EARLY LIFE
CONTIN…..
• Academy continued to flourish, and Plato spent most of his time guiding
and inspiring his disciples.
Important Points:-
• Plato was born in 427 B.C.
• His period (427 B.C.-347 B.C.) was an era of great historical importance .
• During his lifetime he witnessed the most troubled period of Greek
history and before he died, he could see Macedonian militarism sweeping
everything before it .
• The other important developments of his lifetime were the defeat of
Athens in wars against spartas , the establishment of tyrannical rule of
reactionaries , execution of his master (socrates) by the reactionaries .
CONTIN….
• The execution of Socrates particularly filled his heart with
scorn for democracy and mob .
• He left his native state and spent most of the time paying
visits to Greece , Egypt and Italy .
• He returned to Athens in 386 B.C. and set up an Academy ,
which is often described as the first university of the
Ancient world.
WORKS OF PLATO
WORKS OF PLATO
• The Republic (386 B.C.)
• The Statesman (360 B.C.)
• The Laws (347 B.C.)
• Apology
• Crito
• Meno
• Protagoras
• Gorgias
INFLUENCES ON PLATO’S THOUGHT
THE REPUBLIC
THE REPUBLIC
• Theory of Justice
• Theory of Education
• Philosopher King
• Ideal State
• Communism of Wives and Property
RULE OF
PHILOSOPHER KING
RULE OF PHILOSOPHER KING
FEATURES
• Unlimited Power
• Lover of Wisdom
• Interest of philosopher king and interest of state
• Philosopher king is product of comprehensive and rigorous training
• Absolute Power
FEATURES OF PLATO’S RULE OF PHILOSOPHER KING
CRITICISMS OF PHILOSOPHER KING
• Tyrannical government
• Rule of minority
• Against the notion of equality
• Rejection of law
• Highly defective
• Interest of philosopher king and interest of state
• Incompatible education system
• Selfish motive of Plato
• Highly Utopian
PLATO’S PHILOSOPHY AS
EXPOUNDED IN THE
LAWS
POLITICAL STRUCTURE
• General Assembly
• Guardians of Law
• Members of Council
• Judicial Organization
• Nocturnal Council
TRIPLE BALLOT SYSTEM FOR ELECTION OF GUARDIAN OF LAW
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OR POPULAR ASSEMBLY= 5040 MEMBERS
37
300 100 member of
members members Guardian
of Law
CONTIN……
• The main functions of the Popular Assembly was to elect 37 Guardians of Law and
360 Members of the Council. The members of the Councils were elected on the
basis of classes while the Guardians of Law were elected on the basis of the triple
ballot.
JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION
NOCTURNAL COUNCIL
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
PROPERTY BASED CLASS
• First Class:- Personal Property = equal to value of their land
• Second Class:-Personal Property = more than the value of their land but did not exceed
twice the value of their land.
• Third Class:- Personal Property = three times the value of their land.
• Fourth Class:- Personal Property = four times the value of their land.
SCHEME OF EDUCATION
EDUCATION
• Primary Education:-
• Cradle to age of 10 years
• Cradle to 3 years:- Jump and Play
• 3-6 years:- Light Exercise
• 6-10 years:- Actual Physical Education
• Secondary Education:-
• 10-16 years:- Literature, music, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic
• Plato also insisted on military training
PLATO’S THEORY
OF EDUCATION
PLATO’S THEORY OF EDUCATION
METHODS OF PLATO’S EDUCATION
FEATURES OF PLATONIC SYSTEM
OF EDUCATION
• State controlled education
• Compulsory Education
• Equal education for men and women
• Plato’s education was meant for artisans as well as peasant
also
• Strict censorship for all literary and artistic work
• Plato’s education aimed at moral as well as physical
development of the child
FEATURES OF PLATONIC SYSTEM OF
EDUCATION
CURRICULUM OF EDUCATION
EDUCATION
Plato
Curriculum
of
education
Elementary Higher
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
Age 0-6 Years:- religion, religious
Group institutions.
6-18 Years:- music, gymnastics.
18-20 Years:- military
education.
HIGHER EDUCATION
HIGHER EDUCATION
Age 20-30 Years:- mathematics,
Group astronomy, logic and other sciences.
30-35 Years:- dialectics
CRITICISM OF HIS SCHEME OF
EDUCATION
• Only for Guardian class
• Lifelong process
• Far removed from reality
• Censorship for art and literature
• Lack of art of administration
• Contrary to human psychology
• Plato seems to be constantly wavering between the ideal of
action and ideal of contemplation
CRITICISM OF HIS SCHEME OF EDUCATION
PLATO’S VIEW ON
JUSTICE
PLATO’S VIEW ON JUSTICE
TRADITIONAL THEORY OF JUSTICE- IMPORTANT
POINTS
• Propounded by Cephalus and Polemarchus
• Cephalus and Polemarchus defined justice as speaking the truth and paying what was due
to Gods and Men .
• It also contended that justice should be so administered that good is done to the friends
and harm to the enemies .
• It considered justice as an art .
THE RADICAL THEORY OF JUSTICE- IMPORTANT
POINTS
• Propounded by Thrasymachus
• Interest of the stronger
• Might is right
• Injustice is better than justice
• Unjust man is wiser than the just man
PRAGMATIC THEORY OF JUSTICE- IMPORTANT
POINTS
• Glaucon
• He treaties justice as an artificial thing , a product of the social convention
• Justice is the child of fear and is based on the necessity of the weak
• There was no justice in the pre –civil society and it is the weaker sections who joined
hand to create the state
CONTIN…..
Spirit
Reason Appetite
Plato says that
every
individual’s soul
possess three
characters
CLASS AND CHARACTERISTICS
Class Characteristics
Ruler Reason
Soldier Spirit
Peasant Appetite
CONTIN….
Organization. He is also confused between moral duty and legal obligation.
QUESTION-1
• Explain ‘Traditional theory of Justice’?
PLATO’S THEORY
OF COMMUNISM
OF WIVES AND
PROPERTY
COMMUNISM OF PROPERTY
• Realizing that private property was a stumbling block in the
way of the unity of the state , he sought to eliminate it
through communism of property .He feared that the
possession of private property would give rise to selfish
consideration and deviate the attention of the philosopher
rules from public service . He therefore deprived the two
ruling classes of the right to property .
CONTIN…..
• In the words of Sabine Plato felt that “To cure the greed of
rulers there is no way short of denying them the right to
call anything their own .” He insisted that the rulers should
live in barracks and have meals at common tables . They
should not possess private property because it was bound
to undermine the value of virtue , which was the most
important ingredient of the ruling class .
CONTIN…..
• It may be noted that Plato’s communism is meant only for
the guardian class and expects them to make renunciation
of private property . The guardians renounce the property
and family for the good of the society .
• In the words of Barker “Platonic communism is ascetic and
just for that reason it is also aristocratic .” It is imposed on
the best and only on the best .
CRITICISM OF COMMUNISM OF
PROPERTY
• Acquisition or ownership is natural instinct of man
• Plato’s scheme of communism is meant only for the ruling
classes and excludes the workers , peasants etc .
• The abolition of the institution of private property is bound
to destroy the sentiments of charity and benevolence , the
essential of a healthy society .
CONTIN…..
• Loss of production
• Excessive unity and over centralization
• The real progress of society depends on development of
distinct interest by individuals
• Material remedy for spiritual disease
• Plato completely neglects the slaves
COMMUNISM OF WIVES
• Plato’s concept of communism of wives is the logical
extension of his scheme of communism of property . He
fully realized that the abolition of the institution of private
property without the abolition of the family would result in
the failure of his scheme and private property would
appear in some different form . He was convinced that man
always gives priority to the interest of his family and
children over broader interests of the nation .He therefore
laid great emphasis on communism of wives .
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
COMMUNISM OF WIVES
• Only for guardian class
• Loyalty of the state
• No system of permanent wedding
• All guardians are to live together in common barracks
CONTIN…..
• Temporary mating
• All children soon after their birth were to be separated
from their mothers
• Big Family of guardian class
• No place for weak and disfigured children
• Common ownership of wives by the guardian class
REASONS FOR COMMUNISM OF
WIVES
• Unity
• Emancipation of Women
• Eugenic ground
ARISTOTLE’S CRITICISM
• Difference between family and state
• Social disharmony
• Children under Plato’s communism shall not be able to
grow into healthy and balanced children because they shall
not be able to get the care and nourishment which is
possible in a family
• It is absurd to apply the analogy of animals to the human
beings and plead for state-controlled mating
CONTIN…..
• Majority of the citizens are not covered by it
• Plato wrongly treats the institution of marriage as a
mechanical process
GENERAL CRITICISM
• Difference between men and women
• Spiritual relation of husband and wife
• Opposite of human sentiments
• It is difficult to understand how a happy state can exist
without happy families
