Plato :: essays research papers

Since the human beings came together and began to live communities, necessities to be administrated became the most important subject for human kind. There were said many things on this issue; there have been put many claims and interpretations on well, just and equal administration by many philosophers. They searched for the best administration that will guide people equally, just and well; that will provide sustainability, peace and prosperity between communities. In fact there are many forms of government that operating in the world. These regimes/forms of government are born from the characters of people who live in them and who are governed by them. It is necessary to mention something about Plato’s general theory in order to understand him very well. First of all Plato’s Republic is about a method of doing political philosophy. It is a systematic sustained treatence of issues, issues of just society, issues about state, issues about individual. These are all public things. He wanted to find an ultimate meaning of all these things; why they exist, how they should exist. He wanted to find absolute answer for these. So in this sense Plato’s Republic reaches old and known conclusion of major interests in their own right. His Republic provides epistemological and metaphysical combination for his political theory. According to Plato, a political society constitutes a natural whole that is own kind of excellent and well being. It means that society creates an aggregation individual, something more than that, and it has a natural existence. Individual and society can be defined as a unity and according to Plato a society and an individual are so similar that each has a proper and set of virtues. So for Plato, the character, opinion like attitudes of an individual are the product of society, and the individual has no existence without society. They imitate the society, if a society is right/just, the individual is right/just. Individuals drive their ability from society and they are trained in that way. According to Plato, the understanding of justice is about societal needs, which are common to all members of society. So society can satisfy members’ needs efficiently by dividing their labours. So people are born with their skills and virtues according to Plato. They would know these skill s and virtues when they grow up. If they are not fit for forming they should not do that. This is why importance/role of education come to discover each person’s skills.