Similarities Between Platon And Federalist 51

As Plato once said, whatever a “wise man [says]… ‘is not to lightly be cast aside’” (Phaedrus 53). A man we can apply this to is James Madison’s “Federalist 10” and “Federalist 51”. Madison’s ideas on factions and how government should run replaced the ideas found in the Articles of Confederation and balanced power between the people and the government. Another thing that helps make these letters significant in United States history is the way his ideas are presented in these two letters. In both Gorgias and Phaedrus, Plato illustrates Platonic framework—the idea of pursuing the true, the good, and the beautiful in one’s writings and speeches. This idea is demonstrated in James Madison’s “Federalist 10” and “Federalist 51”; both of these works

In Madison’s “Federalist 10”, he mentions that one of the ways to deal with factions is to remove its cause or causes. In that, there are two ways to remove its cause or causes: “by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence” or “by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests” (Madison, “Federalist 10”). Madison claims that neither would work because “as long as” our reasoning is “fallible, and [we are] at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed,” and our tendency to disagree “is sown into the nature of man” (Madison, “Federalist 10”). Plato would believe that these ideas promote his beliefs on what is a good society because Madison acknowledges the fact that each citizen is different, and creating a society that attempts to remove these differences would not allow one to have complete control in what they want. Also, having self-control means that the citizens should be able to choose who will run the country. In Madison’s “Federalist 51”, he agrees with making most offices electable by citizens. This way, citizens can express their political power in a safe way. Overall, Madison demonstrates Plato ideas of the Good by promoting man to govern oneself, promoting man to be independent, and promoting society to be

In “Federalist 10”, Madison is opposed to removing the causes of factions because it removes a person’s individuality. Individuality and the ability for two different individuals to collaborate aid in new projects. In both of Madison’s letters, his promotion of self-governance are indicative of his promotion of human flourishing, because self-governance allows more variability and disagreement people. This is because new ideas come from disagreement between individuals. Without the ability to to disagree, society would not be able to advance for the people’s