CHAPTER XIV Plato's UtopiaPLATO'S most important dialogue, the Republic, consists, broadly, of three parts. The first (to
near the end of Book V) consists in the construction of an ideal commonwealth; it is the earliest of
Utopias.
One of the conclusions arrived at is that the rulers must be philosophers. Books VI and VII are
concerned to define the word "philosopher." This discussion constitutes the second section.
The third section consists of a discussion of various kinds of actual constitutions and of their
merits and defects.
The nominal purpose of the Republic is to define "justice." But at an early stage it is decided that,
since everything is easier to see in the large than in the small, it will be better to inquire what
makes a just state than what makes a just individual. And since justice must be among the
attributes of the best imaginable State, such a State is first delineated, and then it is decided which
of its perfections is to be called "justice."
Let us first describe Plato's Utopia in its broad outlines, and then consider points that arise by the
way.
Plato begins by deciding that the citizens are to be divided into three classes: the common people,
the soldiers, and the guardians. The last, alone, are to have political power. There are to be much
fewer of them than of the other two classes. In the first instance, it seems, they are to be chosen by
the legislator; after that, they will usually succeed by heredity, but in exceptional cases a
promising child may be promoted from one of the inferior classes, while among the children of
guardians a child or young man who is unsatisfactory may be degraded.
The main problem, as Plato perceives, is to insure that the guardians shall carry out the intentions
of the legislator. For this purpose he has