Tyranny
Within The Republic, Plato states that tyranny is "the most diseased" kind of society (Republic, 544c). Aristotle echoes this belief when he boldly asserts within Politics that great honours should be "bestowed... on him who kills a tyrant." (Politics, 1267a15) From these quotes alone, it is clear that both share a disdain for tyranny. This essay will compare and contrast Plato (the Republic) with Aristotle (the Politics) on the causes and consequences of tyranny. In order to grasp how Plato accounts for the development of tyranny, it is important to understand how he equates the city with the soul. Within The Republic, Plato explains that the soul consists of three parts: reason (wisdom), spirit (courage/honour) and appetite (moderation/desire). The class structure of Plato's ideal city also embodies these divisions: The guardians or "philosopher kings" represent wisdom and are entrusted to rule; the auxiliaries represent courage and serve to protect the city; the producers represent moderation and serve to provide the economic and agricultural base for the city. While, as Plato connotes in this analogy, all three parts have a place in constructing the ideal, reason is the guiding force that mediates and draws fr
To this end, both Plato and Aristotle state that tyrants are compelled to have bodyguards. (Republic, 417a)Since in the ideal city or soul, a proper balance of its parts produces justice, tyranny, in Plato's view, is the complete absence of justice resulting from an emphasis on the search for private property and self-gratification. Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics provide us with some of the earliest documented theories of tyranny. "For tyranny is a kind of monarchy which has in view the interest of the monarch only. " (Politics, 1279b) While this list may resemble that of Plato's, Aristotle refutes the linear digression into tyranny put forth within The Republic. This trickledown view of tyranny promotes tyranny as the ability of an individual to indoctrinate the masses, "for only a great soul can live in the midst of trouble and wrong without itself committing any base act. As Issac Newton once said, it is "only by standing on the shoulders of giants" that we have come this far. He is critical of The Republic as he does not see Plato's tripartite construction as a probable or even desirable structure. While Plato views the decay towards tyranny as a uniform digression, the presence of this widespread decay ultimately creates the conditions for one person to rise to power. om the competing nature of these parts to produce a just city. This is a particularly important point for Aristotle who, unlike Plato, sees a value in public political participation. In an oligarchic state, the desire for freedom or license leads to the rise of democracy. Plato suggests that since the public is not aware of their political environment, the tyrant will present himself as a "gracious and gentle" leader to further pacify them. Accordingly, since "change in every regime comes from that part of it which holds the ruling offices," (Republic, 551d) it is the loss of reason by the ruling class which destroys the just city and provides for the eventual onset of tyranny, a state devoid of harmony amongst its parts.
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Acceptance Essays
