Deceptive Utopia

             "A 'utopia' is an imaginary perfect society." In Books II-V of Plato's The Republic, Socrates and his auditors create a society which they believe to be perfect, utopian. The fact is, however, that the society they constructed could be considered "perfectly horrible." There are numerous deficiencies relative to the social, political, and economic sectors of the society, as well as spiritual beliefs and allegories that could be viewed as straight lies and fallacies. The following paper discusses those deficiencies and concludes that Plato was surely misguided in his beliefs toward his utopia. By the end, an entire array of question will be formulated that Plato did not answer in his creation of the perfect society.
             Beginning in the economic division of Socrates' society, the deficiencies were truly evident. Each man is assigned a job-"one man, one art." (370b) They can only work a single occupation which suits their natural inclination as seen by Socrates. This means there is no Survival of the Fittest, or "rags to riches" when it comes to the social hierarchy. No matter what, no one can climb the hierarchy because it is fixed by the State. This leads to the question of is this State even really a Republic? It seems more like a communist state based on the control by the State over all economic aspects. No one can own luxurious items, and the State chooses who will be where in their city. This may also lead to many people being distressed about their jobs, because they were not able to choose them by themselves, and it could lead to future conflicts that the State may have not foreseen. Comparing this State to modern society, there are so many people unhappy with their occupation that they live their lives unsatisfied. What's to say that this sort of situation wouldn't arise and cause many internal problems?
             Since a State must have rulers, and log...

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Deceptive Utopia. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:32, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/26212.html