Plato's Ideal State

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Plato’s Ideal State
This paper will discuss the different parts of Plato’s ideal state, as well as link them to the normative concepts of Property, Common/Public Good, and Justice. The discussion of justice will be lengthier than the others, on the grounds that it is the basis for a great deal of the discussion contained in Plato’s Republic. Each concept will be specifically discussed in its relation to the ideal state, as well as its function within the society.
Firstly, the state will consist of three parts. These parts will be kept separate so there will be no interference in their prescribed function. The three parts are as follows: rulers, who will attend to political affairs of the state, auxiliaries, who will protect the state, and craftsmen, who will provide their skills to the state. The citizens will be told a myth in order to control breeding outside of the class. A shortened version basically says that rulers have gold
Giraudo 2
blood, auxiliaries have silver, and the craftsmen have bronze. When breeding takes place, it must be gold to gold, silver to silver, and bronze to bronze. However, Plato does allow the ideal that it is possible for gold blood to give birth to silver or bronze, and vice versa.
The rulers and auxiliaries are actually divided from a previous class, in which they both belonged, called guardians. The guardians are the most intelligent and skilled. They will live together, and be educated together. When the education and training reaches a certain point, they will be divided into the two classes, rulers and auxiliaries. The rulers are selected by their superior skill and knowledge. They will move on to more academic education, while the auxiliaries will continue with more physical training. The rulers continued education would consist of mathematics as well as dialectic. After this period they will be returned to civilization in order to hold various positions in gov...