Paper Summary:

Following a short overview of Plato's life and the political situation of his time, this paper describes and analyzes Plato's ideas regarding political organization, including aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny and further examines whether these ideas have any relevance nowadays. In addition, the paper touches on Plato's ideas about the ideal state and his famous allegory of the cave. The paper concludes that, even if many Plato's ideas seem very alien to us, some ideas, particularly the moral and spiritual dimension of political life, are still very relevant today.

From the Paper:

"Plato - one of the greatest and most influential of all Western philosophers - was born c. 427 BC in Athens and died in 347 BC. He came from a family which was aristocratic, rich and distinguished on both sides. Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of natural philosophy, science, and Western philosophy. The major achievements of Plato were a large collection of philosophical writings and the foundation of the Academy, which was the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Plato's written philosophy is always cast in dramatic form - either a dialogue or a monologue sometimes reporting others' dialogues. Plato was inspired by Socrates as the ideal figure of philosopher and was much influenced by his thinking. In the dialogues Plato never speaks in his own voice; instead Socrates is mostly the main figure. There is also considerable controversy as to how exactly his writings are to be interpreted."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Annas, J. (2003) Plato: a very short introduction. Oxford, University Press.
• Barrow, R. (1975) Plato, utilitarianism and education. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• Gerald, A.P. (2007) Plato: a guide for the perplexed. London / New York, Continuum International Publishing Group.
• Korab-Karpowicz, W.J. (2006) Plato's Political Philosophy. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Electronically accessed 16th June 2009.http://www.iep.utm.edu/p/platopol.htm.
• Lee, D. (transl.) in Plato, Lee, D., Lee, H.D.P. (2003) The Republic (2nd edn.). London, Penguin Classics.

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