Is Plato A Utopian Thinker? Philosophy Essay Example

Plato was a philosopher and educator in ancient Greece. He was one of the most important thinkers and writers in the history of Western culture. Plato was born in 429 BCE and died there in 348/7 in Athens. A utopia is an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect. In the Republic, written around 380 BCE, he lays out the grounds for this at once pessimistic and optimistic evaluation.

The dialogue between philosophers at the commencement of Book 1 explaining Plato’s quest for the sense of justice, is a representation that he is a Utopian Thinker. Justice is, for Plato, formerly a part of human virtue and the relationship, which connects man together in society. The reply from Socrates to Thrasymachus, “Justice is much more valuable than gold, and you must not think we shall slacken our efforts to it out of any idiotic deference to each other” (336e), reveals wherewith profoundly Plato views justice and more importantly its definition. He views justice as the ultimate form of good, the quest itself for fairness to relish a ‘just’ life, and his expectation for others to do so too is a piece of evidence for which Plato is a Utopian thinker.

Plato originally recognizes the illusion of this utopia and then describes it. Establishing adamantly that justice is most important, fulfills part of the opening half of the definition of utopia that the just city is simply an envisioned place. The ‘just city’ bases its purposes, structure, and role on an ideology of which Plato believes is the final good. Plato would not align  with today’s democracy in the United States. He states “The society we have described can never grow into a reality, till philosophers become rulers in this world, and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.” Plato. Envisions a time and state where all people are guided by the government. The people are to live “the good life” with richness and money, but have no executive power. Plato’s opinions of a “perfect utopian state” would require removing power from the people and allowing the philosopher officials to govern.

Plato expects the society described in the Republic to be a utopia that is not a minor utopia. The first part pictures a utopia or perfect nation; the second part describes "philosopher," the nature of the person who should govern a utopia; and the third part discusses various kinds of laws for the government. In  T.Z. Lavine, From Socrates to Sartre All of our thinking processes, including all our logic, is governed by these three laws, which also define our natural impulsion from one idea to another, and they individually govern our scientific ideas. For a perfect utopia, Plato states   “That's what education should be," I said, "the art of orientation. Teachers should devise the simplest and most effective methods of turning minds around.” Plato, his perfect society are developed by way of a stern education and rigid suppression. 

He says “If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.” ― Plato. Plato also advocates the sharing of women and children and complete equality between the sexes, who will receive the same education from the state. Mating takes place according to eugenic policies, and distorted or inferior children are "put aside."According to the statement “Put aside”, Plato wished to rid the population of people with disabilities because he felt that they did not have a quality of life associated with human dignity.

Conclusion 

A utopian society allows people to be free to do whatever they want.“Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.”  Plato. In Plato's utopia, the state will also lie to the people when necessary for their own good. He describes a utopia where all people are under the control of a government. The people are to live "the good life" with luxury and wealth but have no political power. Meanwhile, mating takes place according to eugenic principles, and deformed or inferior children are "put away". Such a statement from Plato really makes me wonder if he had everyone in mind while talking about the utopian society or is it a race of may the strongest win.