The plan of finding justice in the state and looking for its “counterpart” in the individual, however, is more on the second model. LXXIII (1964), 395—98; Richard Kraut, “Did Plato Come to the Rescue of Justice?” (an, as yet, unpublished paper); and Vlastos, G., “The Argument in the Republic that ‘Justice Pays’,” Journal of Philosophy, LXV (1968), 665–674CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and “Justice and Psychic Harmony in the Republic”, ibid., LXVI (1969), 505–21. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. Plato gives most emphasis on the selection of the ruling calss.The selection of the ruling class is from all classes by natural intellectual capacity. Justice 2 and 3) are different (just as women are different from men, but not in politically relevant ways), but perhaps claim that the difference is no more important than that in one case we are speaking of individuals and in the other of classes or all citizens. 19 “… this conviction and way of speech brings with it a community in pleasures and pains … these citizens, above all others, will have one and the same thing in common which they will name mine, and by virtue of this communion they will have their pleasures and pains in common.” (464a, Shorey). "figures": false, According to the analysis of this theory, drawn from the analogy with the human organism, the health of the whole depends on the healthy discharge by each part of its own proper function. The State is a moral person. This thesis examines the 'organic' theory of the state' with reference to Plato, John of Salisbury and Bernard Bosanquet. As far as a state is concerned,Plato gives ideas about how to build an Ideal commonwealth, who should be the rulers of the Ideal state and how to achieve justice in the Ideal state. Plato begs his question. Query parameters: { Plato explain his theory of ideal state with the help of analogy between individual and state. According to Plato, a state made up of different kinds of souls will, overall, decline from an aristocracy (rule by the best) to a timocracy (rule by the honorable), then to an oligarchy (rule by the few), then to a democracy (rule by the people), and finally to … We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. By continuing to browse this repository, you give consent for essential cookies to be used. Socrates analysed the genesis of states and urban communities, and called attention to that they emerged out of two reasons. 17 Cf. As mentioned in the introduction, Plato considers ‘state’ as ‘individual writ large’. I believe that these charges are mistaken. the occident the so-called organic or biological theory of the state (Popper 1966,79). Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 1971, Hostname: page-component-6585876b8c-758rl The interests of state and citizens are assumed to coincide. What is his P? Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. Which amounts to the position that it is in the philosopher's interest to also be king. Popper points disapprovingly to “the fact that the seed of the decay and disunion of a perfect state does not spring up in the state itself, but rather in its individuals …” (76, cf. View all Google Scholar citations It is often alleged that the search leads through analogy to a monster “organic” state that lives by devouring individual rights. Unity is insisted upon to such a degree that the diverse contribution of the parts is neglected, so that a truly common purpose is lacking. (Laws 903d, Taylor). Trading name | One has also to be careful on the other side of the question: Ronald B. Levinson, In Defense of Plato (Cambridge: Harvard, 1953), 530. For example, India does not want to lose the state of Kashmir to Pakistan because that would mean that Pakistan would gain territory and support its organic behavior, and India would lose nutrition in this case. Organic Theory According to this theory, the state is not a mere aggregation of individuals, but an organism having parts and organs which arc related to one another in the same way as the different organs of an animal or a plant are related to one another. Robinson, (Dialectic), 209, 215–17.Google Scholar, 12 Popper, Karl R., The Open Society and Its Enemies (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 4th ed., 1962) Vol. Jerome Neu. (412c ff.) We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. More important is the ground to which Plato turns as ultimate (347c); if he doesn't govern he must be ruled by those worse than himself. John of Salisbury poses a particular problem, namely that at a time when politics and religion were not separated, it is impossible to talk about the state in the usual secular sense. Powered by EPrints 3, Copyright of this thesis is held by the author. After finding justice in his ideal state: The discovery we made there must now be applied to the individual. That is to say, it is sensible to say of actions which we ascribe to the State that they are right—or wrong. Barker (Political Thought, 103 n.4) seems closer: “Plato builds a State to illustrate man; but he presupposes a knowledge of man in building it”. (Republic, 368d-e, Comford trans.) Knowledge is sufficient license to rule: “It makes no difference whether their subjects be willing or unwilling.…” (Statesman 293b, Skemp). 15 They want to show that Plato takes the structure and virtues of individuals as rock bottom, and “argues” from there. Organic Theory of the state The basic idea of the organic theory is to show that the state is, in its nature, like a biological organism or a living being and that the relation between the state and the individual is the same as between an organism and its cell. He accuses Plato of “holism” in the sense of “an emphasis upon oneness and wholeness—especially of the state; or perhaps of the world”.(80). And earlier, “if any discrepancies appear, the former, rather than the latter, will have to be revised” (77), “there is no question of the modification being the other way round …” (111). The Organic Theory of the State is a species of political collectivism which maintains that the state transcends individuals within the State in power, right, or priority. Organic Theory of the State, as an ideal, 160. Thus, the part is not only subordinate to The following problem in particular is examined; is the 'organic theory’ a practical one in terms of offering a solution to the problem of political obligation, or is it a mere abstraction? Then we can go on to look for its counterpart on a smaller scale in the individual. Plato's Analogy of State and Individual: The Republic and the Organic Theory of the State @article{Neu1971PlatosAO, title={Plato's Analogy of State and Individual: The Republic and the Organic Theory of the State}, author={J. Neu}, journal={Philosophy}, year={1971}, volume={46}, pages={238-254} } [ Plato uses State, Society, Justice interchangeably. ] for this article. 11 That Plato should turn at all to analogies, as he frequently does, is surprising, considering his “prevailing opinion” runs against them and in favour of the hypothetical method. "newCitedByModal": false (Cf. Cross and Woozley attribute it to him on the basis of what they take to be the "order of argument" as opposed to the "order of exposition" (111, 131- 32). and find homework help for other Law and Politics questions at eNotes. Model Large Characters are to State as Small Characters are to Individual, Model as Justice is in the State, so Justice is in the Individual. All aim at the same pattern. Among writers of the Middle Ages and early modern times, th… "openAccess": "0", As an organ cannot survive without body, similarly, an individual is nothing out of the state. 7 Vlastos' article (“Psychic Harmony”) clearly analyzes the fault in the argument taken that way. I don't want to claim a fundamental distinction between “in” and “to”, but the two models may help bring out the assumptions of Plato's procedure. It seems clear that the elimination of stasis is often thought to be fundamental -- by friend and foe alike -- to any vision of society that relies on an organic model. If one has nothing to contribute, then he has no rights—even, apparently, to life. It is said that organic theory was launched on its career by Plato. What he takes as certain is what we have claimed he assumes all along, that Justice, whatever it is, will be the same in the state and the individual. Laws 875b, “… it is to the advantage of community and individual at once that public well-being should be considered before private”. His inquiry, when a man without knowledge rules, may not be left free. Jerome Neu. He wanted to give the idea of the state, not worrying about the practically of the idea. "isLogged": "0", But what the arrangement leads to is a situation in which “What the individual possesses … is first and foremost a status in which he is privileged to act, and the freedom which the state secures him is not so much for the exercise of his free will as for the practice of his calling”. 10 Plato knew where he was going. Cf. “Both man and the state have a single underlying structure which prevents the good for one from being essentially different from the good for the other”. I, 76.Google Scholar, 13 Cross, R. C. and Woozley, A. According to Plato state is the magnified individual because both are same in composition and qualities. Plato assumes that in some sense the individual will want to die. Plato wrote extensively on a wide range of subjects including science, religion and politics. PLATO'S ANALOGY OF STATE AND INDIVIDUAL: THE REPUBLIC AND THE ORGANIC THEORY OF THE STATE inquiring what justice means in a state. …while it would be a partisan misuse* of language to term Plato an “individualist”, that fact need not hide from us Plato's feeling for the individual as the ultimate reality here below, for the sake of whom the social framework is constructed, whose quality imparts character to the community, and whose destiny outdures that of the state which is his transitory and terrestrial home. competition is incompatible with the organic theory of the state. He said that the best ordered commonwealth was one whose structural organization resembled most nearly in principle to that of the individual. How could he decide what was a good city without assuming an account of justice? It focused on the classical version associated with Plato and Aristotle and teased out its relevance for understanding the origin and form of the state. It was characterized by clash of civilizations -style theorizing. Thus, the part is not only subordinate to the whole, but cannot exist apart from it. Then we can go on to look for its counterpart on a smaller scale in the individual. Plato's 'Republic' is of course admitted to be an ideal, but in some ways he is not organic enough. Features of Idea of … 14 The commitment, especially if it is to be used, as C & W use it, as a basis for a charge of totalitarianism, is rather weak. On its surface, Plato's design is not very sinister. Plato: Organicism. ), but, I believe, to a theory of knowledge and mind. Gorgias 466–68: Of tyrants: “…they do nothing, so to speak, that they wish to do, and yet do what is in their opinion best”. 21 He refuses to take the Forms seriously, dismissing the Form of the Good as an “empty formalism”. Flew, A. Plato’s Analogy of State and Individual Plato’s Analogy of State and Individual. It focused on the classical version associated with Plato and Aristotle and teased out its relevance for understanding the origin and form of the state. Plato made two imperative focuses. The individual subject is to have his moral well-being advanced, he is to be helped to live well, to be just. Popper's Defense of Democracy”, aPhilosophical Review, XL (1951), 496Google Scholar: “I do not mean that he will necessarily deny the existence of that superbeing, Dr. Popper does not deny it … ”. “… In their political capacity the workers have nothing to do but obey, which is nearly the same thing as to say that they have no properly political capacity at all” (53). Jones, M.C. In the sense in which it applies to the ruled, even the rulers are “exploited” in Plato's state. He was a student of Socrates and was very much influenced by his teachings, especially the motto of the Delphic Oracle, ‘know thyself’. 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