Plato's criticism of democracy

Now, Plato as a matured philosopher and a political thinker, launches more sophisticated counter-arguments against democracy, fundamentally by ‘putting into question the peoples’ ability to rule justly’ (http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/Plato’s+Critique+of+Democracy). First of all, ‘The Athenian belief that all men are equal and so should have an equal opportunity in politics is severely criticised by Plato’ (ibid) because those elected by popular vote are ‘not the wisest and ablest… but the demagogues best versed in oration and rhetoric’ (ibid), who have ‘no skill or aim other than the desire for power itself’ (ibid). Subsequently, Plato accuses ‘Democratic governance, with its ultimate goal being liberty’ (ibid) of being ‘prone to the rise of anarchy and rebellion due to a distinct lack of discipline, sense of duty and respect for order’ (ibid). In short, ‘Pervasive liberty means that people are free to do what they desire, not what they are suited to… In this way a democratic society is one which obeys its basest wants… those of food, sex and money, above the more civilly beneficial elements of the psyche: reason and indignation’ (ibid), therefore, ‘the fundamental ideal upon which democracy is built’ (ibid) is to be blamed because ‘full liberty leads to anarchy’ (ibid). 

Plato

Finally, and most importantly, Plato points out inherent class tensions as his ‘most damning criticism of the democratic system. Plato makes evident the disunity between the classes, with a distinct lack of respect and discipline in the ordinary citizen for authority. This stems from the lack of incentive for the ruled to submit to the decisions of the rulers’ (ibid). In summary, Plato argues that ‘outright liberty and political equality do not provide true happiness and justice for the majority of citizens or in the state itself’ (ibid), in line with this, he ‘values overall happiness and justice far more than liberty’ (ibid) of individuals. As a result, ‘An important element of Plato’s imagined utopian city is that people must commit to the profession in which they have natural talent. This corresponds to a sense of social justice and a unified and efficient society, a level of cohesion which Plato does not believe can be achieved in democracy’ (ibid). Consequently, Plato ‘advocates rule by not the greatest orator or panderer but the greatest and most morally righteous of citizens’ (ibid) – in other words, philosopher kings.

For reading the text in full: http://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/platos-republic-with-its-historical-background/

Athenian intellectuals - including Plato - on democracy

Plato, as a young man, began his writing career most likely being passionately provoked by the death of his mentor Socrates. He grew up in Athens through the political turmoil with the Peloponnesian War in its background. During that period, he must have witnessed a couple of fatal political wrong doings – the execution of eight generals in 406 BCE and of Socrates in 399 – both took place under the rule of democracy, which eventually led Athens to the defeat in the war. Plato must have formed his political views based on some intellectual anti-democrats during that time, including his mentor Socrates and one of whose pupils Xenophon. It is said that these intellectuals, including Plato himself, allegedly argued that ‘the majority of the people, because they were by and large ignorant and unskilled, would always get it wrong. In these intellectuals’ view, government was an art, craft or skill, and should be entrusted only to the skilled and intelligent, who were by definition a minority. They denied specifically that the sort of knowledge available to and used by ordinary people, popular knowledge if you like, was really knowledge at all. At best it was mere opinion, and almost always it was ill-informed and wrong opinion’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml). 

Xenophon

Moreover, probably taking an example of Pericles into their account, they viewed that the masses were ‘easily swayed by specious rhetoric – so easily swayed that they were incapable of taking longer views or of sticking resolutely to one, good view once that had been adopted. The masses were, in brief, shortsighted, selfish and fickle, an easy prey to unscrupulous orators who came to be known as demagogues. Demagogue meant literally ‘leader of the demos’ (‘demos’ means people); but democracy’s critics took it to mean mis-leaders of the people, mere rabble-rousers’ (ibid). Ultimately, Xenophon concluded in a fictional conversation between Pericles and Alcibiades, in his work Memoirs of Socrates, that ‘democracy is really just another form of tyranny’ (ibid).

For reading the text in full: http://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/platos-republic-with-its-historical-background/

Athenian democracy: condemnation of eight generals and Socrates

In 406 BCE, during the period of restored democracy, Athens experiences ‘the biggest single practical blunder in the democracy’s history: the trial and condemnation to death of all eight generals involved in the pyrrhic naval victory at Arginusae. The generals’ collective crime, so it was alleged by Theramenes (formerly one of the 400 [oligarchs]) and others… was to have failed to rescue several thousands of Athenian citizen survivors. Passions ran high… during a crucial Assembly meeting, over which Socrates may have presided… The resulting decision to try and condemn to death the eight generals collectively only hastened Athens’ eventual defeat in the war’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml). Eventually, ‘In 404 BCE, the Spartans caught the Athenian fleet on the beach at Aegospotamoi (“Goat Islands”) and destroyed it. After a period of siege, while the Spartans blockaded the harbors of Athens, the city surrendered, and its fortunes fell into the hands of the so-called Thirty Tyrants. These were Athenians selected by the Spartans to form a puppet government by the Spartans (http://www.stoa.org/projects/demos/article_democracy_development?page=6).Though this tyranny ‘lasted only one year before pro-democracy forces regained control of the city’s affairs’ (ibid), it should be pointed out that the Thirty Tyrants included Critias, one of Plato’s relatives. 

Socrates

Soon after the restoration of democracy, in 399, Plato’s mentor Socrates ‘ was charged with impiety… and, a separate alleged offence, corrupting the young’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml). In other words, Socrates was condemned for his religious views ‘were deeply unorthodox, his political sympathies were far from radically democratic, and he had been the teacher of… Critias’ (ibid). In the trial, Socrates didn't do ‘anything to help defend his own cause, so that more of the 501 jurors voted for the death penalty than had voted him guilty as charged in the first place. By Athenian democratic standards of justice,… the guilt of Socrates was sufficiently proven’ (ibid). This trial and the execution of Socrates took place in front of his disciples’ eyes and thus ‘it helped decisively to form one of democracy’s – all democracy’s, not just the Athenian democracy’s – most formidable critics: Plato’ (ibid).

For reading the text in full: http://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/platos-republic-with-its-historical-background/

Athenian democracy : 'Old Oligarch' and the oligarchy of 400

One of the earliest criticisms against Athenian democracy that having been heavily modified by Pericles, came from ‘an Athenian writer whom we know familiarly as the “Old Oligarch”… His short and vehement pamphlet was produced probably in the 420s, during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War, and makes the following case: democracy is appalling, since it represents the rule of the poor, ignorant, fickle and stupid majority over the socially and intellectually superior minority, the world turned upside down’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml). However, such criticism from ‘an oligarch’, who might have represented the traditional ruling class now facing the problem of losing its dominance in politics, did not seem to be heard because ‘at the time of writing, Athens was the greatest single power in the entire Greek world’ (ibid) and ‘the ultimate source of Athens’ power was its navy’ (ibid), which relied on the arms of the thetes, in effect ‘the poorest section of the Athenian citizen population(ibid).
Nevertheless, as the war continued, Athenian politics changed its course in the following way:

‘In 415, after an interlude of relative peace in the war between Athens and Sparta, the Demos of Athens undertook an invasion of Sicily. This adventure was an utter disaster, resulting in the destruction of an Athenian fleet and an army of Athenian citizens… In the aftermath, certain citizens took steps to move the government of the city away from the radical democracy that—they thought—was leading the city to ruin… Shortly thereafter, in 411 BCE, the Athenians brought an end to their democracy and instituted an oligarchy by, first, appointing ten “Commissioners”… These Commissioners proposed a new Council, consisting of 400 men, with service limited to the wealthier citizens… This oligarchic government lasted only four months before it was replaced by another government in which the power was in the hands of 5000 Athenians’ (http://www.stoa.org/projects/demos/article_democracy_development?page=6).

Invasion of Sicily

For reading the text in full:  http://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/platos-republic-with-its-historical-background/

Pericles and 'radical democracy'

It would be useful to review the course of history by winding the clock backwards to the glorious days of Athenian democracy, especially its culmination under the rule of Pericles, who ‘ was elected repeatedly to the office of Strategos during the period from 454 to 429 BCE – though not for every year during that period’ (http://www.stoa.org/projects/demos/article_democracy_development?page=6). By holding the office of Strategos, Pericles ‘was able to address the Athenians meeting in their Assembly on matters he deemed important’ (ibid) and his political achievement could be summarised as a couple of following points: ‘the so-called “Periclean Building Program”, which produced the monumental architecture we see today on the Athenian Acropolis, and the expansion of Athenian imperialism’ (ibid). Even though these achievements brought Athens glorious fame and prosperity for a time, it could be argued that whilst the latter consequently led to her catastrophic downfall by provoking the Peloponnesian War, the former may have contributed to undermine her political system by changing the rules for enabling Pericles to stabilise his political status and power for a longer term. In other words, by holding the office of Strategos, Pericles ‘could introduce business for discussion in a meeting of the Assembly on his own authority, without going through normal channels’ (ibid) and consequently, he ‘could wield extraordinary influence over the affairs and policies of the city’ (ibid). Nevertheless, the office of Strategos was ‘one of the few in the Athenian democracy that was elected, rather than chosen randomly by lot’ (ibid) because ‘It was also the only office which an Athenian could hold for multiple successive terms’ (ibid).

Pericles

Before Pericles came into the power, there was an era called Cleisthenic democracy, in which ‘only those who could afford to participate in political affairs did so’ (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rauhn/radical_democracy.htm). There was also ‘a traditional perception of Greco-Roman culture held that only those who participated in the military defense of their societies could claim the right to participate in political life’ (ibid). In this circumstance, Pericles made a drastic change by enabling ‘thousands of landless, poor Athenian males, the thetes (landless free commoners), to participate in the democracy’ (ibid) with introducing so-called Radical democracy, in which ‘Athenian citizens were paid by the state to participate in public affairs’ (ibid). In practice, ‘The role of the thetes in the Athenian fleet and in the construction of the Athenian empire gave them newfound legitimacy in politics’ (ibid). Moreover, Pericles even ‘created allowances for public festivals, fees for jury service and other grants and gratuities’ (ibid). In this way, Pericles created a political system ‘in which poorer voters voted in massive numbers to support his political agendas’ (ibid), nonetheless, such radical ‘development marked a dramatic transformation in the character of Athenian society, its population, and its social structure’ (ibid).

Before moving to the next stage, it would be noteworthy to point out his talent as an orator as it has been said that ‘Pericles was merely one of ten elected Generals. His “policies” came into effect merely because his office afforded him a platform from which to address the Demos, and his evident talents as a speaker allowed him to persuade the Demos to adopt his ideas as their own' (http://www.stoa.org/projects/demos/article_democracy_development?page=6). Pericles suddenly dies of plague at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in 429 BC, before he could ‘train other politicians adequately to assume the reins in his place. After more than 17 years of direction by one man, the Athenian democracy became at a loss to know how to pursue the war or to maintain the empire that Pericles had created’ (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rauhn/radical_democracy.htm).

For reading the text in full: http://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/platos-republic-with-its-historical-background/

Plato's Republic - outline

Whilst most of world leaders and politicians today approve democracy as the best form of political governance, nonetheless, this political system has never been immune to criticism as well. One of the most famous, and probably the strongest such criticisms, can be found in one of the best known books ever written, by one of the most prominent philosophers and political thinkers through out the Western history, Plato. It is widely acknowledged that Plato’s Republic ‘was probably written before 368 BC when the author was in his fourth to fifth decade’ (http://jme.bmj.com/content/24/4/263.full.pdf) with its title in Greek as ‘Politea, which can be rendered something closer to “forms of government” or perhaps “constitution.”’ (http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/content/plato). 

Republic is written in ‘the form of a Socratic dialogue which details the workings of Plato’s imagined ideal state (a meritocracy or “philosophocracy”), in so doing defining the imperfections in extant political methods’ (http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/Plato’s+Critique+of+Democracy). Despite democracy was ‘arguably the greatest achievement of ancient Athens’ (ibid), in Republic, Plato ‘ranks both timocracy and oligarchy as favourable to democracy and maintains that only tyranny is a less preferable form of government’ (ibid). Meanwhile, in his real life, Plato actually lived and witnessed political turmoil and downfall of Athens, from ‘the golden age of Athenian democracy and power – under the rule of Pericles’ (http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/content/plato) in the second half of the 5th century BCE to the Peloponnesian War (431 – 404 BCE), which ‘resulted in Athens’ defeat and the temporary overthrow of Athenian democracy’ (ibid). In other words, ‘he saw an older, supposedly better, world crumbling around him, and he wanted to understand what had gone wrong and how it could be fixed’ (http://philosophynow.org/issues/90/Platos_Just_State).

For reading the text in full: http://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/platos-republic-with-its-historical-background/

Soeren Kierkegaard’s pseudonyms

Soeren Kierkegaard is well known for his use of several pseudonyms for publishing philosophical works. For example, when one of his famous works The Concept of Anxietywas originally published in 1844, its official title was printed in the following way: The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically-Oriented Reflection on the Dogmatic Problem of Original Sin by Vigilius Haufniensis.

It is said that this pseudonym, Vigilius Haufniensis, means ‘watchman of Copenhagen’ and taking the subtitle of the work into the consideration, it is argued that this pseudonym could be recognised as following: ‘As a “watchman” it would seem that Kierkegaard is aware of his own importance to the well-being of his city.’ (http://sorenkierkegaard.org/concept-of-anxiety.html)

The author of the website quoted above also gives interesting views on Kierkegaard’s another pseudonym with providing a concise annotation on the two best known works by the Danish philosopher:

‘He would more profoundly fulfil that role (of a watchman) in 1854 when he attacked the church. The companion piece, The Sickness Unto Death, is taken over by the pseudonym Anti-Climacus because Kierkegaard had ceased to use all other previous pseudonyms after 1848, when he began his period of direct communication.

It is largely through this work (The Concept of Anxiety) and The Sickness Unto Death that Kierkegaard has been called the father of modern psychology. In this work he posits anxiety as a necessary state preceding the qualitative leap of faith into Christianity. Kierkegaard focuses his examination on the Christian doctrine of original sin. The subtitle of the work illuminates the study…He tells us in his introduction that dogmatics will prevail over philosophy, but dogmatics understood in its psychological effects.’ (ibid)

Soeren Kierkegaard