ASISCLO PABLO UYSON MAPhilo
Ateneo de Manila University
This contention emerged primarily in view of the discussion between Socrates and Glaucon in Plato’s Republic Book VI with the interesting topic: “the true and false philosopher”. Who then is the most ideal, most perfect guardian of the State? The true or the false philosopher? Let’s find out why it is the true philosopher and begin to discuss Socrates’ answer.
Inasmuch as Philosophers only are able to grasp the eternal and unchangeable compared to those who wander in the region of the many and variable are not philosophers, Glaucon asks then, “Which of the two classes should be the rulers of the State? Socrates replied: “Whichever of the two are best able to guard the laws and institutions of our state—let them be our guardians. But in general, what should be the characteristics of a perfect guardian? He must have eyes rather than no eyes; who are able as with a painter’s eye to look at the absolute truth and having perfect vision of the other world to order the laws about beauty goodness, justice, to guard and preserve the order of them. For Socrates, the union of all these greatest of all great qualities should be rulers in the state. Let’s now go to the specifics of the qualities of the perfect guardian, the philosopher: the nature of the philosopher should be in this way, that the philosophical mind should always love knowledge, they are lovers of all true being. The implication of this is that, no part whether greater or less honourable which they are willing to renounce. As a consequence of this, they should eventually possess truthfulness. They will never receive intentionally into their mind falsehood and they will love the truth. A philosopher should desire all truth even from his earliest youth. He whose desires are drawn towards knowledge is surely temperate and the reverse of meanness and being covetous. Also, a philosopher, in the greatness of his contemplations will not think much of human life. Instead, he will be of gentle, sociable, harmonious nature; a lover of learning, having a good memory and moving spontaneously in the world of being. In general, the philosopher’s nature is similar or should be “proportion” according to Socrates. Meaning, the philosopher then naturally has a well proportioned and gracious mind, which will move spontaneously toward the true being of everything. Indeed all these qualities enumerated go together, and are necessary to the soul, which is to have a full and perfect participation of being. Glaucon asks: “And must not that be a blameless study which he only can pursue who has the gift of a good memory, and is quick to learn,--noble, gracious the friend of truth, justice, courage, temperance, who are his kindred? Socrates replied: “To men like him (the philosopher) when perfected by years and education, and to these only, you will entrust the State!”
At this point, Adeimantus butted in and said:“then how can you justify in saying that cities will not cease from evil until Philosopherrs rule in them? When philosophers are acknowledged by us to be of no use to them? Socrates answered this question through the parable of the”ship” or “fleet”. The gist of the parable: There’s this noble captain whose senses are rather dull(the people in their better mind); the mutinous crew (the mob of politicians); and the pilot (the true philosopher). Now here’s Socrates’ interpretation of the parable:“that the philosopher have no honour in their cities; that the uselessness of the philosopher arises out of the unwillingness of mankind to make use of them. Moreover, the discussion of Socrates and Adeimantus continued by considering the other qualities of the perfect guardian, these include: his love of essence, of truth, of justice, besides his other virtues and natural gifts. The true philosopher who has his eyes fixed upon immutable principles, will fashion states after the heavenly image. To recapitulate so far, the perfect guardian is someone who is a lover of his country, tried by the test of pleasures and pains and neither in hardships, nor in dangers, nor at any other critical moment where to lose his patriotism. He was to be rejected who failed, but he who always came for the pure, like gold tried in the refiners fire, was to be made a ruler, and to receive honours and rewards in life and after death.
Hence, the guardian must be a philosopher, and a philosopher must be a person of rare gifts, for the gifts which were deemed by us to be essential rarely grow together, “that quick intelligence, memory, sagacity, cleverness, and similar qualities, do not often grow together.” They indeed must be united. Moreover, the guardian must also take the longer road of the higher learning which leads upward at last to the idea of good. But what is the good? In relation to the philosopher as the perfect guardian, vis-à-vis knowing the good, Socrates presented three important analogies: that of the sun as the author of sight; the allegory of the cave and the divided line. In view of the sun, being the source of the light which illumines someone, here we must posit the fact that the philosopher seeks wisdom, beauty and good. The sun here is to be compared as the Good, Truth, Wisdom, Beauty. It is then the philosopher who is capable of helping the people to see or achieve the Good,etc because it is he alone who is in the first place the lover of the good, the only one who has the ability to love the truth, beauty, wisdom unlike all others who just reached the twilight level which is actually the reality in the analogy of the divided line. In the divided line, it is the philosopher alone who reached the idea level which is by the way the highest while the rest reached only the images down to the shadows level. Knowing and having grasped the idea of the good, beauty, wisdom etc, it’s the philosopher then who can teach the people in the state to gain all those realities and the same again is true in the allegory of the cave, it is he alone to got out from the cave and emphatized with the remaining prisoners. Hence his mission, after knowing the truth, good etc is to illumine and bring such to the people back inside the cave, to the state in general.
Ergo, Socrates concluded that it must be the philosopher who is the most ideal, the most noble, the most worthy and the perfect guardian of the state.
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