I have just finished Book II of The Republic. Those who want Plato to
promote a classless society, or those who wish there to be no political or
structural divisions, will be sorely disappointed. While there is no mention of
distinction in wealth, Book II tells us that there are clear divisions in
society. He introduces us to the role of the Guardians of this polis, this “luxurious city…[the] city
with a fever” (373a) and how they relate to the other people within the city.
These days, those who hear the term "hierarchy,"
I believe, automatically think of an oppressive, rich-controlling-poor,
powerful-controlling-weak structure of society. Here, in Book II, Plato means less this:
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Anyone else see a wedding cake design here?
(click here to enlarge)
And more this:
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This is how people realistically celebrate.
The Guardians are a lot like a benevolent leader
in an organization. Just as the boss depends on the coworkers to keep the
company in production, the coworkers depend on the boss to keep the company
unified and safe. The Guardians’ role, like the boss’s, “is most important,
[requiring] most freedom from other things and the greatest skill and devotion”
(374e).
That being said, this privilege of rank
for the Guardians does not mean that they have the right to look down on their
politically inferior: “Yet surely they must be gentle to their own people and
harsh to the enemy. If they aren’t they won’t wait around for others to destroy
the city but will do it themselves first” (375c). If the Guardians act as an
elitist, cruel group of thugs, then surely the farmer, the builder, the weaver,
and the doctors will refuse to care for them. Since Plato established that it
is better for the farmer only to farm, the builder only to build, the doctor
only to care for the ill and weak, and the guardians only to protect and expand
(370a; 374a), then the Guardians will be left alone with only the skills to defend and attack, not the skills to survive.
There is also the issue of educating the
Guardians from a young age, which adds an additional layer of dependence on
others.
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Our future military in training
Although this Book does not tell us
who exactly will educate the Guardians, we can clearly see that these future
soldiers will be taught to learn, at this age of development, the stories of
the virtuous gods and the common good for society. “If we want the guardians of
our city to think that it’s shameful to be easily provoked into hating one
another, we mustn’t allow any stories
about gods warring, fighting, or plotting against one another” (378b-c).
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Sibling rivalry was a lot tougher back then.
To
teach stories about the hateful and jealous gods, bickering and fighting
amongst each other, would corrupt the future Guardians’ mindset of society. The
Guardians are therefore extremely dependent on their educators – their entire
existence in this tier is thanks to these people.
Classless societies, to Plato, do
not cut it. Equality in rank does not mean equality in acceptance and charity.
Likewise, a structural hierarchy of rulers and workers, even if based on a
skill of a very specific trade, should not bring out an oligarchical or
tyrannical rule, where the powerful rules however they want solely because they
can. The common good of the polis trumps
their personal ambitions.
Let us see how Books
III and IV answer and expand on this post, if at all.
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