by Roxanne Jones

Created on: October 06, 2009   Last Updated: April 16, 2010

When choosing the ruler of a city, what is best? What are the characteristics that a ruler should have? Should the ruler be strong? Should he be wise? Should he be flexible? Plato asked this question as well in his work The Republic. In it he asked who the rulers of Kalipolis, the theoretically perfect city, should be. Plato strongly believed that only the philosopher is capable of ruling effectively.

Plato believed that philosophers should rule because only the philosophers would know what is best for the city-state or the society that they rule over. In The Republic, Plato writes a dialogue involving his mentor Socrates. Socrates describes the elements that make up the ideal state and calls this ideal state Kalipolis. According to Plato, the philosopher-kings should be the ruling class in the ideal state. They should be the rulers because they have knowledge of truth that others do not have and only they can make crucial decisions about what is best for the city-state.

The mind should rule

In The Republic, Plato says that every human being has three elements; the appetitive, the spirited, and the rational, and that the rational part must rule over the other two parts for humans to function properly. Since cities are made out of human beings, cities can be seen as being made out of the same things that human beings are. Therefore the rational element of the city should rule all other elements, the rational element being the philosophers of the city.

Philosophers know what is best for the city

The meaning of the word philosophy comes from the Greek root word philo which means love and the root word sophia which means wisdom. A philosopher is a lover of wisdom. A philosopher seeks the truth in all things and can see and understand things clearly which according to Plato most people cannot do. Philosophers are rare and those with the aptitude to become philosophers must be given an especially rigorous education. Because Plato thinks that Aristocracy is the ideal type of government, he believes that only the wisest few should lead all of the rest. The true philosopher will always put the good of the city before the good for himself and he will always do what is best for the city. A clear understanding of things is needed in order to make proper decisions. Only a philosopher would have such a clear understanding

Learn more about this author, Roxanne Jones.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.