Plato's ideas of a philosopher and its relevance in modern politics - Essay Example

They have important knowledge and are capable of achieving perfect one. They have the ability to educate the society with the truth due to the fact that they simply love wisdom and even just the thought of having it. They want to learn many things and it does not conceal the fact that indeed they love to acquire much more wisdom and they are more knowledgeable than any other. Regarding this, there are three important questions this essay addresses: Why, according to Plato, are philosophers considered useless by the general public?

Why does Plato think that they are (potentially) useful? If the general public thinks that philosophers are useless, can they ever be useful? The metaphor of the ship “Imagine then a fleet or a ship in which there is a captain, who is taller and stronger than any of the crew, but he is a little deaf and has a similar infirmity in sight, and his knowledge of navigation is not much better”1. In this statement, Plato tried to emphasize that someone who is able to lead should definitely has knowledge about everything he or she is doing.

It is not just enough to have physical strength just like the captain in the metaphor as having characteristics such as being taller and stronger than any of the crew in the ship, but it is important that someone must be able to have perfect knowledge about its role in order to play it perfectly right in front of the public. Plato did not deny the fact that someone who has the responsibility to lead should have important physical characteristics to ensure strength and possession of ultimate power.

However, what he wanted to stress out is the fact that knowledge is important because just like the captain of the ship, the entire vessels should head on to the right direction. In directing the vessel to the right direction, the captain should essentially have important background, experiences or knowledge about navigation. Most importantly, he has the ability to learn which is the thought strongly emphasized by Plato through the use of the body parts associated with learning such as the eyes and ears.

Plato emphasized these basic parts of the body as important components in understanding things or everything about in the world. The general public “Now in vessels which are in a state of mutiny and by sailors who are mutineers, how will the true pilot be regarded? Will he not be called by them a prater, a star-gazer, a good-for-nothing?”2. This statement simply illustrates the general public’s treatment towards philosophers. In this statement, Plato regarded the general public as having argumentative attitudes towards correct ideals.

It is presented in this situation that the general public has the freedom on how they would show their treatment towards philosophers in line with their role in directing people and leading them towards certain directions. The general public certainly does not want to make agreement with the philosopher when in fact he has the ability to think among any other and has the potential to lead and learn the knowledge about something else. Just like in the case of the captain in the metaphor of the ship in the “The Republic”, although he is definitely has the potential strength to lead the entire crew of the ship, Plato ironically wants to emphasize that someone remarkably needs to have knowledge and the right ideals about everything else as far as moving forward to the right direction is concerned.

However, Plato just wanted to emphasize that the general