The human tendency to be corrupted by power leads down the road from timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny: ruling should be left to educated people whose only purpose is to govern in what is deemed a just manner, and who are somehow immune to corruption. That good state is depicted as being governed by scholar ruler; disinterested persons who rule not for their personal enjoyment but for the good of the state. The paradigmatic society which stands behind every historical society is hierarchical, but social classes have a marginal permeability; there are no slaves, no discrimination between men and women. The men and women are both to be taught the same things, so they are both able to be used for the same things. In addition to the ruling class of guardians, which abolished riches, there is a class of private producers, who may be rich or poor. A number of provisions aim to avoid making the people weak: the substitution of a universal educational system for men and women instead of debilitating music, poetry and theater—a startling departure from society. These provisions apply to all classes, and the restrictions placed on the scholar ruler chosen from the warrior class and the warriors are much more severe than those placed on the producers, because the rulers must be kept away from any source of corruption.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 07:48:25 +0000
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