Plato’s critics on Athenian way of life
With the conviction of Socrates, Plato, one of the great Socrates’ supporters, sees Athenians as prejudiced people who convict the innocent freeing the guilty. He observes “…his conviction resulted from his unwillingness to address the Athenians the way they would have liked him to do” (Plato 245).
Plato criticizes the way of arriving at judgment upon hearing the evidence set forth by the accusers who, though many hardly say anything true.
In support of his argument that paints the Athenian jury of 501 persons, as prejudiced, Plato prophesies, “the history will come to see his conviction as shameful for Athens” (Plato 386).
As reflected in arguments by many historians, Socrates’ death was voluntarily by mere fact that he did not intend to sacrifice his beliefs and political aspirations that he strongly subscribed to for the sake of acquaintance. Socrates’ arguments were solid and rigid.
Even in the light of death punishment, Socrates opted to die rather than honoring people with blurred and victimized capacity to reason. He could not have imagined sacrificing his moral principles that dictated his concerns in teaching about “the nature of virtue” (Plato 397).
It seems intriguing to arrive at a conclusion on how Athens jury arrived at a decision to execute an old man on impiety accounts initiated by a poet linking his teachings as catalysts of corrupting the youth.
Plato also worries about the capacity of the Athenians to change charges from one nature to the other, as it was difficult to determine whether Socrates’ charges were purely impiety, political in nature or a combination of both.
Plato’s concerns on Athens’ way of life stand out in the republic. Plato postulates an argument seeking to determine whether just people are happier than unjust people are.
To arrive at the premises of his argument, attempts are made to define what justice is in the first place from a philosophical perspective and literal dimensions, both of which are subjected to introspection to determine loopholes in the weight of thought.
The proposition of a just and perfect republic model in his argument, in a big way, reflects modeling a society that would seem completely opposite to that of Athenians. He indicated that, “Pleasures which are approved of by the lover of wisdom and reason are the truest” (Plato 441).
A jury from such a society should have treated Socrates case justly and without prejudices. In ‘The Republic’, he tries to compare a city ruled by independent thinkers-philosophers for instance Socrates, and dependent thinkers like the Athenians.
In addition, he also examines the roles of poets and philosophers in the society. Conflicting roles, as observed from ‘The Republic’, endow poets and philosophers with different approaches in reasoning and therefore the two never concur in arguments.
Plainly, these stand out as major reflections of concerns encountered in his former teacher’s case before the Athens’ jury.
The Laws’ Argument in Crito
The arguments of the laws in the Crito are persuasive. Laws form the basic guiding principles of any city. Since the people make the laws, they stand out as subject to the laws. The question therefore comes concerning who is greater between the laws and the people who make them.
Oscillating around the anticipated consequence of disobeying the laws of the land, results to doing what is right, as expected of a law-abiding person. For example, the scenario of Socrates features Crito comforting him with ideas of how to escape from prison.
Socrates reasons that doing as it subverts the force of law does not pass for the best thing to do as law-abiding citizens of Athens. Supposing Socrates had the ability to escape from the prison and exile in what he referred to as “well governed cities”.
What makes the cities well governed? If it were the laws of the cities, then what would be the perception of the dwellers of the cities towards Socrates?
As a coward of the action of the law, he could have avoided it in the first place by acting in a manner that pleased his accusers not by violating his rationale of being guided by reason: not force of masses.
Escaping from the prison amounts to disobedience of the laws: made by people. How then would he possibly articulate with people by the fact that he disobeyed the very laws that binds the people together? Certainly, this appears like retuning injustice with injustice: what Socrates refrains from as a just and reasonable person.
In ‘The Republic’, people regard democracy as “the most beautiful constitution (politea)” (Plato 327). However, Socrates criticizes the actions of a ‘democratic man’. Laws measure up to the will of the people.
In this context, as opposed to Crito, what worries Socrates is the distinction between the city and the laws since laws remain confined within particular cities. Democratic actions by a democratic person are tantamount to obeying the laws of the land/city.
The relationship between the two accounts of Socrates is that, democracy translates to a person acting in accordance to the expectation of thoughtful members of the society. In one way or another, laws serve similar objectives.
Can unjust man be truly happy?
In ‘The Republic’, there appears a tale of a man who supposedly possessed a ring, which conferred to him invisibility powers.
The argument emanating from the story is that, a man who lives a life purely worth to pass him for a just person would fall into unjust traps and individualistic acts and yet evade punishment if at all he possesses such a ring.
Plato subdivides soul into its constituent parts: desires or appetites, reason and indignation, further referred to as spirit. Whether a just man is happy or not, is a function of the manner in which he orders the three constituents of soul.
He notes, “…a just man is happy because his soul is well ordered, with reason ruling all, indignation supporting the rule of reason, and holding the desires in check” (Plato 191). A happy man is analogous to a society, which has gorgeous rules of law in force.
Military functions to support it while because of its support to the rule of law, the public enjoys the final product: peace and happiness. Supposing desires come first? Civil wars mushroom.
If any of the constituents of the soul takes the place of reason and becomes the propeller, the more the internal fights within a man takes place. Consequently, the man becomes unjust. The more the man conducts himself in unjust manner, the unhappier he becomes.
The worst of the predicament is the situation of tyranny. Many would consider tyrant the happiest person of all. He/she has a power sufficient to surpass all other people and share amounts, in almost everything, beyond his fair share.
Unfortunately, according to Plato, the person passes for the, “most miserable man. Far from being a ruler without equal, he is actually more a slave and a prisoner than anyone…” (Plato 194).
His desires imprison or enslave him. Outer physique of a person does not matter based on the deceptive nature of people’s perceptions. The tyrant never experiences happiness: he remains the only one who knows that.
The just man is not even recognized leave alone people getting an opportunity of scrutinizing his justness. However, while in that unknown myriad vast land, he remains happy.
Justice, Metaphysics and Epistemology
In ‘The Republic’, Crito Plato explores what justice means as portrayed in all of the rest of his earlier work. The aim of doing this is to demonstrate philosophically that, “the best part of a human being life is the one devoted to virtue and knowledge, for such a life will result in happiness” (Crito, and Plato 290).
Virtuous people have all their constituents of soul working in harmony and in an ordered manner as priory discussed. Towards the end of book IV, Plato depicts justice as psychic harmony, a state only realizable based on the existence of knowledge subject to metaphysical reality.
For administration of justice, the administrator must accept that justice itself exists. Such a person is perceived to have knowledge. On the other hand, a ruler who denies existence of justice but admits the existence of its forms does not have knowledge. Rather, such rulers have only beliefs.
Knowledge rests on platforms of what is true while on the other hand the objects of belief can be set out on what seems true or false. From a metaphysical approach, “one can have only beliefs about the particulars and particulars only beliefs, and only knowledge of forms and of forms one can only have knowledge” (Plato 306).
Such an argument suggests that the knowledge of justice differs from any justifiable belief. Plato argues, “Since one can only have knowledge of forms, one cannot have any false belief about forms” (308). Therefore, justice prevails in situations of adequate knowledge of the existence of various forms of justice.
The subjects to whom justice is ought to be administered to, will consequently get satisfied with the applicability of the various forms of justice.
Beliefs to the objects over which justice rests intermediates what completely justice is on one extreme with the other extreme showing what it is not. Accepting existence of justice forms the starting point of seeking and executing it.
Plato’s Concerns about Deterioration of Good Government in Book VIII
Socrates addresses the concept of disintegration of good governments by starting with an ideal state: Aristocratic state. The ideal state disintegrates into the first form characterized by corruption: timocracy. Such states function as the least unjust. Undying ambitions characterizes the timocratic man.
The next form of government in the disintegration process entangles a form of government whose rulers are avaricious sons of timocrats. “They are wealthy property owners” (Plato 92). Later a class, midway between the poor and the rich comes into being.
Through alliances comprising of the members of that class and the poor, revolutions initiated targets to overthrow oligarchy. Unfortunately, democracy characterizes disorderly states represented by a man with “unbridled appetites tamed only by enfeebled moral sense” (Plato 120).
Insatiable internal urges and unquenchable thirsts for freedom slowly convert democracy into its newborn form: tyranny. Ruthlessness acquired from the descendants of the tyranny man, makes him strain to establish his niche to survive. The man encounters a dilemma demanding a choice between ‘being killed’ and ‘killing’.
Individualism, emanating from his character, forces him to make the killing choice, an act he does till his opposition erasure takes place. The repercussions follow ranging from an enslaved state through escalated death threats and/or expulsion.
The ultimate effect of disintegration of good governments, according to book VIII, is excessive freedom, which Socrates associates with the worst kind of slavery.
From book VIII, lessons for the US modern day politics are incredible. The US inhibits politics of democracy. No political campaign fades away without a mention of the word ‘democracy’. Drawing from the repercussions of excessive freedom, the US needs to evaluate the direction headed by her politics.
The issue on whether democracy heads the politics of the US towards integration, a guiding based on reason, or toward emergence of a leadership dominated by individuals with undying appetites and avarice, as Socrates predicts in the disintegration process of good governments, needs a second thought.
Works Cited
Crito, and Plato. Republic. Oxford: Oxford paper backs, 1981.
Plato. A Defense of Socrates. Oxford: Oxford paper backs, 2008.