does right conduct/duty.
- Interlinking on justice:
- His view of justice is hierarchical whereas Rawl’s view of justice is egalitarian
- For Aristotle, justice is treating equals equally and unequal unequally.
- Hence both Aristotle and Plato believe in meritocratic principle of justice.
- However Rawls is inspired from Emmanuel Kant. And hence does not agree to Greek conception of justice. For Rawls, the conception of justice is based on “inviolability of human dignity.”
- sociologist Emile Durkheim famously argued, is that the division of labor is a fundamental fact of modern life because it is an efficient way to accomplish a variety of complex tasks
- Justice comes from reason within man. Only men of reason can do justice and hence they must only be allowed to rule.
- He says justice is superior to power.
- Outcome of justice is a peaceful society.
- For Plato justice demands that knowledge should have supreme position in society. Hence the concept of philosopher king to establish a just state
- Sabine: for Plato justice is the bond that holds the society together.
- Barker: entire Plato's thought is hinged around the concept of justice.
- Theory of education:
- Acc to Plato, to develop ideas on a just society it is very important to have education .
- To develop a just society people must perform the duties they are fit to perform.
- To decide upon who would perform what duties in a state, Plato gives theory of education.
- 50 years of process of education
- Elements of theory of education:
- State-sponsored education
- Strict oversight over education
- A woman can get education
- Subjects like philosophy literature and math, and compulsory military training
- after completing this process of education, person would become eligible for philosopher king
- ”state is individual writ large”
- Purpose is to create an ideal state.
- made in context of theory of justice(to create a just state)
- State is an idea whose concrete manifestations are its citizens.
- If people are not just, the state won’t be just. Shows continuity between politics and ethics.
- principles governing conduct of state and individual are parallel
- state is formed on the ideas of Men.
- men of ideas create an ideal state which then create a just society. A just society creates a peace and order
- These principles of justice found at individual level must then be applied to state.
- As first feminist:
- says women do not suffer from any natural disability wrt getting educated. He even talks about philosopher queen
- some say he wanted liberation of women not for the sake of women but to utilize their service for the state
- “For no law is mightier than knowledge”
- means no restriction on the powers of the king
- law represents average wisdom but phi king is the symbol of knowledge
- Law is rigid and silent at some places, hence there we need to rely on the wisdom of the phi king
- Criticism :
- law is impersonal whereas phi cannot be devoid of passion. Law is reason without passion
- Aristotle : law represents collective wisdom of ages, hence preferred over wisdom of one person
- Philosopher king in practice would result in despotism and dictatorship.
- Plato finally modified his views and established centrality to the rule of law in his book:” the laws”
CRITICS:
ARISTOTLE ( greatest disciple and greatest critic especially his theory of communism of private property and family)
- Plato is an idealist and believes in ideal state. Aristotle is pragmatic and believes in best practicable state
- Plato is radical and a perfectionist. Wants far changing reforms. Aristotle is conservative. Believes in principle of golden mean. Believes that every institution has a utility and it is better to reform than to abolish.
- Plato’s diagnosis that even philosopher king has appetite and can indulge in corruption but is correct but prescription is wrong. Aristotle says property gives man a sense of achievement, a source of motivation. Men with property would want a peaceful order so as to protect their property. Says everyone’s property is no one’s responsibility
- On family he says it is a time tested institution. Very imp for emotional stability. Plato undermines the institution of marriage as only for progeny and not for companionship.
- Property and family led to corruption is right but abolishing them is not a solution. says remedy cannot be worse than the disease
- KARL POPPER - Was a western scholar who tried to find out roots of anti democratic ideas in western world.
- Books-
- open society and it's enemies- calls him enemy of open society.
- the spell of Plato-Says who do not agree with him are seduced by Plato's style of writing.
- He gave three basic arguments to prove his point:
- Wholism: society more imp than individual . Advocates holistic changes in society,state,education,marriage according to his mode of thought.
- Essentialism: there are certain essential truths, there are certain transcendental ideas. this leaves no scope for critical examination or questioning. Socrates promotes dialectics whereas Plato ends scope for dialectics
- Historicism: all totalitarian scholars give a certain perspective of history which suits them. Their approach to history is teleological as if history moves in a certain manner., governed by certain laws and it has an end point. Plato gives a life cycle of ideal state through the use of history and creates a utopia to build that ideal state again.
- ISAIAH Berlin- calls Plato as a fascist.
- Ronald Levinson: book- “defense of Plato” when he is compared to Hitler says we are comparing the uncomparable and phi king was an Utopian idea and it was difficult to say it would be as fascist as Hitler.
- Conclusion:
- Ralph waldo Emerson had said that Plato is philosophy and philosophy is Plato.