Principales Teorías Éticas - Ética de Platón PDF

# Principales teorías éticas ## Ética de Platón - The theorization of Plato on morality is linked to a theory of knowledge and a psychology linked to ontology and metaphysics. - A major problem that Plato raises in his ethical reflections is that of understanding what is meant by virtue (areté), w...

# Principales teorías éticas ## Ética de Platón - The theorization of Plato on morality is linked to a theory of knowledge and a psychology linked to ontology and metaphysics. - A major problem that Plato raises in his ethical reflections is that of understanding what is meant by virtue (areté), what is virtue, and what model of conduct it gives rise to within the State. - Plato accepts that virtue is teachable (as the Sophist Protagoras also defended) but such teaching requires that the teacher possess a certain wisdom and technique, sophia and epistemé or techné that the Sophists pretend to possess, but which they lack. - For Plato, the goal of a man's life cannot be reduced to the satisfaction of his material needs. - Man must fully develop his personality in order to achieve happiness which he identifies with the harmony of the soul. - Plato's ethics are at the same time, a eudemonistic ethics (an ethics of happiness) and a virtue ethics (areté). This means that ethics are geared towards the achievement of man's supreme good: happiness. - Now, for Plato, happiness consists in the exercise of virtue and with this exercise one achieves the happiness which, in turn, coincides with the perfection of the soul. This perfection is only achieved in society. For Plato, as for Aristotle, the human being is a social animal by nature, that is, he is not self-sufficient or autarkic, he cannot develop fully outside the city or the State, hence ethics and politics are intimately linked in Plato's thought. - Plato in his dialogue "The Republic" does not refer to any of the existing States of his time, but describes his "idea" of State, an Ideal State. - But, what is the city or the Ideal State? From Plato's perspective, given that the city or State must exist to meet the needs of men, the first goal that any society must guarantee is an economic one - The organisation of work - The starting point of the organization of work is the consideration that men have different abilities and skills, making it preferable that each one develops those which he possesses by nature. - In an ideal city, therefore, there should be all kinds of workers: farmers, carpenters, labourers, blacksmiths, etc., so that all basic needs are met. - As society grows in number of citizens, resources need to be expanded, which can lead to the conquest of neighbouring territories to meet the needs of all. - The parallel between individual morality and the morality of the State allows us to establish that the virtue corresponding to each social class must correspond to the individuals who constitute it. The virtue of the artisan class is temperance, that is, the enjoyment with moderation of material goods; the virtue proper to the class of warriors or auxiliaries is courage; and the virtue proper to the true guardians or rulers is wisdom. - Justice will consist in each social class (and each citizen) taking care of the task that corresponds to it. Injustice will consist in the arbitrary interference of one social class in the functions of another: that the auxiliaries or the artisans pretend to govern, for example. - Education in the Ideal State - The educational process makes it possible to determine what kind of nature each man possesses and, therefore, to which class he should belong. Plato believes that the education received in the first years of life is fundamental for the development of the individual, and therefore that in the ideal city no one should be deprived of it, neither for reasons of sex nor for any other reason. - Education will be under the responsibility of the State, in no case under the responsibility of families, to avoid the negative influences that mothers and nannies have on young children. - Children must begin their educational process through playful activities for which the educators of the ideal city will choose those games that they consider appropriate to develop in children the understanding of the rules of games and, with this, a first approach to the value and meaning of law. - The first teachings they will receive will focus on poetry and music. It will be up to the educators of the ideal city to determine what kind of poems should be studied, to inspire love for any manifestation of virtue. - Music will also be part of education, analysing the form and rhythm of poems and the accompaniment that may be necessary. The study of rhythm and harmony will bring about in them an elevation towards the understanding and respect of beautiful and pure works, which will keep them away from vice. ## Artisans, warriors and philosophers - Throughout this educational process, some children will tend to abandon their studies, which will seem difficult and even hateful to them, while others will develop an increasing enthusiasm as - their knowledge increases. The first ones will become part of the artisan class, having shown a greater inclination towards contact with the material. - Those who persist in their studies will become part of the class of guardians or auxiliaries. The perseverance in the study, among those who belong to the guardian class, shows that in the individual the rational soul predominates, so they will be the ones chosen to form the class of rulers, who will be subjected to an educational process that will begin with the study of mathematics and will end with the study of dialectics, with the knowledge of the Ideas. - The task of ruling will, therefore, fall on those who know the Ideas, that is, on the philosophers. The best possible form of government is that in which a philosopher governs; but if it is not possible for one to stand out above the others, the government should be exercised by several philosophers and for a short period of time, to avoid all the evils that the persistence in power generates. ## Critiques of Plato's theory - One of the most striking prescriptions of The Republic is that of communism of goods, women and children for the members belonging to the two upper classes. This communism has nothing to do with the utopian regimes that were proposed in the Renaissance or with modern communism. It is a rule of sacrifice that is imposed on the upper classes and which resembles more the one of a military order or that of a religious community. It is not a form of social organisation since most of the population can have property and families. - While Plato's proposal is logical and convincing, in practice it requires a great deal of willingness and obedience as well as a high level of self-demand on the part of each individual belonging to the different social classes. According to what Plato and other writers of his time relate, passions tended to govern human beings, just as they do in our time, which makes this type of proposal unfeasible. Some believe that this philosopher was being ironic, to realize that a society where perfect or ideal justice prevails is impossible to achieve.