Noble Lie

According to Plato the role of a central government is to determine where a person belongs or should be positioned society. This belief seems to stem from the ideals of communism or socialism, but Plato’s ideas have many departures from those schools of thought. In Plato’s Republic labor is organized by a government run education system that identifies the best roles for each citizen. He compliments his theory of government rule with his theory of justice. Plato argues that justice occurs only when three parts of a man’s spirit, reason ,soul , and appetite are in consensus with his role in society.

It appears that what links the doctrines of government is the reliance on a theory of justice. The classical liberal idea of justice, includes the foundations for the modern American Republic, one that stated that a just society must be one in which everyone was treated equally in front of the law. The theory argues that men must be allowed to use his skills to advance ones personal fortunes. The collectivist theories of justice believe a just society must allow all for all people to have an equal of opportunity and equal tend results in the economy. The founders of America believed that no one should be able to use the work of another for their own personal gain. Plato outlined’s during the Republic a rejection of the freedom allowed in a liberal country. He also outlined a class system that is a departure from the to collectivist and socialist ideas. Plato’s ideas are most closely related to collectivist theories, mostly because he puts the needs of the society over the rights of the individual. Plato wrote that people are happy when they are fulfilling their proper role in society. Communist theory states that people are happiest when they are working for the collective good of society.

An important tentant of Plato’s theory is to explore whom should be put in charge. According to Plato society should ran by a group called the “Philosopher