How are you, guys! About 2500 years ago,... ...a terrible Peloponnesian War took place in two powerful city-states of Greece, Athens and Sparta. This war was fought for 27 years. Of the two powers, Athens was the sea power
with a powerful navy... ...while its rival city-state Sparta had a bold and powerful army. The two Greek states were fighting for supremacy in the region and for their so-called defense. Athens was very proud of its democratic system, its navy, its ships, and its commanders,... ...they considered them invincible. But in this war spread over three decades, the Athenians lost badly to the Spartans. Athen became a slave or a vassal state to Sparta and its allies. This was very heartbreaking for the Athenians, who considered themselves the superpower of the region. Their hearts were broken. The wise men of the city would lay their heads
together and think over it. After all what happened that we... despite having a powerful goddess, experienced commanders, and eminent political philosophers... ...lost our state to a wild state, an oligarchy, a dictatorship? Among these thinkers was the famous
Athenian philosopher Plato... ...who is also known as Aflatoon in the Urdu language. You must know that... ...that along with finding the reason for the defeat of Athens, Plato was also thinking... ...about how to create an ideal state that would not be defeated by its enemies... ...and would also have justice, prosperity, and happiness in it for the common man. He wanted to find out what an ideal state should be like. How should justice be there? What should be done so that the best person can become the king of this state? Pondering over these and countless similar questions,... ...he envisioned an imaginary ideal republic. Then presented this concept to the world in
the form of a long dialogue. In this dialogue, not Plato himself but his teacher Socrates questions the people on various issues... ...and re-questions the people's answers. All of which Plato was actually writing,... ...then at the end, he presented his ideas on each issue. This is a very interesting philosophical discussion... ...and this dialogue was later turned into a book
by Plato's disciples. What we call the "Plato's Republic". On justice, the justice system, ethics, morality, and politics... ...probably nobody had written such a comprehensive book before. This book was so influential around the world... ...that for the next 1800 years,... ...whatever was written on philosophy, state, politics,
religion, and ethics... ...was based on the ideas of this book. It was the Plato's Republic that forced Thomas More
to map out an ideal state... ...and he then wrote 'Utopia'. This book has also been presented to you in this video. After watching this video do watch it. There is a link on the i-button. Since the influence of Plato's Republic has been on the minds of thinkers for centuries and even today,... ...we have, therefore, chosen this book for you
in our series of 100 books... ...you must go through at least once in your life. Socrates is the central character of Plato's dialogue
in The Republic. Socrates, Plato's teacher... ...and who in 399 BCE, on the charges of breaching the traditions of Athens... ...had to drink a cup of hemlock, a poison. So the book may have been written by Plato, but... ...all of its ideas are actually expressed in Socrates' language. The story begins with Socrates meeting his friend... ...Polymachus and his old-aged father Cephalus. Gossip ensues among them and justice is discussed
as a topic in the conversation. Socrates asks the rest of the people around him, including Cephalus,... ...what is justice? The answer is that speaking the truth and
paying off one's debt is justice. Socrates dismisses this idea. He says that debt cannot be repaid all the time. For example,... ...if a friend of mine entrusts his weapons to me,... ...then he becomes mentally unsound... ...and comes back to me asking for the weapons... ...should I return them to him? To be fair,... ...if I return it would not be fair... ...because doing so could harm anyone, including my friend. Another answer is then given to Socrates... ...that justice is to do good to friends and evil to enemies. Socrates also rejects this answer. He says that humans are either good or bad by nature. What is the relationship between friends and enemies being good and bad? Your friends may be bad people but your enemies
are good by nature. In this case, doing good to bad friends and doing evil to good enemies will not be justice. Then here he gets a third answer. That justice is nothing but the authority of the powerful,... ...which is exercised on the weak to obey. This is law and justice. Socrates also calls this answer wrong. He says that how can justice be the name of only using force? If obeying the law made by the powerful is justice... ...tell how the powerful people will do justice among themselves; in their own ranks? Will there be a new definition of justice here? So by rejecting these three definitions,
Socrates presents his opinion. He says justice is that everyone in the state should fulfill their responsibility. No citizen should interfere in another's affairs. To implement this seemingly simple principle of justice,... ...he envisions a state... ...in which it would be possible to get and deliver justice. He calls this state a republic. In this imaginary state "republic" there are three classes of citizens. One class, he says, will be that of philosopher kings. The second class is the guardians i.e. the security agencies of the army, police, etc... ...and the third class is the working class such as farmers, artisans, traders, etc. The Philosopher King and Guardian class are
the most talked about in the Republic. According to Socrates, a guardian, a protective class, should be like a domesticated dog... ...that can quickly recognize an enemy and pounce on it,... ...and powerful enough to overpower it. Apart from this, it should also have a spirit of courage and bravery. Guardians will be dangerous to enemies and
kind to friends. Now how are the best of these three classes, to be raised in the Ideal State Republic? For this, Socrates proposes that to generate good guardians... ...the smartest and strongest children will be selected from the whole society. For this, in the first step, all the citizens above 10 years of age... ...will be taken out of the city and transferred
to a place outside temporarily. Children under 10 years of age who will remain in the city,... ...will be taken into custody by the government and
transferred to a designated place. After that, the citizens will return but these children
will not go to their parents. The state will retain them for their special upbringing
and education. These children will be trained in literature, music, and gymnastics. According to Socrates, literature is important because... ...stories will instill in children courage, bravery, and
the passion to die for the state. Socrates' principal suggestion regarding these stories is... ...to orientate the children's perception of the gods. He says that the poets have created a very wrong image of the gods in the public. Especially by the two poets Homer and Hesiod. Homer wrote 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' on the Trojan War. While Hesiod wrote a book called Theogenv... ...in which the stories of the gods were narrated. These books showed that the gods were jealous of
each other like humans,... ...had enmity and changed forms to make fools of humans and fellow gods. Apart from this, they used to share the good with
the bad in humans. As Homer wrote, there are two drums at the door of the god Zeus,... ...one for good and the other for evil. With these drums, the god Zeus can make
any human being good or bad. Socrates says that all these ideas about God are false. The imaginary picture of the gods that the poets have
created is like an artist... ...trying to paint the real thing without seeing it. This painting would obviously be wrong. Similarly, what the poets have told about the gods
is a lie. In fact, god had no enmity with anyone, nor can commit a crime. God cannot even change form... ...because he is perfect. To assume any other form means that he has come below perfection. So he won't do it. Thus God can only do good, not evil. God is not responsible for any evil that happens to humans. Because god also punishes a nation... ...because of its own deeds. He is not unjust. Plato says the Guardians with a correct concept of god in their minds, will also be morally correct. Like the poets in their fabricated stories show, the gods... ...will not become evil men showing their power. Plato also says that instead of striking fear by telling tales of doom after death... ...people should be shown the dream of a good life as a reward. This will create positive energy... ...and Guardians will not be afraid to fight and die on the battlefield. After literature and the concept of God, the second step in Guardians training is music. Socrates says that to inculcate the spirit of bravery in children, only martial music should be taught,... ...that is, war songs, the martial songs should be memorized. In the ideal state Republic all instruments, including
the flute will be banned... ...which cannot be used to make war songs. Or at least could not have been made in ancient Greece. In its place, the harp and lyre, which were instruments used in ancient Greece, should be used. Besides the music in the Republic, the Guardians will also intensely be physically trained in the next phase. They will be taught the use of all kinds of weapons. They will be taught to strictly observe their eating, drinking, sleeping, waking, and all health routines. For example, Socrates says that to give
the Gardenias good health,... ...they should be kept away from sweet and spicy foods. Plato also teaches the Guardians an important battle
strategy. He writes... ...that every city is actually divided into two parts. One part is rich and the other is poor. If a war has to be waged with a state that outnumbers in soldiers and weapons... ...war alone will not work in that case. The Guardians will send their representative to the poor citizens and ask them to... join them and in case of victory, the treasures of wealth and ornaments... ...will also be shared with them. If these people join them, it will be easy to defeat
the enemy state. The Republic will win, and a section of the conquered city will already be with them. Along with advice on how to win a war, Plato guides
the Greek states... ...to stop fighting and enslaving each other's prisoners. Because Plato saw in his lifetime that war and the desire to enslave enemies... ...brought nothing but destruction to the Greeks. Enslaving the enemy people during wars
was common in Plato's time. Remember, here that... ...Plato's opposition to slavery was limited to
the city-states of Greece. In principle, Socrates and Plato were not against slavery. Rather, slaves were included in the structure of
an ideal state of the republic. But these were the slaves bought from outside the Greek states. In addition to upholding the traditional concept of slavery,... ...a traditional concept is surprisingly rejected
by Plato in the Republic. That is, in the guardians class Plato also included
women along with men. Plato conveyed through Socrates that although women are physically weaker than men,... ...they are in no way inferior to men in other capacities. Men and women are equal in intelligence, planning,
hard work, and leadership. They can be trained like men to make good guardians. So he says that the women in the guardian class will be trained in music and war just like the men. Rather, he speaks of a radical change, saying that... ...during combat training, women will practice
undressing just like men. And the man who laughs at them will be termed very foolish. According to Plato, when all these Guardian children, girls, become young after training,... ...they will live together in one place. None of them will be husband or wife to the other. Everyone can relate to each other. The children born out of this relationship will be immediately handed over to nannies. When these children are old enough and their
parents cannot recognize them,... ...they will be sent back to the Guardians. But they will not recognize their real parents
and they to their children. The benefit of this would be that the Guardians would
love and care for them... ....equally and would treat them all as their own children. Plato gives this idea so that the Guardians' first
and last love is the state. And it will remain for the state. So that, they do not have to counter domestic problems while performing state duties. Plato emphatically asks the estate to produce
only physically strong children. He believes that just as the breed of good pet is ...secured through the mating of healthy pairs which reproduce good breeds of pets,... ...similar, idea should be in vogue for producing the best humans. He writes that a male can reproduce for 25 to 55 years. Whereas a woman can give birth to children
between the ages of 20 and 40. So during the same span of ages, men and women should be used to increase the generation. Weak and disabled children born to weak couples will be silently killed soon after they are born. Only the strongest children will survive and they... ...would return to their common parents, the Guardians. Following Guardians, the working class will be
important in the state. Where will it come from? It will come by means that when the Guardians are 20 years old, they will all be tested again,... ...and those who pass the test, will be given higher
education for another 10 years. But those who do not get through will be included
in the working class. That is, they will be made farmers, artisans, or traders. This working class will run the economy of the state. Through their labour, the storehouses of the state will be filled with food to prevent famine in the state,... ...thereby creating a working class, out of those who
fail the test at the age of 20. But those who passed and were given further higher education for the next 10 years,... ...would have another test at the age of 30. Those who pass the test at the age of 30 years, will be taught philosophy for the next 5 years. Those who fail will stay in the army. While the 35-year-old young philosophers will be
given initial official positions... ...so that they can experience government work. This category, the philosopher-kings class, is that
around which Plato builds his ideal state. It is by that the young philosophers who are inducted into the early government jobs at the age of 35... ...would gain experience by working in lower
positions for at least 15 years. That is, by the age of 50, they would become expert in their department to serve the government. After that, among all the first 50-year-old officers, the one who has shown the best performance... ...will be included among the top officers of the state. This class of Philosopher Kings will actually
collectively run the Republic system. That is, the best-chosen people who are experts in running state affairs and in philosophy. They would be common rulers of the state. In fact, Plato does not make it clear... ...whether in his ideal state Republic, anyone from the class of philosopher-kings,... ...the most senior would be elected as a leader. So it seems he is advocating a communal system... ...or a system where a council of the best governs the society. This vagueness has also led to criticism of Plato's Republic. That he has left a vacuum here. Like Guardians class, the ruling class of Philosopher Kings will neither be able to build property... ...nor have a family life. In his Ideology, Plato pins high hopes on the Philosopher Kings. He believes that the philosophical ruling class alone can solve all the problems of the state. He gives many examples to support a philosopher as a leader of society and better than all others. A conspicuous example given by him is the "Allegory of the Cave"... ...which is the example of prisoners in a make-believe cave. Plato says through his book character Socrates that suppose some people are in a cave. They have been living there since childhood and their legs and necks are chained in such a way that they cannot move. They can only look forward, not right and left. This means that these people are living in a cave like prisoners, but they are not aware of their imprisonment. A fire is burning behind all these prisoners. A few people constantly pass through the space between the fire and the prisoners. On the wall in front of the prisoners, theirs and the shadows of passers-by are dancing. When these passers-by in the back speak, their voices echo. They are heard in caves with the shadows. Now the prisoners do not see the people behind and only their reflections are visible. So the prisoners think they are moving shadows that are speaking. The prisoners of the cave consider these shadows and echoing sounds the ultimate reality of the world. But then a prisoner is released. He goes out and looks at the vast world and is amazed. Plato says that suppose this person goes back to the cave and tells everyone... ...that these shadows on the wall are not the real reality,... ...but the real reality is the fire, the cave, and the people whose shadows fall on the wall. The world is not black shadows and red flames. The world is colourful, it has air, birds, fragrance, sky, etc. But no one will believe his words in the cave. Then the eyes of this returning person after seeing
the light outside... ...will not even be familiar with the darkness of the cave. But this whole situation will be translated by the chained prisoners inside the cave like that... ...one of our comrades who has returned is mad
and blind at the same time. They will regret it and say that would say that... ...a person who leaves here becomes a blind mad. According to Plato, if an outsider tries to free them into the world,... ...they will think of him as an enemy and rush to kill him. Maybe kill him. According to Plato, the person who went out to
see the reality of the world... ...was from the among the Philosopher Kings. He was intelligent more than others and more understood of reality than ordinary people. According to him, what a philosopher sees differently
from a common man. Common people become the enemies of intellectuals and philosophers because of... ...their thinking is as limited as those prisoners,... ...who never saw anything but the false dancing shadows of the cave and never thought to sense them. This is a famous example that Plato gives of the philosopher's superiority over the common people. Another example is the 'Republic' to prove the philosopher as a good ruler, is of a ship and its captain. He says that suppose a naval ship whose captain does not know navigation, although he is a good person. So the quarrelsome crew of the ship revolts... and takes control of the ship, giving control of
the ship to a sharp man. Because the rebels consider this person to be a great
sailor, the captain of a ship. But this person also proved to be an incompetent captain. Compared to them, there is a person on the ship who really knows how to steer the ship,... ...who also possesses leadership qualities, but people do not recognize him, nor value him. Plato says unless this undesirable but capable person becomes the ship's captain, it cannot reach its destination. Similarly, Philosopher Kings may be unpopular,... ...but only they can lead society towards the goal of justice. Through this second example, Plato also criticized the Athenian democracy. He gives many other such arguments in his book and says... ...that democracy is not a good way to run a state... ...because the common man does not know the better person and often elects idiots. After which the direction of the state goes wrong. Plato's Republic, which Plato draws in the book, is in fact, fictitious... ...but a very small city-state. Not many people live in it. All citizens have only one duty to work for
the betterment of the state. There is a famous saying of the Republic, which is still popular today, that... ...when good men decline to govern, their punishment is that bad men become their rulers. According to Plato only Guardians and Philosopher Kings can improve the state. Family life, accumulation of wealth, and luxuries are very dangerous things for the state. In his view, there should be strict censorship of music
and literature in the state,... ...that is, they should be fully controlled by the state. So, this is the complete map of what Plato thought would be the ideal state called the Republic,... ...the state that would be based on justice and lead to justice. It has received both praise and criticism to date. Pakistani socialist scholar Sabat-e-Hassan, in his book "From Moses to Marxism," has praised the Republic. He writes that despite all shortcomings and imaginative planning in the Republic... ...we cannot deny the grandeur of Plato. Because Plato took stock of the basic flaws of his society... ... and tried to find their causes. Then he made a formal plan for reforming the society. However, the conditions were not favourable for the type of ideal state he wanted to establish,... ...nor the Greek nation had created the consciousness for this social revolution. Unlike Sabat-e-Hassan, the English philosopher scholar Bertrand Russell does not like Plato's Republic. He writes Plato's ideal state, the Republic, is completely devoid of art and science. Because in the Republic, every art has been
subjected to the state,... ...as such it is impossible to create lofty and independent ideas. Similarly, another great modern philosopher Karl Popper has also severely criticized the Republic. He writes the state envisioned by Plato is a rigid
dictatorship that cannot last. The common man has no importance in it. Rather, eliminating the weak and disabled, will
make it a tyrannical state. Rather, Karl Popper considers Plato's philosophy as
the enemy of human freedom. Plato, he says, has insulted human consciousness... ...and made a small class heavier over the whole state. Apart from Plato's criticism of democracy,... ...it is also objected to in modern times. Because we see that problem of multiple divisions in our society... ...and complexities of transfer of power, can only be
solved through democracy. The 100 books you must read before you breathe your last,... ...on them, the production of our short documentary videos is continuing. We are told the story of another ideal state "Utopia" before the Republic of Plato. You can know this story here. Here is the story of "Frankenstein's Monster" and here is "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. A book that applied human ideas to the animal kingdom to create an interesting narrative.