clarity of ideas. A picture of a beautiful landscape is not dark and dreary
either. But it is only a picture.
The Philosophic State
The Myth of the Cave is found in Plato’s dialogue the Republic. In this
dialogue Plato also presents a picture of the “ideal state,” that is to say an
imaginary, ideal, or what we would call a Utopian, state. Briefly, we could say
that Plato believed the state should be governed by philosophers. He bases
his explanation of this on the construction of the human body.
According to Plato, the human body is composed of three parts: the
head, the chest, and the abdomen. For each of these three parts there is a
corresponding faculty of the soul. Reason belongs to the head, will belongs to
the chest, and appetite belongs to the abdomen. Each of these soul faculties
also has an ideal, or “virtue.” Reason aspires to wisdom, Will aspires to
courage, and Appetite must be curbed so that temperance can be exercised.
Only when the three parts of the body function together as a unity do we get a
harmonious or “virtuous” individual. At school, a child must first learn to curb
its appetites, then it must develop courage, and finally reason leads to
wisdom.
Plato now imagines a state built up exactly like the tripartite human
body. Where the body has head, chest, and abdomen, the State has rulers,
auxiliaries, and fa-borers (farmers, for example). Here Plato clearly uses
Greek medical science as his model. Just as a healthy and harmonious man
exercises balance and temperance, so a “virtuous” state is characterized by
everyone knowing their place in the overall picture.
Like every aspect of Plato’s philosophy, his political philosophy is
characterized by rationalism. The creation of a good state depends on its
being governed with reason. Just as the head governs the body, so
philosophers must rule society.
Let us attempt a simple illustration of the relationship between the three
parts of man and the state:
BODY SOUL VIRTUE STATE
head reason wisdom rulers
chest will courage auxiliaries
abdomen appetite temperance laborers
Plato’s ideal state is not unlike the old Hindu caste system, in .which
each and every person has his or her particular function for the good of the
whole. Even before Plato’s time the Hindu caste system had the same
tripartite division between the auxiliary caste (or priest caste), the warrior
caste, and the laborer caste. Nowadays we would perhaps call Plato’s state
totalitarian. But it is worth noting that he believed women could govern just as
effectively as men for the simple reason that the rulers govern by virtue of
their reason. Women, he asserted, have exactly the same powers of
reasoning as men, provided they get the same training and are exempt from
child rearing and housekeeping. In Plato’s ideal state, rulers and warriors are
not allowed family life or private property. The rearing of children is
considered too important to be left to the individual and should be the
responsibility of the state. (Plato was the first philosopher to advocate state-
organized nursery schools and full-time education.)