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Essay / The possibility of utopia: analysis of Plato's Republic
In order to create a perfect society, the utopia of Plato's Republic instead presents a dystopia that imposes the marginalization of the individual. Plato believes that strict regulations that restrict independence and individuality allow citizens to live simple and peaceful lives. Because Plato views freedom as a threat of acquiring unnecessary wealth that triggers instability and misdeeds, the marginalization of the individual is simply a fundamental principle. Even if the organization of Plato's utopia hinders the growth of individuals, such containment will prevent the rise of human injustice and ultimately prevent the collapse of society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Plato attempts to marginalize individuality through censorship and control of education and influence. Hoping to create a homogeneous body of people, Plato insists that education must be filtered in such a way as to represent that perfection and justice are the primary goals of life: Let us not believe… that another child of a god and a hero himself would do it. dared to commit terrible and ungodly acts as the current lies accuse them of. We should rather compel poets to deny either that such acts belong to them or that they are children of gods, but not to say both...we have shown that it is impossible for evil to be produced by gods. (Plato 69) The stories of the Greek gods are rewritten so that all of the gods' flaws are absent. Rather than giving the audience the power to choose what to take from the stories, Plato presents the Greek gods as holy and impeccable figures. Plato does not believe that people have the ability to choose wisely what is bad or good. It does not give people the opportunity to develop autonomous ideas. This method makes the appearance of different religions and values improbable; everyone will have the same belief that they construct themselves. Plato's belief that individuality must be held describes the confinement of a citizen's identity. In order to have a uniform community, Plato introduces the strict categories of the utopians: The god, in fashioning those of you who are competent to govern, has mixed gold at their birth; this is why they are the most honored; as auxiliaries, money; and iron and bronze among farmers and other artisans. (Plato 94) This system gives a specific outline that people should follow. The type of metal is determined from an early age; as a result, people simply accept what is assigned to them and follow the social norm of living. Rather than contesting their position, people believe that the task given to them is the one that suits them best. The freedom to find their vocation is denied; therefore, human ambition is disciplined to such an extent that anything that can bring change to society is non-existent. Furthermore, this system not only prevents people from finding true meaning in their lives, but also restricts their individuality. This arrangement places people in categories that they are stuck in for the rest of their lives. Placement in the three divisions of a utopia defines a person and sets the road map for their future. This introduces the noble lie: a person is assigned a certain profession not by human choice but because they are naturally born to perform a certain trait. Plato wants to "invent in one way or another one of those lies that arise in times of need... a noble lie to persuade, in the best case, eventhe rulers, but if not them, the rest of the city” (Plato 93). . This lie is told to maintain social friendship by making people believe that what is assigned to them is best for themselves. This prevents people from experimenting with their skills and venturing out in search of a passion in their life. A person's identity is given to them at birth and nothing can be done to improve or expand their status. Because it is difficult to control complex human minds and satisfy everyone's desires, Plato chose the alternative path by choosing the future of the people for him. The reason freedom is deprived in a utopia, aside from the struggles to keep all differences under control, is because of the importance of moderation. Plato considers that the key factor in maintaining a utopia is the ability to control temptations: moderation is like a kind of harmony. …It is different from courage and wisdom, each of which resides in a part, one making the city wise and the other courageous. Moderation does not work that way, but actually extends to the whole, up and down the entire scale, making the weakest, the strongest, and those in the middle... sing together the same singing. (Plato 110) Moderation creates conformity in which people value one another. Unlike a battlefield where the selfish motivations of individuals are most important, an atmosphere of sharing is introduced. At the same time, it diminishes the individuality of human aspirations and personality, because moderation distributes and shares among people what is found in society. Additionally, Plato asserts the importance of moderation in the form of expression and desire. It states that people should “obey rulers and be themselves masters of the pleasures of drink, sex and food.” Plato discourages the instant reaction of need and again emphasizes the importance of control. Also, Plato criticizes freedom by explaining that in a democracy, people will call "moderation cowardice and by splashing it with mud, they banish it... So, I suppose that afterwards such a man lives without spending any more money, effort and time for what is necessary. than on useless pleasures” (Plato 239). Without a strict policy that discourages the growth of the individual, the freedom granted will blind people to their ability to choose wisely between the choices offered by society. It is therefore preferable not to offer any choice. It is obvious that freedom is a chain of people getting lost in a limitless environment and thus causing many problems too numerous to contain. As a result, desire is minimized to a submissive level so that it is not high maintenance and society is, overall, easy to control. Freedom is intrinsically linked to greed, which is a pernicious source of disruption to the harmony of a utopia. Another example of how Plato imposes the marginalization of the individual is the disabling of private property. Plato deactivates ownership and emphasizes the importance of unity by emphasizing how the happiness of the whole should be prioritized over the happiness of an individual. The idea of private property is entirely rejected: whenever they own private land, houses and currency, they will be heads of families and farmers instead of guardians and citizens; hating and being hated, plotted and plotted against them, they will spend their whole lives much more afraid of enemies within than of those without. (Plato 96) Plato shows how gluttony and evil multiply with the beginning of property. Harmony will be interrupted because people will not consider goods.