Plato’s Philosophies in Modern’s Perspective

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Finally, another reason why I believe that Plato’s ideas are outdated and out of context is his belief of natural gifts and skills. According to Plato everybody has to be what they are capable of and should not be or try to become others. In other words, he basically does not want the people to follow unrealistic goals or try to do more than what they are capable of. For example, if you want to be a basketball player, but you are not very good at basketball. This shows that you are not born to be a basketball player, but you can still practice as much as you want and might still improve. Plato would not accept this because he would think you are wasting your time and would be better off with something more realistic. This idea in modern day society would be out of context because people can do whatever they want, they can follow their dreams and they do not have to only be what they are capable of doing.

In summary, even though I think that a lot of Plato’s ideas and theories are out of context to the modern society, I still think many of Plato’s principles are still relevant today and that The Republic should still be read and studied. Do not take away the importance of The Republic. Plato laid a well-constructed idea of a foundation for a society that would be productive and healthy for the well-being of the state. Such as the rulers of the state should be wise, should act in the best interests of their citizens and should be well educated to be qualified as rulers, so that they can make the correct political decisions. I just think that the society in modern day is way more complicated; for example, people value self-respect and accomplishments higher than ever, so they would not be happy with the little freedom they would have under Plato’s society. Another example is that rulers in modern day context are the opposite of what Plato had in mind. Plato’s definition of rulers is those who are knowledgeable, wise and do the best for the well-being of the state; however, most rulers now do not have all of those attributes. I used Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un to examine that rulers in modern context follow their appetites. They also are not knowledgeable or wise enough to rule in Plato’s society. Lastly, people now have more freedom than ever, they can do almost anything they want. People now would not be happy with only able to work in one role, many people spend time to improve in certain areas so that they could become something higher rank, but in Plato’s society you are not allowed to change roles. You are only working in the role you are naturally capable of. Plato’s ideas and philosophies are to create a perfect society, which is done by constructing the foundation and system of a society. However, today’s political and democratic systems and theories are simply much more complicated.

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