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Unit 2: Plato’s Communism and Theory of Education
For Plato, there were three law-abiding states, and their corresponding corrupt and lawless states. Notes
The rule of one yielded monarchy and tyranny; the rule of a few, aristocracy and oligarchy; and
the rule of many included moderate and extreme democracy. For the first time, Plato conceded
two kinds of democracy, and made it the best of the lawless states, though the worst of law-
abiding states. Both forms of democracy were better than oligarchy, and even monarchy, tacitly
admitting the importance of popular participation and consent in the polity.
In the Statesman, Plato divided the states into lawful and unlawful states, a
classification that Aristotle adopted when he spoke of good and perverted forms of
government in his Politics.
2.4 Plato’s Second-Best State
While the ideal or perfect state remained the one ruled by the philosopher ruler as the epitome of
reason and untrammelled by general rules, in the Laws Plato described what he regarded as his
second-best state. It was perhaps hindsight that the philosophical ideal was unattainable, for it
made excessive demands on the state as an educational institution, and neglected laws which
were products of experience. This led Plato to examine the place of law in a state.
In the Laws, government by law was supreme, applying equally on both the ruler and the subject.
The law-bound state would be a polity that combined the wisdom of monarchy with liberty for the
purpose of stability, harmonizing and balancing opposite political principles and practices. The
task of the lawgiver was to blend the two. Laws must be prolific, dealing with the specific details
of possible and potential conflicts between public and private interests. Since private property was
permitted, laws were to involve minute regulation.
The city would consist of 5040 households, with each family having an equal plot of land as their
inalienable right. The most worthy child would inherit the land, and excess children would be
turned over to those families where the number was few. If the city got populated, it could think
of schemes of colonization. Meanwhile, it would try out birth control methods to control undue
increase in population. In general, every man was expected to marry by 35; otherwise he would
have to pay an annual fine or tax. It was ironic that such a suggestion came from a person who
never married.
Both the Republic and the Laws spoke of the need to curtail the ugly consequences of inequality and
economic power. Wealth was accorded an inferior position. The disparity between the possessions
of the richest and the poorest was to be in the ratio of four to one. Through ancestral acquisition
the limit on poverty was to be decided, and no man was allowed more than four times this value.
If by trade or other means an individual acquired more, the excess reverted to the public treasury.
All citizens were to register their possessions with a public agency, and records were to be kept
open for public inspection. There were to be strict regulations on gold and silver. Metals only in
the form of money were permitted, expressing Plato’s distaste for usury.
The economy of the polis was to be subordinated to the requirements of both body and soul. Plato
looked to division of labour as the ordering principle, with slaves performing agriculture, free
men who were not citizens looking after trade and industry, and the citizens exclusively doing
political functions. Both the economy and the polity would reflect the principles of a mixed or
blended constitution. All those eligible and fit for military service would vote for the selection of
the guardians of the law. The first 300 candidates would be selected through an election. Through a
second ballot, this number would be reduced to 100. From these 100, approximately one-third (37)
would be ‘chosen in a third election. There would be a nocturnal council consisting of the 10 eldest
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