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29 - The Republic - Plato · The Philosophy Insights Collection

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Book eight, Part one. And so Glaucon, we have arrived at the
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conclusion that in the perfect state, wives and children are to be in common,
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and that all education and the pursuits of war and peace are also to
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be common, and the best philosophers and the bravest warriors are to be their
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kings. That replied Glaucon, has been acknowledged. Yes, I said,
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and we are further acknowledged that the governors, when appointed themselves, will take
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their soldiers and place them in houses such as we were describing, which are
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common to all and contain nothing private or individual, and about their property.
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You remember what we agreed, Yes, I remember that no one was to
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have any of the ordinary possessions of mankind. They were to be warrior,
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athletes and guardians, receiving from the other citizens in the view of annual payment,
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only their maintenance. And they were to take care of themselves at the
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whole state. True, I said, And now that this division of our
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task is concluded, let us find the point at which we digressed, that
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we may return into the old path. There is no difficulty in returning,
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you implied, then, as now that you had finished the description of the
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state, you said, that such a state was good, and that the
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man was good who answered to it, although as now appears, you had
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more excellent things to relate, both of state and man. And you said
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further that if this was the true form, then the others were false.
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And of the false forms, you said, as I remember, that there
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were four principal ones, and that their defects and the defects of the individuals
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corresponding to them, were worth examining. When we had seen all the individuals
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and finally agreed as to who was the best and who was the worst of
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them, we were to consider whether the best was not also the happiest,
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and the worst the most miserable. I asked you what were the false forms
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of government of which he spoke? And then polm Marcus and Idamantus put in
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their word, and you began again, and have found your way to the
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point at which we have now arrived. Your recollection, I said, is
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most exact. Then, like a wrestler, he replied, you must put
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yourself again in the same position, and let me ask the same question.
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And do you give me the same answer which you are about to give me,
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Then yes, if I can, I will, I said, I
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shall particularly wish to hear what were the four constitutions of which you were speaking?
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That question, I said, is easily answered. The four governments of
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which I spoke, so far as they have distinct names, are first those
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of Crete and Sparta, which are generally applauded. What is termed olocarchy comes
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next. This is not equally approved, and is a form of government which
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teems with evils. Thirdly, democracy, which naturally follows olocarchy, although very
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different. And lastly comes tyranny great and famous, which differs from them all
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and is the fourth and worst disorder of a state. I do not know
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do you of any other constitution which can be said to have a distinct character.
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There are lordships and principalities which are bought and sold, and some other
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intermediate forms of government. But these are nondescripts, and may be found equally
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among Hellenes and among barbarians. Yes, he replied, we certainly hear of
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many curious forms of government which exist among them. Do you know? I
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said that governments vary as the dispositions of men vary, and that there must
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be as many of the one as there are of the other, For we
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cannot suppose that states are made of oak and rock, and not out of
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the human natures which are in them, and which in a figure turn the
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scale and draw other things after them. Yes, he said, the states
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are as the men are. They grow out of human characters. There If
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the constitutions of states are five, the dispositions of individual minds will also be
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five. Certainly, him who answers to aristocracy, and whom we rightly call
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just and good, we have already described. We have. Then, let
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us now proceed to describe the inferior sort of natures, being the contentious and
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ambitious who answer to the spartan polity, also the only charchical, democratical,
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and tyrannical. Let us place the most just by the side of the most
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unjust, and when we see them, we shall be able to compare the
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relative happiness or unhappiness of him who leads a life of pure justice or pure
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injustice. The enquiry will then be completed, and we shall know whether we
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ought to pursue injustice as Thrasamacus advises, or in accordance with the conclusions of
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the argument, to prefer justice. Certainly, he replied, we must do
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what you say, shall we follow our own plan, which we adopted with
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a view to clearness of taking the state first, and then proceeding to the
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individual, and begin with the government of honor. I know of no name
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for such a government other than timocracy, or perhaps timarchy. We will compare
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with this the like character in the individual, and after that consider oligarchy and
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the olcharchical man. And then again we will turn our attention to democracy and
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the democratical man. And lastly we will go and view the city of tyranny,
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and once more take a look into the tyrant's soul, and try to
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arrive at a satisfactory decision. That way of viewing and judging of the matter
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will be very suitable. First, then, I said, let us inquire
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how tymocracy, the government of honor, arises out of aristocracy, the government
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of the best. Clearly, all political changes originate in divisions of the actual
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governing power, a government which is united. However, if a small cannot
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be moved, very true, he said, in what way then will our
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city be moved? And in what manner will the two classes of auxiliaries and
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rulers disagree among themselves or with one another? Shall we after the manner of
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Homer, pray the muses to tell us how discord first arose? Shall we
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imagine them in solemn mockery, to play and jest with us as if we
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were children, and to address us in a lofty, tragic vein making believe
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to be in earnest? How would they address us after this manner? A
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city which is thus constituted can hardly be shaken. But seeing that everything which
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has a beginning has also an end, even a constitution such as yours,
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will not last forever, but will in time be dissolved. And this is
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a dissolusion in plants that grow in the earth, as well as in animals
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that move on the earth's surface. Fertility and sterility of soul and body occur
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when the circumferences of the circles of each are completed, which in short lived
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existences pass over a short space, and in long lived ones over a long
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space. But to the knowledge of human fecundity and sterility, all the wisdom
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and education of your rulers will not attain the laws which regulate them, will
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not be discovered by an intelligence which is alloyed with sense, but will escape
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them, and they will bring children into the world when they ought not.
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Now that which is of divine birth as a period which is contained in a
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perfect number, But the period of human birth is comprehended in a number in
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which first increments by involution and evolution, obtaining three intervals, and four terms
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of like and unlike. Waxing and waning numbers make all the terms commensurable and
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agreeable to one another. The base of these, with a third added,
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when combined with five and raised to the third power, furnishes two harmonies,
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the first a square, which is a hundred times as great, and the
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other a figure having one side equal to the former, but oblong, consisting
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of a hundred numbers squared upon rational diameters of a square, the side of
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which is five, each of them being less by one or less by two
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perfect squares of irrational diameters, and a hundred cubes of three. Now,
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this number represents a geometrical figure which has control over the good and evil of
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birth. For when your guardians are ignorant of the law of births and unite
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bride and bridegroom out of season, the children will not be goodly or fortunate.
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And though only the best of them will be appointed by their predecessors.
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Still they will be unworthy to hold their father's places. And when they come
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into power as guardians, they will soon be found to fail in taking care
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of us the muses first by undervaluing music, which neglect will soon extend to
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gymnastic and hence the young men of your state will be less cultivated. In
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the succeeding generation, rulers will be appointed who have lost the guardian power of
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testing the metal of your different races, which, like hasiods, are of
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gold and silver and bras in iron, and so iron will be mingled with
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silver and bras with gold, and hence the will arise dissimilarity and inequality and
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irregularity, which always and in all places are causes of hatred and war.
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This the muses affirm to be the stock from which this cord has sprung wherever
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arising. And this is their answer to us. Yes, and we may
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assume that they answered truly? Why yes, I said, Of course,
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they answered truly. How can the muses speak falsely? And what do the
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muses say next? When this cord arose, then the two races were drawn
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different ways. The iron and bras fell to acquiring money and land and houses,
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and gold and silver. But the gold and silver raiss, not wanting
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money, but having the true riches in their own nature, inclined towards virtue
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and the ancient order of things. There was a battle between them, and
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at last they agreed to distribute their land and houses among individual owners. And
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they enslaved their friends and maintainers, whom they had formerly protected in the condition
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of freemen, and made them subjects and servants. And they themselves are engaged
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in war and in keeping a watch against them. I believe that you have
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rightly conceived the origin of the change, and the new government which thus arises
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will be of a form intermediate between olicarchy and aristocracy. Very true, such
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will be the change. And after the change has been made, how will
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they proceed? Clearly? The new state, being in a mean between olicarchi
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and the perfect state, will partly follow one and partly the other, and
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will also have some peculiarities. True, he said, in the honor given
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to rulers, in the abstinence of the warrior class from agriculture, ndercrafts,
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and trade in general, in the institution of common meals, and in the
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attention pay to gymnastics, in military training. In all these respects, this
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state will resemble the former. True, but in the fear of admitting philosophers
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to power, because they are no longer to be had simple and earnest,
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but are made up of mixed elements, and in turning from them to passionate
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and less complex characters, who are by nature fitted for war rather than peace,
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And in the value set by them upon military stratagems and contrivances, and
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in the waging of everlasting wars, this state will be for the most part
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peculiar. Yes, yes, I said, And men at this temp will
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be covet as of money, like those who live in olecarchys. They will
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have a fierce secret longing after gold and silver, which they will hoard in
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dark places, having magazines and treasuries of their own for the deposit and concealment
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of them. Also buscs, which are just nests for their eggs, and
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in which they will spend large sums on their wives or on any others whom
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they please. That is most true, he said. And they are miserly
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because they have no means of openly acquiring the money which they prize. They
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will spend that which is another man's on the gratification of their desires, stealing
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their pleasures and running away like children from the law their father. They have
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been schooled not by gentle influences, but by force, for they have neglected
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her, who is the true muse, the companion of reason and philosophy,
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and have honored gymnastic more than music. Undoubtedly, he said, the form
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of government which you describe is a mixture of good and evil. Why there
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is a mixture, I said, But one thing, and one thing only
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is predominantly seen, the spirit of contention and ambition, And these are due
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to the prevalence of the passionate or spirited element. Assuredly, he said,
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such is the origin and such the character of this state, which has been
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described in outline. Only the more perfect execution was not required, for a
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sketch is enough to show the type of the most perfectly just and most perfectly
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unjust. And to go through all the states and all the characters of men,
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omitting none of them would be an interminable labor. Very true, he
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replied, Now, what man answers to this form of government? How did
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he come into being? And what is he like? I think, said
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adamantus that in the spirit of contention which characterizes him, he is not unlike
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our friend Glaucon. Perhaps I said. He may be like him in that
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one point, but there are other respects in which he is very different.
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In what respects he should have more of self assertion, and be less cultivated,
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and yet a friend of culture. And he should be a good listener,
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but no speaker. Such a person is apt to be rough with slaves,
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unlike the educated man, who is too proud for that. And he
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will also be courteous of freemen and remarkably obedient to authority. He is a
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lover of power and a lover of honor, claiming to be a ruler,
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not because he is eloquent or on any ground of that sort, but because
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he is a soldier and has performed feats of arms. He is also a
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lover of gymnastic exercises and of the chase. Yes, that is the type
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of character which answers to tymocracy. Such a one will despise riches only when
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he is young, but as he gets older he will be more and more
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attracted to them, because he has a piece of the avaricious nature in him,
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and is not single minded towards virtue, having lost his best guardian.
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Who was that, said Adamantus philosophy, I said, tempered with music,
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who comes and takes up her abode in a man, and is the only
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savior of his virtue throughout life? Good he said, such, I said,
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is a tymocratical youth, and he is like the thymocratical state exactly.
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His origin is as follows. He is often the young son of a brave
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father, who dwells in an ill governed city, of which he declines the
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honors and officers, and will not go to law or exert himself in any
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way, but is ready to waive his rights in order that he may escape
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trouble. And how does the son come into being? The character of the
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son begins to develop when he hears his mother complaining that her husband has no
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place in the government, of which the consequence is that she has no precedence
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among other women. Further, when she sees her husband not very eager about
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money, and instead of battling and railing in the law courts or assembly,
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taking whatever happens to him quietly, and when she observes that his thoughts always
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centry in himself, while he treats her with very considerable indifference. She is
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annoyed and says to her son that his father is only half a man and
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far too easy going, adding all the other complaints about her own ill treatment,
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which women are so fond of rehearsing. Yes, said Adamantus. They
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give us plenty of them, and their complaints are so like themselves. And
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you know, I said that the old servants also, who are supposed to
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be attached to the family from time to time, talk privately in the same
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strain to the son. And if they see any one who owes money to
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his father or is wronging him in any way, and he fails to prosecute
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them, they tell the youth that when he grows up, he must retaliate
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upon people of this sort and be more of a man than his father.
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He is only to walk abroad, and he hears and sees the same sort
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of thing. Those who do their own business in the city are called simpletons
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and held in no esteem, while the busy bodies are honored and applauded.
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The result is that the young man, hearing and seeing all these things,
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hearing to the words of his father, and having a nearer view of his
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way of life, and making comparisons of him and others is drawn opposite ways.
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While his father is watering and nourishing the rational principle in his soul,
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the others are encouraging the passionate and appetitive, And he, being not originally
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of a bad nature, but having kept bad company, is at last brought
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by their joint influence to a middle point, and gives up the kingdom which
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is within him, to the middle principle of contentiousness and passion, and becomes
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arrogant and ambitious. You seem to me to have described his origin perfectly.
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Then we have now, I said, the second form of government and the
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second type of character we have end of Book eight, Part one,