Both Plato’s and Aristotle’s philosophies of ideal forms of governance are very contradictory to each other and also to modern ideas of what an ideal state should be like. Plato’s idea of a proper state sounds like something out of a dystopian movie and there are a lot of problems with Aristotle’s idea of who should be able to participate in the decision making process of a state. However one thing that I find interesting is that they both share a dislike for democratic regimes and bring out certain issues with them, which are still relevant today. These are as follows:
· Rulers elected through a democratic process can often become tyrants, if not managed properly. We have seen examples of this in modern times, such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein.
· Democratic regimes lead to a battle of opinions and political groups. Now this was something that was stated in the very homogeneous state of Athens, where only men of the rich class were considered worth of taking part in politics. However in an extremely diverse country like India, where people have a variety of cultures and ways of life, this can become very problematic, since every individual would like to elect a leader that would best represent his or her own culture.
· Both Plato and Aristotle believed that a ruler should be someone who is qualified to fulfill that role. In Plato’s view, it would be those who have a moral understanding of true justice and in Aristotle’s view; it would be those who best represent the best interest of the state. In the modern world, if people want to fulfill a particular job, they are required to have professional qualifications. This is true for every role in the society….. Except for politics. Most people who become politicians are lead by a personal will to do so and not by true understanding of morality, wisdom or sense of civic duty.
In my opinion, studying and understanding these philosophies is essential for anyone interested to learn the functioning of modern democracies, because it is in ancient Greece that we find the foundation of our modern forms of governments.
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