Platos views on women
Plato and Socrates' View of Women's Roles In studying Greek philosophy, one particular remains consistent. When referring to an ideal person, be it a citizen, a political leader, a philosopher, or a soldier, a man is used for the model. And the aspiration of all men, virtue, is derived from the root for man, "vir." These examples alone would lead the attentive observer to ask, "what about the women?" Traditionally, Greek life in general was not in tune with the rights of women. Many philosophers, such as Aristotle, were particularly opposed to women having any sort of role in society outside of child bearing. Plato and Socrates, however, where pioneers in pushing for equality of qualified women to play a pivotal role in politics and philosophy. In Plato's Republic, Socrates argues that women are as capable as men in pursuit of their endeavors, and he puts these observations into consideration in Book V. The Republic, Book V initiates the discussion of the inclusion of women in Plato's "guardian class." Right away the debate is raised as to what capacity a female could fill in the "guardian class." Glaucon implies that the admission of women to any office violates Plato's principle of the division of labor. Socr
" In other words, if it is a woman's destined role to lead, then she must be presented the opportunity. " Plato continues to insist that women stand on equal foot with men in the guardian class by insisting they train and exercise with the men as they prepare to become warriors. While it cannot be argued that he, along with his mentor Socrates, were the first to acknowledge women as capable members of the state, they were definitely not admitting that males and females were equal. There should be no consideration of sex as far as education is concerned. " In the sense of modern-day feminism, Plato and Socrates would not hail high on any list. Conversely, it can be said that Plato and Socrates did not recognize the importance of their reasoning. "While Socrates allows women to enter the ruling class, he affirms that they will always be weaker than men. But Plato "grants woman importance merely because the psyche in itself has no sex and is capable of dwelling in a body of either sex. Although they did consider the woman much more than the Athenians did, they can not be labeled as verified "feminists. He also argues for giving qualified persons full opportunity for guardian training regardless of whether they are male or female. Although his feelings are not as strong as Aristotle's, who felt that the male was superior by nature and the female inferior, Socrates does denigrate the female in the same work in which he somewhat praises them. Plato's belief that the just man has a predetermined destiny to achieve was the primary basis in which he decided to include women. He makes seriously misogynistic and derogatory comments about women within the same dialogue in which he argues that (some) women should be educated 'the same' as men. "Socrates is willing to accept the fact that, generally speaking, women are inferior to men with respect to the best pursuits, but does not feel that this precludes the possibility that some women are better than most men even with respect to what is best.
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