I haven’t updated my article for a long time, and I feel a little unfamiliar. After reading Plato's "The Republic", I thought it would be better to read some words to deepen my impression. After reading Leave No Trace, I will be ashamed if I only remember the title of the book in retrospect.
I don’t know who originally translated the name "Utopia". I can only say that it was a good choice. It really fits the content of the book. During Plato’s time, it was an ideal to establish a country as described in the book. Human civilization has advanced for more than 2,400 years, but Plato’s ideal country has still not been realized. This may be the charm of "Utopia", a utopia that is far away in the ideal, but it is the hope and goal that mankind strives for.
The realization of Plato’s Republic was caused by his teacher Socrates. (Reading *** with my friends, based on the various questions and various arguments that Socrates asked in "The Republic", my friends named Socrates the "Excellent Person". It is quite characteristic of the times) I think Socrates The bottom line is only the first two volumes, and the so-called dialogues that follow have become Socratic self-questions and answers. Those who can't stand him have become tools to conform to his views and praise him to continue speaking. Socrates is worthy of being a teacher. Plato used his teacher's examples and metaphors and quoted from many sources to explain his philosophical thoughts and the Utopia contained in his philosophical thoughts.
I think the ideal in Plato's "Utopia" can be viewed from two aspects, namely, people with truth and goodness in their hearts, and a country full of justice guarded by these people.
Plato's philosophy is idealistic. He believes that there is an "absolute idea", which is truth and goodness, and is the truth. Everything in the world is but an imitation of this absolute idea. Man needs the ascent of his soul in order to be as close as possible to this absolute idea, the existence of the highest good. The most important way for the human soul to ascend is to receive education and the human soul to be enlightened.
Plato believes that before people receive education, they are like people who are tied up in a cave and face the wall. When he sees the shadow on the wall, he thinks it is real, but he never knows that there is fire behind him. The figures he saw moving on the wall were just shadows cast by the firelight. The role of education is to guide people to learn to turn around, slowly see the light of fire, and understand the essential existence of things.
And in this process, it is actually a process of self-improvement and perfection of the human soul. People will slowly realize the importance of reason and wisdom, and gradually abandon the shallow understanding of desire. Reason allows the soul to move towards the highest good, allowing people to find a lofty realm free from the constraints of desire, thereby obtaining the most lasting, harmonious and beautiful happiness.
For this kind of richest person, in Plato's view, only philosophers meet the requirements. Therefore, Plato pushed philosophers to the highest position, and philosophers governed the country and realized the utopia of the human world. A philosopher loves wisdom and can best see the eternal truth. When faced with the temptation of various desires, because he has learned to use reason to guide those desires correctly, he is not burdened by the illusions of fame, wealth and honor, and can transcend himself. Therefore, a country governed by philosophers must be an ideal society in which citizens perform their duties, the legal system is reasonable and orderly, and the spirit pursues positive and good intentions.
Plato listed three social systems, oligarchy, anarchy and tyranny. The oligarchy makes people pursue profit-seeking, which ultimately leads to the disparity between the rich and the poor and polarization. Anarchy and unrestricted freedom will cause unbridled desires to burst out and corrode people's hearts. Tyranny will make those who initially protect the people become enslavers for their own gain. The reason why various evils occur under different systems is, in the final analysis, that the people who govern the country are too selfish and cannot "cultivate themselves" like philosophers and reach the other side of the truth.
Instead of admiring philosophers, Plato expelled poets like Homer from the Republic. Plato believed that people who created literature like Homer were just imitations of imitations, two levels apart from the truth. Because artistic creations such as paintings and poems are not based on truth, they only provide people with superficial emotional perceptions. In fact, the expression of this kind of emotion is an expression of desire without rational filtering, which is good for the entire country. The citizens’ minds are harmful and therefore they must be excluded.
"Utopia" inspires us far more than this. As a descendant who has been separated from Plato for more than 2,400 years, when I re-read "The Republic", I have to admire the wisdom of the ancients. We seem to be able to see some shadows of that ideal Utopia in the countries of our time; so long ago, Plato had already proposed eugenics and eugenics to cultivate qualified talents with strong bodies and perfect minds for the country; and how do we view fame, wealth, honor, and transcendence? Enjoy sensual desires and pleasures, become a brave and kind person, have justice in your heart, yearn for truth and kindness, and defend and build your country. These are positive energies that have traveled through thousands of years and are still worthy of our deep thought.