Plato

Plato is a philosopher from Greece who was the pupil of Socrates, and teacher of Aristotle. Plato wanted to have the ideal utopia. This is through the idea that the person with the most power should be the most virtuous, intelligent, and strongest. With this in place, the leaders of the state would all be philosophers taking into account the betterment of the citizens. The only thing that can keep this from happening is the ideals of an individual. If he/she is not just then it throws the whole system into chaos. Justice must be a high attribute that everyone has for this idea society. Justice is based on morality, laws, ethics, religion, and many other aspects. This makes defining justice quite hard. What is justice for one person does not necessarily mean it is justice for another. In Plato's Republic it states, "to suffer injustice bad and to do it good". This states that being unjust can be beneficial for the individual. This in turn hurt the whole and can not reach the utopia that Plato seeks.

For this utopia to occur there must be parts of the city/state that do a job each. This is the division of state that corresponds with the division of the soul. There are three parts that all compile to make the work of the city complete. First there are the Workers. These are the people who produce goods, and are motivated by the love of the work or by wealth. Second there are the Guardians. These people enforce the laws, defend the state, and are motivated by desire for honor. And third, there are the Rulers. These are a select few that rule over the people and look out for their well-being. As each person does this work it is their Ergon, or the thing that they are best at that would benefit the whole the most. The way that people are kept in check by this system is the Noble Lie.

The Noble Lie is a lie that originated when people were told that there is a certain metal in their blood that determines whether they will be a Worker, Guardian, or Ruler. This was told so that people would not try to jump different classes and disrupt the whole flow of the system. The reason that this is a noble lie, is because it would be more beneficial to lie than to tell the truth, because the truth would hurt more than help. An example of this would be Santa Clause. If we told little children that Santa was not real, there would be a lack of excitement towards the season of giving. We tell them about this while they are young so that they like Christmas, and later when they are able to understand that Christmas is about giving and Jesus Christ. This is how the Noble Lie can help.

The parts of the soul that are linked to the parts of the state are, Appetites, Spirit, and Reason. The Appetites fill a need like the workers who fill the need of work and jobs. Next, Spirit makes sure that the Appetites are kept in check and do not lust for more than is needed, like the guardians. Finally, Reason is there to look out for the good of the soul. This is that little voice that we hear telling us not to do the thing that is bad and will hurt us. The Rulers are like this part of the soul. A good and healthy life should have an equal portion of each of these in the soul.

One of the principles that Plato believes is that, we learn by knowledge. If one understand how to do an action then one can do the action. This is completely different than Aristotle's theory because he states that you learn by doing. If someone acquires the knowledge to do a task or action, then they will know how to accomplish the action when the time comes to perform it. Knowledge is the true learning tool for Plato. With the knowledge that is gathered there is no task that cannot be completed. This would be the perfect example of how knowledge is power.