Plato And The Paradoxes Essay Research Paper

Plato And The Paradoxes Essay, Research Paper

Plato And The Paradoxes Paradoxes are ideas that seem to be in opposition to one another but aremutually needed to function. In Plato s Republic he discusses several paradoxes. While reading The Republic we can see which side of these paradoxes Plato favors. We find which side he feels should be stressed so that we may live in a reasonable and safe society and be better human beings. There are three categoriesin which these paradoxes have been divided into: ethics, metaphysical and political.POLITICAL Justice and LawPolitically, Plato explains the paradox of justice and the law. Plato believesthat absolute justice is the same for everyone without exception. This justice goesbeyond power and or money. He feels justice is not necessarily the law. Law isan imperfect form of justice. What is legal is not necessarily moral, for example,the Jim Crow laws in the South. Although these laws were quite equal they weretotally immoral. In Book 1 of Plato s The Republic, Plato explains that justice is abalance between reason , courage and man s needs or in other words, the head, theheart and the stomach. He goes on to explain that justice or fairness doesn t alwaysmean equal. The law may change but justice remains constant. A good rule or lawhowever is a just rule. Plato felt that to get people to act justly you must teachthem ethics and values. He also believed that along with these ethics and values wemust have a reasonable understanding of these rules. An understanding of theserules is needed so people are more apt to comply with them and therefore maintain ajust and fair society. Authority and Liberty Another paradox discussed in Plato s The Republic is authority and liberty. Plato strongly favors authority. He has little faith in man. Plato believes that menare more unreasonable than reasonable. He feels that most men and women cannotbe objective and make rules that benefit all of society not just themselves or theirfamily. He feels that personal liberty and choice only bring disunity, unhappinessand anxiety. Even today experts agree that children brought up with rules tend to bemore secure and happy than children who are not taught acceptable behavior orwho don t have authority figures in their lives. In The Republic, Plato explainsthat the authority will be made up of people who are able to make up reasonablerules. These people, men and or women would be chosen and then educated inethics, morals and reasoning. He futher explains that if the authorities givepeople objective rules with reasons then objective behavior should follow. In Plato s Republic, by using reasonable authority he is trying to create a reasonablesocial order. He feels that reasonable rules should come from the outside not fromeach person s inner feelings. The guardians, or authority are able, by usingreasoning and passing just laws to keep the dignity and liberty of the individual andalso maintain a just and orderly society. Equality and Inequality In Plato s The Republic men and women would be treated equally. Bothgenders would be educated until the age of 18. Between the ages of 18 and 22 everyone would go to the army to gain courage. After the army all would go tocollege until age 26. During college they would be selected for what ever servicethey are qualified for. Either a man or women could become a guardian, server orhelper, and or a producer. The guardians themselves would make equal amounts ofmoney so they could concentrate on a nonmaterial existence. Plato felt an inequalityof wealth would cause an ethical breakdown. These three groups, the guardians,servers and the producers, although different in the roles they play and jobs theyhave would not be considered better or worse, inferior or superior to one another, just different. Each group would fulfill a societal need by bringing goods andservices or rules for everyone to benefit by. Society and Individual When Plato was thinking out his Republic he felt society took president overthe individual. The whole is greater than it s parts , he said. However, Plato alsosaid, you need to balance the order of society with the rights of the individual. Plato felt in a natural state people would war against on another. That is why acivil or social contract is needed to keep man from killing one another. Man wouldthen enter into this social contract for protection, to trade goods and services withothers and simply to have their needs taken care of. For this social contract to besuccessful each individual must have a responsibility and an obligation to hisfellow man and follow the rules of the contract. In this way the individual will gainbut society will prevail. It is a give and take proposition. People are working forthe benefit of society and individuals benefit from working for the society. Platowanted to set up an interdependent society where we would service one anotherwith competence. Where each one would better themselves by working for thesociety and fulfilling different needs. Everyone would be working for thebetterment of society and thereby helping themselves. We are stronger togetherthan we are individually. Order and Change In the paradox of order and change, Plato favors order. In Plato s Republic hespeaks of a specific social order and feels that there are absolute laws and reasonswithout exceptions to keep that order. He feels order will give a permanent senseof security. He feels that change can only create cha