“Those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.” (Rowling) A political leader, or political figure, is a person who is in charge of influencing public policy and decision making. In terms of leadership, there is no way to accurately outline an ideal leader for all situations. The ideal leader is something that can only be developed in terms of the people that it happens to be ruling. This does not necessarily mean that there is no base scale for a good leader- it simply means that all leading situations are unique, and ideal ruling powers must be developed in accordance to the people …show more content…
Republic has long been regarded as the go-to text when it comes to attempting to create an ideal government. However, the idea of leaders is mildly warped within this text simply because Plato has also gone out of his way to place beneath this leader an ideal society, making the ruler seem slightly unrealistic. Within Plato’s description of the ideal leader, his society is broken down into three specific classes, each of which has their own place in the functioning of society. “Here we see why Plato puts so much emphasis on education of the philosopher-kings. He thinks that the laws governing them are the most fundamental when it comes to being a defender of freedom properly understood, not of repression.” (Reeve) This is one of the most significant aspects of Plato’s leadership because it describes the way in which these leaders are brought up. Plato’s ideal political leaders are selected and educated from the time of birth up until about age 50. Every aspect of these individuals’ lives is strictly controlled for the very purpose of ruling, something that is much different from both Machiavelli and Marcus Aurelius. Would you like us, then to consider how such men are to be produced in a city, and how they shall be brought up into the light . . . Remember that this, as it seems, is no spinning of a shell, it’s more than a game.” (Republic, …show more content…
Parallel results are presented for parental traits and implicit leadership theories whereby idealized leadership images mirror descriptions of parental traits.” (Keller) The idea of the ideal ruler is one that is not uniform simply because there is such a vast expanse of leadership situations. The theories on leadership developed within Machiavelli’s The Prince, Plato’s Republic and Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations are all correct when being viewed from the perspective of the specific population that is being governed. Both Marcus Aurelius and Plato write their theories on leadership from a perspective of a rather peaceful attaining of power, and therefore their ideal methods of governing are rather similar. Machiavelli on the other hand focuses his ideal leadership theory on one that is developed from the perspective of an individual that has had to forcefully take over, resulting in the people being uneasy about the new leadership. It is impossible to universally define the qualities of a good leader, and expect that quality of ideal leadership to prevail in all situations when it is put to the test. Keeping that in mind, all three men were correct in their observations of ideal leadership, because there is nothing uniform about
In Plato’s Republic Book IV, Socrates sets out to convince Glaucon that a person acts with three different parts of the soul, rather than with the soul as a whole. He does this by presenting Glaucon with a variety of situations in which parts of the soul may conflict with one another, and therefore not acting together. Socrates describes the three parts of the soul as the rational part, or that which makes decisions, the appetitive part, or that which desires, and the spirited part, or that which gets angry (436a).
Throughout the centuries, this world has maintained various leaders that have ruled far and wide, or a small domain. All of which had various roles, morals, goals, etc.; some infamous, some admired, and some truly despised. There is a vast amount of written works pertaining to become a great leader. Lao-Tzu and Niccoló Machiavelli are prime examples of people who have written works about the topic, yet their views and ideas differ greatly. Yet, despite their opposite views, their intake and thoughts about leadership, both Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli’s indulge logically and carefully on a more personal and human level.
World War I set the stage for instability and destruction of what World War II anticipated. In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and within two days France and Britain declared war on Germany which begun World War II. With an estimated death total of 35 to 60 million, 6 million included Jews who were taken by Nazi’s. Two days after Hitler committed suicide Germany surrenders to the Western Allies followed by the Soviets. September 2, 1945 declared the final ending of World War II.
However, Plato now describes the Democracy that has been implemented by the lower classes with the aim of leading onto the democratic character. With new freedom and liberty, the average individual will arran...
As in other areas of “The Republic,” Plato carefully outlines the delineations which form the basis for the types of rulers to be installed in the state. “Rulers” (legislative and udicial), “Auxiliaries” (executive), and “Craftsmen” (productive and fficacious) are the titles of the categories and are based, not on birth or wealth, but on natural capacities and aspirations. Plato was convinced that children born into any class should still be moved up or down based on their merits regardless of their connections or heritage. He believes the citizens of the State will support and benefit from such a system and presents the idea in the form of an allegorical myth.
To understand Plato's arguments concerning the rise of tyrants from democracy, one must first examine how Plato suggests that democracy evolves from oligarchy. Plato sees democracy as a degeneration of oligarchy, something that evolves from a failure to be properly disciplined and restrained in the fulfillment of desires. A democratic person is not necessarily a mindless hedonist, he or she may even be restrained in many regards, but would deny no one the opportunity to be and argue that the mindless hedonist is just as virtuous and honorable as the spendthrift oligarch. Plato explains that a democratic man one who “surrend(ers) rule over himself to whichever desire comes along, as if it were chosen by lot, until it is satisfied; and after that to another, dishonoring none but satisfying al...
The Republic is Plato’s notion of an ideal state. Within the state, there is a hierarchal class system, which provides stability among the classes. Stability is achieved when each class performs their own duties and jobs, and does not interfere with the business of others. There are three hierarchal classes, the guardians and philosopher-kings, the auxiliaries, and the working class. With an increase in the power of the auxiliary class, a system was needed that would control the morals of the guardian class. The guardians are trained up through a strict curriculum which consists of music and gymnastics. Music is used to educate the soul, and gymnastics is used to train the body. They act on behalf of the good of the whole state, because through their education and their pursuit of knowledge, they have the moral capacity to seek “the good”.(505a)
Plato states that as the just city (i.e. an aristocratic society) develops, it will inadvertently fall into depravity, because despite the excellent constitutions of its wise leaders, they are still fallible human beings. He outlines four distinct forms of government—of which he considers to be depraved—that the just city will transform into, with each one being worse than its predecessors. The four systems, which are ordered by their appearances in the line of succession, are: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and finally tyranny. The focus of this essay will be on Plato’s criticisms of democracy. Since democracy is recognized and practiced by most of modern western societies, it is especially relevant and important to examine whether this model
Machiavelli wrote one of the most influential treatises on leadership that is still utilized in politics and management today. One of the defining conceptions he explores is locating a balance between being virtuous and righteous and practicing carefully selected deceit and cunning. Gilgamesh’s exhibition of leadership is much more primordial and archetypal, yet does more to highlight the inherent tragedy and emotional trauma present in such high-stakes situations. Ultimately, the differences in leadership between the two is a product of radically different eras, in which the notions of power and the state were at opposite ends of a spectrum, as were the structures that organize people.
Plato had divided different variations of ruling into four corrupt souls. Timarchic men want to have honor and victory but end up getting caught up striving for wealth. An oligarchic man just uses wealth and power to over see the city using all means necessary to continue his happiness. The democratic man see's everything as equal and is ok with living with equal desires. Democracy, a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives." Finally the tyrannical man who uses his in just lifestyle to crash and burn the city he's ruling into the ground. These are all the men discussed through out the Republic written by Plato (Plato, ppt7).
The second book of the Republic shows the repressive quality of Plato’s society. Plato, talking through Socrates, wants
One of Plato's goals in The Republic, as he defines the Just City, is to illustrate what kind of leader and government could bring about the downfall of his ideal society. To prevent pride and greed in leaders would ensure that they would not compromise the well being of the city to obtain monetary gains or to obtain more power. If this state of affairs becomes firmly rooted in the society, the fall to Tyranny begins. This is the most dangerous state that the City become on i...
The Republic is the most important dialogue within Plato's teaching of politics. It deals with the soul, which, as we know from the beginning, at the level where one must make choices and decide what one wants to become in this life, and it describes justice as the ultimate form of human, and the ideal one should strive for both in life and in state. Justice as understood by Plato is not merely a social virtue, having only to do with relationship between people, but virtue that makes it possible for one to build their own regime and reach happiness.
Notwithstanding the two philosophers’ different views on abstract concepts, Machiavelli’s virtù to fortuna is comparable to Plato’s Justice to Good. Each philosopher grants his ruler with a specific trait that deviates from the leader’s acquired knowledge of abstract concepts. Under their beliefs, the best ruler is the one who conforms to this virtuous trait--for Plato, Justice (Plato 519b-c), and for Machiavelli, virtù (Machiavelli, Prince 29). These traits then extend to a multitude of characteristics that define the careful instruction both philosophers laid out and that will allow the leader to directly change society into a worthy political
Through his many years of experience with Italian politics Machiavelli wrote “The Prince”; a how-to guide for new rulers. We are given descriptions of what a leader should do to effectively lead his country. A leader should be the only authority determining every aspect of the state and put in effect a policy to serve his best interests. These interests are gaining, maintaining, and expanding his political power. Machiavelli’s idea is that a ruler should use a variety of strategies (virtues) to secure his power. Machiavelli lists five virtues that a ruler should appear to have; being compassionate, trustworthy, generous, honest and religious. A ruler should possess all the qualities considered good by other people.