Tag: sociology

In Political Science, the most important concept around which the subject is built is The State. According to Plato in an Ideal State (i.e., the most suitable State for a human being to live in according to Plato) should be made up of three classes namely Ruling Class, Military Class and Economic Class.

Plato designed an education system based on various stages suited to the age of the students from childhood to adulthood. He also devised methods of eliminations as higher stages of education is reached by human beings depending on the proportion of the three parts of their souls namely reason, spirit and appetite. Persons who are found suited to fulfill economic duties of the State are separated from the ones suited for Ruling and Military services. In the second process of elimination, the persons suited for the ruling are given special training to become what Plato calls Philosopher Kings to rule his Ideal State.

Plato was a disciple of Socrates who was one of the foremost philosophers of Greece. During his time there was great chaos in the political life of Athens which was a Greek City State.

Plato  was a disciple of Socrates who was one of the foremost philosophers of Greece. During his time there was great chaos in the political life of Athens which was a Greek City State. This resulted in the Athenian government condemning Socrates to death because of his teachings. This greatly affected Platos views on politics especially in Athens.

Plato's idea of a constitution is much different from the modern understanding of this term. By constitution, he meant a particular way of life the people of a society have designed for their wellbeing. This included social customs, traditions, practices and also politics and government to oversee all these.

In about 387 BCE Plato founded his Academy. The name Academy comes from the name of a famous Athenian hero called Akademos. Here Plato taught Political Philosophy which contained politics, ethics, mathematics and sociology.

The three most important works of Plato are The Republic (386 BCE), The Statesman (360 BCE) and The Laws (347 BCE). Apart from these works, he has written a number of other smaller books.

Plato said, "Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty". He also said that there is a tendency of Aristocracy to degenerate into Timocracy, Timocracy into Oligarchy, Oligarchy into Democracy and Democracy into Tyranny.

Plato's Theory of Forms asserts that the physical world is not really the 'real' world; instead, ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world. Plato's philosophy asserts that there are two realms: the physical realm and the spiritual realm. The physical realm is the material stuff we see and interact with on a daily basis; this physical realm is changing and imperfect, as we know all too well. The spiritual realm, however, exists beyond the physical realm. Plato calls this spiritual realm the Realm of Forms (also called the Realm of Ideas or Realm of Ideals). Plato's Theory of Forms asserts that the physical realm is only a shadow, or image, of the true reality of the Realm of Forms.

Plato said, "Democracy is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequal alike."