Human Nature and Politics for Plato - Essay Example

? Plato's Republic - Does this mean that Plato's view of human nature had no influence on his conception of just and good political s Introduction The development of effective explanations in regard to social concepts is necessarily related to human nature. Indeed, the understanding of human nature could help towards the understanding of the political and social life of a particular society. It is implied that the responses of individuals towards various political and social events indicates their views on the political and social rules of their era. For this reason, most theorists that try to explain the role and the characteristics of political institutions primarily refer to human nature, as influencing politics in all their aspects. Plato seems to follow a different practice. More specifically, in Republic politics and political institutions are analyzed and evaluated without a direct reference to human nature. However, if studied carefully the Republic reveals a close relationship between human nature and politics. For this reason it would be wrong to claim that Plato did not take into consideration human nature when developing his explanations for politics; rather Plato incorporated his views on human nature in his dialogues so that human nature is explained simultaneously with politics. The particular practice is analyzed below aiming to show that in Republic human nature has been the basis for the explanations for political institutions, even if the relationship between these two concepts is not always clear. 2. Human nature and politics for Plato Plato’s Republic has been developed in order to explain the role and the elements of politics, as appeared in the particular era. Still, the Republic is not fully related to politics; it can be also used in order to understand human nature. A thorough review of Republic would help to verify the importance of human nature for Plato. Of course, the Republic is a text dedicated to politics; however, it is the study of politics that helps readers to understand also the thinking and the social life of individuals in the particular period. The direct relationship between the politics and the human nature, as this relationship is reflected in Republic, can be understood by referring, indicatively, to certain parts of Republic. In the first volume of Republic, in book A, Socrates discusses with Kefalos, the father of Polemarhos. In the above dialogue Kefalos notes that he now, that he is quite old, enjoys the discussion more than when he was younger (328d). For this reason, he asks from Socrates to visit Piraeus more often so that he has the chance to discuss with him. Socrates replies to Kefalos that he also can learn from Kefalos important details in regard to the particular period of time, the senescence (328e). Socrates claims that Kefalos would help him to understand whether this period of time is difficult or not (328e). The specific part of Republic makes a clear reference to human nature; aging is an indispensable aspect of human life so that it can be characterized as an element of human nature. In the dialogue that follows, Kefalos offers to Socrates explanations in regard to the particular period of human life (329a-d). Further on, the interaction between this period and human life and the social and political life of individuals is clearly explained (330a-331d); the dialogue between Kefalos and Socrates ends with the explanation of the potential relationship between this period of human life and justice (331c-d). In the next dialogue, Socrates discusses with Polemarhos the elements of justice. Socrates aims to explain to Polemarhos the actual role of justice within society. The explanation given by Socrates is based on certain arguments. Reference is made to the view of Simonides that ‘friends should always seek for the good of their friends and they should never seek for their bad’ (332a). Polemarhos agrees that this view is right (332a). The above view reflects human behavior, as part of human nature. The involvement of human nature in the explanation of an important social/ political concept, such as justice, is clear. In the second book of Republic (Volume 1), Socrates discusses with Adeimantos the need for the existence of guards in order for a state to be safe from its enemies (374a). The characteristics of these guards are analyzed by Socrates by referring to human nature. Reference can be made, indicatively, to the following claim of Socrates: an individual can be a perfect guard for his state if he is, by his nature ‘philosopher, aggressive, rapid and strong’ (376c). In the above explanation, a direct reference is made to the relationship between human nature and politics. A guard of the state, as a member of a country’s political life, need to meet specific criteria in terms of his character; these qualities are part of human nature and can be more or less developed to humans depending on their biological characteristics. In regard to the above theme, i.e. the characteristics of the state’s guards, Socrates also refers to the need for offering to young people appropriate training of both the body and the soul (412b, Book C, Volume A). For justifying this view, Socrates refers to the following characteristic of human nature: as they exercise their bodies with physical training individuals tend to become more aggressive (410c); on the other hand, those focusing on music tend to become calmer (410d). As a result, the training offered to young people needs to incorporate both: physical training and music (412a). The above issues are developed in the dialogue between Socrates and Glafkon in regard to the needs of guards, so that they become as effective as possible (403d-412a). Particular reference should be also made to the dialogue between Socrates and Glafkon in regard to the potential ways that a polity can be transformed from ‘aristocracy’ to ‘timocracy’ (545d, Book H, Volume B). According to Socrates the above transition would be understood if referring to the following characteristic of human nature: since their birth, humans have to face the continuous deterioration of their physical strength, up to their death (546a). This process, which is part of human nature, needs to be taken into consideration by politicians when establishing the rules of a particular policy (546b). Ignoring the above process could lead to severe mistakes regarding the management of politics and can cause severe damages on a state, as for instance in the case that the demographic policies followed are wrong (546c-d). The above dialogue offers, as the other parts of Republic presented above, a clear explanation of the relationship between human nature and politics. In fact, in most dialogues including in the Republic a reference is made to human characteristics as derived from human nature. Even if the concept of human nature is clearly mentioned, its use for supporting arguments related to politics is continuous, as indicated above. According to the issues discussed above, two key assumptions can be developed: a) human nature is reflected in all parts of Republic and b) it is actually human nature that helps to understand politics, as described in Plato’s Republic. Indeed, without having a good understanding of human nature, the reader cannot understand the explanations given in regard to politics. Moreover, the dialogues including in the Republic are based on the exchange of views related to human nature. For example, when asking a question to one individual from the audience, Socrates wait a reply that can be normally given in the context of current social and political framework. This means that the feelings and the thinking of individuals/ participants are taken into consideration for offering explanations in regard to a variety of political themes. 3. Conclusion Plato’s Republic is a valuable text for understanding the role of politics within each society. At the same time, the above text offers important explanations in regard to the potential relationship between human nature and politics. As already proved above, human nature is a concept used in almost all parts of Republic. For certain readers, the presence of human nature as an element influencing the views of Plato on politics is not clear. However, a careful reading of Republic can lead to the following assumption: the dialogues included in Republic are based on the views of individuals on politics, as influenced by the experiences of individuals, as members of a specific community. In this context, the responses of individuals to the questions set are, necessarily, affected by human nature. Indeed, human nature is an indispensable part of personality; there can be no claim that the behavior of each individual is fully independent from human nature. As a result the views of individuals, as incorporated in Republic, reflect human nature, either more or less. Under these terms it can be noted that Plato did not start from the analysis of human nature for explaining politics since he considered human nature as an indispensable part of human behavior. Thus, he could just use a practice for involving individuals in the explanation of politics, so that a relationship between politics and human nature to be established. Dialogues have been an excellent tool for achieving the above target. References Plato. The Republic, Volume 1 & 2 Read More