Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Plato: Women in the Ideal
State Part I
The Context
Plain text version of all seven parts
The Context >>The Problem >> The Distinction >> The Analogy >> The Principle >> The Application
>> The Conclusion
References Plato's book, The Republic, deals with practical issues such as
The Classics Pages the nature of justice, the human condition, and the basis of
Includes a guided tour of societal order and political power. It is a treasure trove of
Plato's Republic. I highly ideas and has long been a central work in Western literature.
recommend this resource.
In The Republic, Plato speaks through Socrates who is
Historical Women of holding forth in discussion at a dinner party. In the course of
Philosophy the discussion, Socrates and his young companions, Glaucon
Women Philosophers from 600 and Adeimantus, establish by careful argument that Justice is
BCE to 17th century CE. something real and objective (not merely a social convention
or personal convenience).
Plato
Excellent essay by Richard
Kraut from the Stanford Present throughout this work is the juxtaposition of
Encyclopedia of Philosophy appearance and reality. Plato is ever eager to show us that we
cannot judge truth on the basis of what appears to be so. We
Philosophy Talk: Plato need reason and questioning to get beyond appearance and
Listen to this excellent radio closer to truth. Often in the dialogues it becomes clear that
program and take notes. The getting beyond appearances will require reforming our lives.
segment is about one hour.
The free Real Player is
For Socrates and Plato, the search for truth is not an idle
required for streaming audio. intellectual game; it is the proper pursuit of a being endowed
with intellect and a soul. The nobles of Athens seem to have
Plato and Platonism understood the seriousness of Socrates' project as well, for
A concise introductory essay they executed him rather than allow his arguments concerning
from the Catholic the need for personal change.
Encyclopedia
In The Republic, Plato presents a political theory upon which
The Philosophy of Plato the ideal State (i.e. society or political order) should be based.
An wellorganized overview
from the Radical Academy That theory posits that any human individual is at their best
when they are pursuing what they are most capable of; for
The Republic, Book I instance, an athlete should pursue physical excellence, an
One of Plato's greatest and artisan should pursue excellent in their craft, and a leader
most influential works. This is should pursue justice.
a markedup version of the
Jowett translation.
In order for an individual to pursue their personal excellence,
The Republic: Study it is crucial that the parts of their soul are in proper balance.
Questions Plato argues, there are three major aspects of the soul:
IQ Home
To think about and look 1. Reason, (mind and intellect) which seeks the truth as its
for when reading Book I. excellence; Aquinas
2. Spirit, (will and volition) which seeks honor as its Aristotle
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Plato/plato_on_women_in_the_ideal_state_part_I_the_context.html 1/3
02/12/2014 Great Philosophers: Plato The Dialogue Form Republic
Plato's answer to this question must have been extremely
shocking in his time. Indeed, up to the middle of the twentieth
century, Plato's views about woman can only be seen as
radical. In ancient Athens, women were not considered
citizens at all. Some women were mere property. There is
little to indicate that women were accorded any equality,
respect of intellect, or civil rights. All the same, we know of
ancient women who were highly intellectual, creative, or
powerful. Those that did succeed must have done so in spite
of their social environment, and not by any fairness or
enlightened attitude on the part of the culture (see The
Historical Women of Philosophy resource at the left for an
investigation of ancient and later female philosophers).
One might answer Plato's unusual inquiry into the status of
women by pointing out that 'things just are the way they are
and, so far as we know, have always been so.' This is an
appeal to tradition. Many people favor this form of reasoning.
It seems to such people that to even question the structure and
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Plato/plato_on_women_in_the_ideal_state_part_I_the_context.html 2/3
02/12/2014 Great Philosophers: Plato The Dialogue Form Republic
practices of society is presumptuous. They sometimes call
themselves Realists and ridicule those who challenge the
statusquo as starryeyed Idealists.
Plato is certainly an idealist. On his view, neither tradition nor
social agreement is sufficient to justify our social rules and
conventions. This is why Plato seeks a description of the Ideal
State. The ideal society is a conception of what might be and
what ought to be. Such a conception cannot be grounded
merely in observations of what is and what has been.
Therefore, Plato's inquiry into the status of women in society
is not an incidental or side issue in Plato's political theory.
Rather, he is forcing the issue in a radical way in order to
challenge the foundations of his contemporary culture.
Next, consider how Plato sets up the problem to be
investigated.
The Context >>The Problem >> The Distinction >> The Analogy >> The Principle >> The Application
>> The Conclusion
2002© Jon Dorbolo
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Plato/plato_on_women_in_the_ideal_state_part_I_the_context.html 3/3