Going back to the Republic of Plato, there are some things I
wanted to cover in my presentation and didn’t have the chance to.
One of my slides was about laws. Plato argues that it is
unnecessary to establish a large number of precepts and laws. Honest people
will follow the precepts necessary to the practice of justice. It is arguable
that in Ancient Greece, some laws without necessarily being established
demanded that the virtuous men followed them. By studying the war ethos in the
Peloponnesian war, we have established key characteristics of their personal
ethos. Principled men had expectations to live up to and wouldn’t violate these
unspoken precepts. Although one can argue that normal citizens could let their
desire and needs interfere with their principles and their functions in
society. We had a very interesting discussion in class about the need to have
established laws for that reason. However, do you think that in the “ideal
city” of Plato there could have been no formerly established laws and precepts?
On
another side, I wanted to discuss this quote “It is obvious that the elder must govern, and
the younger be governed.” in Book 3, Section 412c. When I read this quote, it
made me think of the citizens’ legacy and the legal and ethical codes, also mentioned
in The Old Testament, The Peloponnesian
War and Confucius' Analects. Filial piety is a virtue that we come to find again and
again in different civilizations. In the
Bible, important people are mentioned thanks to their relation as “the son
of”, “the father of”. In the
Peloponnesian War, citizens have to live up to the expectations of their
ancestors. Finally, the Analects relates the respect and allegiance of the
parents to the states’.
I think in Plato's ideal city could have run with formal laws. Despite this I think this would only be possible because the citizens would be held to the same rules and deals that would be enforced by law but in this ideal city they would be held to those standards by the society and fear of social ostracizing which in that society would be just as harsh a punishment. Basically the same rules would be held but by different means of enforcement that basically equivalent in consequence and effectiveness. Social regulations and punishments instead of political.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anu that there would be somewhat formal laws in this ideal city. The punishments or consequences would vary as each "group" or individual possesses a different task and responsibility. But I think these "laws" would be viewed more like reminders rather than a way to merely impose fear and panic on the individuals, but rather to reinforce the fact that the happiness of the city as a whole does rely on each individual and the unison of each individual. This way, they will be placed in the society to make people conscious of their own as well as the city's happiness.
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