While discussing about the four evil forms of true city and individual soul, Socrates is interrupted by Polemarchus and Adeimantus in the beginning of Book V of Republic. Being requested, he changes his course of discussion to social concerns and talks about the concept of ideal state. His arguments are mainly sub-divided into three parts. He speaks, firstly about the ideal community, where both the sexes will be treated equally. The initial part of his discussion includes the role of women and children in the life of the guardians. He hypothetically assumes the social strata where the female will be receiving same education and enjoying same political rights, irrespective of the difference in nature. His subdues the prevailing doubts by concluding, “Men and women alike possess the qualities which make a guardian; they differ only in their comparative strength or weakness.”
Socrates proceeds to the next wave of his idea of attaining social equality and unity by mentioning the utility of having common wife and children in the society. His justification for this view is that unity will reign over discord and distraction. The state will be organized and ordered as everybody will share individual and common concern for welfare. Festivals will be arranged for common marriage, followed by seasonal mating to produce healthy progeny. The common events will act as a measure for population control and ensure healthy citizen at the same time. The range of age of bearing children will be twenty to forty in women and twenty to fifty five in men as those years are the prime of physical and intellectual vigour. The question of incest is avoided by ensuring that marriages will occur among different communities of cities, which in a way will lead to social harmony. This will also reduce the war possibility though the option of foreign conquest remains open. He then talks about the honour to be given to the heroes of war and strictly distinguishes between war and discord.
In the third section, he deviates his discussion from the social concern to political sphere. He declares, “Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils,—nor the human race, as I believe,—and then only will this our State have a possibility of life and behold the light of day.” He defines the true philosophers as lovers of the vision of truth. He explains the theory with the imagery of beauty. Lastly he concludes that knowledge is a faculty, and the mightiest of all faculties. The person who possesses the above quality can be called lover of wisdom and is worthy of becoming the ruler. The notion of justice and ideal prospect of state lie at the centre of the whole discussion and continues in the following sections as well.
ARATRIKA, PG-I.
Socrates proceeds to the next wave of his idea of attaining social equality and unity by mentioning the utility of having common wife and children in the society. His justification for this view is that unity will reign over discord and distraction. The state will be organized and ordered as everybody will share individual and common concern for welfare. Festivals will be arranged for common marriage, followed by seasonal mating to produce healthy progeny. The common events will act as a measure for population control and ensure healthy citizen at the same time. The range of age of bearing children will be twenty to forty in women and twenty to fifty five in men as those years are the prime of physical and intellectual vigour. The question of incest is avoided by ensuring that marriages will occur among different communities of cities, which in a way will lead to social harmony. This will also reduce the war possibility though the option of foreign conquest remains open. He then talks about the honour to be given to the heroes of war and strictly distinguishes between war and discord.
In the third section, he deviates his discussion from the social concern to political sphere. He declares, “Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils,—nor the human race, as I believe,—and then only will this our State have a possibility of life and behold the light of day.” He defines the true philosophers as lovers of the vision of truth. He explains the theory with the imagery of beauty. Lastly he concludes that knowledge is a faculty, and the mightiest of all faculties. The person who possesses the above quality can be called lover of wisdom and is worthy of becoming the ruler. The notion of justice and ideal prospect of state lie at the centre of the whole discussion and continues in the following sections as well.
ARATRIKA, PG-I.
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