Ideas And Morality In Plato's The Republic Of Plato

In The Republic of Plato, Plato presents a wide array of ideologies that span from his views on gender equality to what characteristics define a person’s soul. In his arguments he works through the cloud of reasoning to define the perfect society and the concepts that must be applied to achieve an organized form of government. Many of the concepts that Plato presents are still heavily evident in modern society, which is why the text is still used as a reflection for political ideas and morality. The views are expressed that each individual contains a distinct level of soul, denoting to their level of contributive virtues. This disperses the souls of individuals into three major sections, with each section respectively relating to how the dispersing

Each of these produces its own form of governing dependent upon who is given the power over others. This is how the subject of comparative politics arises and the consideration of superiority is questioned. Plato states that the governing of a state could be used in comparison to that of a ship. Should a crewman be put to charge over a captain when the captain has superior knowledge of the seas and direction? The crew members may think they have the capabilities of their captain and overthrow him in the process, but their judgement can likely rebound if their poorer navigation skills fail them. This is how Plato represents democracy and how it is established, through revolution and terrorizing those in control. “When the poor win, the result is democracy. They kill some of the opposite party, banish others, and grant the rest an equal share in civil rights and government, officials being usually appointed by lot” (P, 282). The belief is that something as powerful as government shouldn’t be given access to the common people in fear that the pursuit of the state will be driven by the desire of appetite and power. The cause for uprisings and the divergence of mindsets is represented by Plato’s famous parable the Allegory of the Cave. The basics of this illustration compares the experiences of those that only see shadows within a cave throughout their entire life to those that go outside and experience the reality of these images. Those that experience the truth of the world cannot fully relate to those that only know shadows of it. If a man that were fully accustomed to the radiance of the sun was to sit down with those in the cave and express his views of nature, the men that only know shadows will think of the enlightened man as a fool. “Is it at all strange that one who comes from the contemplation of divine things to the miseries of human