Tag: social stratification

The execution of Socrates, the wisest man in Greece, filled Plato with contempt for democracy and believed that it had to be replaced by the rule of the wisest. That's why Plato was against democracy.

Socrates 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. According to Socrates, some beliefs are objectively true, some beliefs are objectively false.

Plato said every human being is endowed with three qualities though in different proportions. He said these qualities are Reason, which resides in a person's head, Spirit which resides in a persons heart and Appetite which resides in a person's stomach. He said these are the three parts of the human soul.

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.