Plato's political philosophy

Plato lived in the democratic Greek city-state of Athens, between 427 a.c and 347 a.c. The Political context in Greece during that period is of extreme importance in understanding the motivations behind Plato’s political philosophy. His dissatisfaction with the current system, which was characterized by corruption and injustice, was intensified after Socrates’ death what led him to formulate a new conception of politics. In his most famous work, The Republic, he draws the lines for the ideal state which should have its foundation on knowledge anchored by the human reason. For Plato, decisions in the political realm could not be addressed by the public opinion, because people do not have enough foresight and just learn about the right course of action only post factum. Therefore, he defends the idea of a government composed by philosophers, who by the study of philosophy, were capable of observing universal and intangible values, such as justice and goodness, which should be on the base of an authentic state whose ultimate goal is the good of the society. This best political regime, for Plato, therefore is aristocracy. In his writings Plato traces a parallel between the internal structure of the soul and the structure of the community. For him, in the same way as the soul has different parts with distinctive functions, the community has people who differ from each other in their abilities and capabilities. Therefore, each person should play a role in Plato’s ideal state that reflects his/her individual abilities. In this line of reasoning, Plato advocates an aristocratic regime, where the state is ruled by a philosopher king who should govern grounded on reason and wisdom. In his ideal state the society would be divided into three social classes: the class of the philosophers (rulers), soldier (guardians) and the producers, which correspond respectively to the reason, spirit and appetite parts of the soul. The republic, according to Plato, should be governed by