Defend the position that Plato takes that philosophers should be Essay

Defend the position that Plato takes that philosophers should be rulers, or the contrary, that rulers should not be philosophers - Essay Example Democracy in Athens has been full of individualism and political selfishness. In addition, most people living in Athens captured governmental jobs for their own self-centered reasons and finally divided the city into two hostile groups of the rich and poor. The other group formed was that of the oppressor and the oppressed. Conversely, Plato’s philosophy on virtue and justice greatly impacted democracy. Plato’s viewpoints provided a well-known place to the notion of justice. He was not happy with the existing decaying conditions in Athens. A number of his attacks majorly criticized the unpaid meddlesomeness and extreme uniqueness. He criticized the system of government through the creation of an ideal society where justice was embraced in all the activities within the city. This is because Plato had discovered that the problems in this context could only be treated by ensuring that people are treated equally and with a lot of justice. It is important to note that there had been a number of hypotheses of justice before Plato came into the limelight. Therefore, he had to reject the theories. For instance, he did not support the traditional theory of justice since he believed that justice was about saying the truth and settling one’s debt. According to Plato, the theories which were presented by Cephalus, Thrasymachus, and Glaucon had a common element. They handled justice an achievement, importation, or convention. Therefore, he was able to verify that justice is not based on chance, togetherness, or external forces. He was able to provide different meaning of justice hence people could easily understand what he meant. For instance, the people living in Athens accepted that justice cannot be obtained without three elements (reason, spirit, and appetite). Democracy also prevailed after people had realized that their souls operated without affecting other elements in the body. There are also three categories of the social organism-philosopher