Authoritarian Political Hierarchy In Plato's Republic

An authoritarian government is ruled by the few, where there is hardly any freedom or mobility. The construction of an authoritarian political hierarchy begins with trying to figure out the meaning of justice. Plato’s Republic is a defense of authoritarian political hierarchy. Socrates portrays the concept of an ideal city with the notion of making it into an authoritarian government. He creates the guardians, auxiliaries and the craftsmen, each group having a different type of metal to define them. In this paper I will argue that, Plato’s Republic is a defense of authoritarian political hierarchy because he incorporates the idea of a strict central government within a city. Three ways this is shown in The Republic are with the ideas of, the

To have political justice you first need the city to be ordered properly. Guardians are the rules hence they are the wisest. Auxiliaries are the warriors. They fight to protect the city and make sure that no one tries to disrupt the flow of justice among them. Lastly we have the craftsmen. These are the one who are given specific jobs that match with their abilities. The principle of specialization is what structures the city Socrates creates. The idea is that each member of society must play the role for which his nature best suits him and not interfere in any other business. Therefore people will only be doing what they are good at and not worry about anything that may or may not go wrong. “Plato Speaking through Socrates, each person must tend to the business that accords with his nature” (Book 5, 453b). For example; a man who has the nature in farming must farm and do nothing else, a man whose nature is to build objects out of wood, must be a carpenter and not worry about anything else. Socrates believes that this is the only way to guarantee that each profession is done as well as possible. The principle of specialization keeps the farmer from carpentering and the carpenter from farming. Each person has a different profession that they are good in and it should always be that way according to Socrates. With this principle of specialization it creates the three groups of a just society. Guardians (rulers), Auxiliaries (warriors) and the craftsmen (farmer, carpenter, etc.) make up these three groups. When creating the principle of specialization it seems similar to the caste system. The craftsmen cannot become guardians, or auxiliaries. The society therefore is divided into three classes or it can be considered the division of labor. The concept of the principle of specialization ensures that each group remains within their area so there is no influence of negativity