Is the way Socrates founds the city in speech,especially the role of Essay - 1

Is the way Socrates founds the city in speech,especially the role of the guardians,compatible with 5th Century Athens How about Sparta or any other city or nat - Essay Example Thesis The role of the guardians bears resemblance with functions and duties of rulers in the 5th century Athens and can be compared with the role of communists in soviet Russia and Communist China. The guardians in The Republic bear resemblance with rules of ancient Athens. The most important political principle of Platos ideal state is rule by an enlightened elite, highly trained and educated for the role and endowed with a philosophical turn of mind that presumably assures the wisdom of their policies. Platos commentary is principally concerned with the training and duties of this elite class, the Guardians. In fact, Athens had a whole host of officials, for the most part annually selected boards of magistrates, each devoted to an aspect of social regulation. Magistrates shared some of the duties involved in policing Athens, their role and function will only indirectly be a concern of this work. Interpreted more narrowly, policing also describes the work of an organized police force, a disciplined, professional corps, whose duties include enforcing the law through investigation and prosecution and ensuring public order. The Guardians themselves are divided into two major gro ups. The larger group (sometimes referred to in the texts as "Auxiliaries") includes civil servants and a permanent military force, skilled in the art of war and dedicated to the task of defending the state from external enemies. In ancient Athens, there was social division: the military would be charged with keeping civil order within the state as well. The most important virtue of these Guardians is courage. However, those rulers who show a gift for rational and philosophical contemplation are eligible to become Rulers, who are charged with making the important policy decisions that the lower orders of Guardians will then carry out and enforce. In a direct response to what he saw as the corruption and decadence