PLATO

A detailed Summary of PLATO


Plato was a philosopher in the time of the distinguished Greek philosophers. He wrote a book entitled The Republic in which he explains some of his philosophy on subjects ranging from education to government. Plato constructed a model by which he proposed all governments evolve. He called it the Five Stages of Government.

He suggested that there are five forms of government, which evolve out of one another; Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, Tyranny, and Aristocracy. A Timocracy is a government of the military and of honor. An Oligarchy is a government of money and of the rich. Democracy is a government of liberty by and for the people, and it coincidentally happens to be the government which we have right now. A Tyranny is a government of absolute power and dictation. And finally an Aristocracy is a government of philosopher kings. Each form of government arises out of another, and so they go about in a cycle. Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, Tyranny, Aristocracy,

Timocracy, etc. We can compare our government of liberty by and for the people, Democracy, to Plato's model of the five stages of government. However, we must first discuss the reasons for each of the government's

evolution and how Democracy comes about.


B. Why do we need a commonwealth?

and has a fondness for money. These weaknesses eventually lead to the collapse of Timocracy and the creation of the next form of government, Oligarchy. The Timocratic man's fondness for money carries over into the Oligarchal state; for an Oligarchy is a government of the rich and of money. Man's fondness of money leads

3. Men think that they're smarter than whoever is ruling

1. Men compete for honor and glory, leading to war

1. Commonwealth by institution: when the men form the

them all as he shall think expedient for their peace and common

need something to tie them to their promises

6. The covenant of men below a leader is artificial--they



Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1595
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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