Plato and Socrates on the Ideal Leader’s Virtues

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Plato held that philosopher guardians would run a just state. Plato thinks that given their education, talents, virtues, and the way their lives would be controlled in his Republic, such people are the best possible rulers.

In my opinion, Plato is right. In Plato’s Republic, Socrates makes a poignant point on the nature of an ideal leader. Equitable leaders need to be wise. Also, philosophers have a lot of wisdom. Socrates’ assertion resonates with the wisdom of the ages which posits that the best leaders need to have a generous heart and wisdom. His allegory of ‘the cave’ is another excellent illustration of the natural inclination that humanity has to take illusions for reality.

People indeed have remarkably different and mostly incorrect ideas of what constitutes personal fulfillment in life. Some do not even have any idea. They spend their lives experimenting on different agendas trying to quench an inexplicable thirst.

Socrates posits that all of humanity possesses this thirst. It is what drives people through their daily struggles with life. They are seeking a ‘higher’ good. In the context of a community, different factors contribute to the definition of this ultimate success. Therefore, different people have different ideas. This is where leaders come into play. Communities should live in harmony. However, that would not be possible if everybody were to pursue his/her private desires.

Leaders come in to make a collective decision for these people. This becomes a formidable responsibility which the society cannot vest on just any other person. For one to qualify for this privilege, he/she needs to demonstrate the capacity to shoulder the weight of the mantle.

For instance, sacrifice is a critical value that such a person needs to demonstrate. Many leaders fall short of this point because their personal or private needs override their sense of duty to society. People naturally seek personal development. They put the needs of the community after their own. An upright leader should be a master at utilitarianism. Utilitarianism refers to a condition whereby the bosom of society precedes individual satisfaction. This requires a different breed of people altogether.

Intellect is another quality that these leaders should possess. This brings to light the importance of education. In contemporary society, people do not give too much emphasis on the education of their leaders. Most are swayed by the fallacies that these leaders spin during election campaigns. However, it is all propaganda. Consequently, after electing them into their respective offices, they depict their true colors which are often unsightly, to say the least.

Education is a tremendously essential quality in a leader. At the very least, a leader will be in charge of a highly diverse society. He/she will be presiding over people who are likely smarter than him/her. Therefore, the less educated this leader is, the more opposition he/she will face. Similarly, the more discontent there will be in society. It becomes necessary, mandatory even that effective leaders have the education to back them up.

Education denotes an appreciation for history. Ergo, an educated leader is more likely than not to learn from the past mistakes of his/her predecessors. Just as Socrates opines, he/she needs to have ‘memory’ (Kent, 2006, p. 23). Education also means that the leader has a base of Knowledge which serves to inform his/her actions. Such knowledge becomes useful in the deployment of their duties as leaders.

As a result, they will simply be implementing procedures that have proven to be efficient in the past. Leaders acquire this wisdom through training. At this point, Socrates uses the example of an eye attached to the body, thus, requiring the body’s manipulation to turn to the light. The leaders first need to acquire wisdom for themselves, which they will use to teach their subjects. This is important, as people in the community will stand a chance to achieve the higher statuses that they seek throughout their lives. Part of the training that the leaders administer will base on the understanding that material possessions are not the ideal goal in this life. The result of learning this lesson is that people will put less emphasis on selfish private endeavors and instead focus on healthy ventures to seek the truth.

Just leaders should also apply reason in reaching their decisions which is among the qualities of philosophy. In so doing, they will be able to exercise wisdom, thus, distinguishing between illusions and reality. Socrates says, “They will learn the truth about fair, just, and praiseworthy things” (Kent, 2006, p. 23). Part of this quality requires them to have inquisitive minds so that they are teachable. As a result, they will learn the different illusions and what they allude to so that they are better placed to advise their subjects on what to do.

The sacrifice mentioned at the beginning of this paper is a virtue that frowns upon self-indulgence. These leaders need to stay focused on meeting the needs of society. They cannot do this while attending to unimportant personal fetishes. Socrates mentions sex, personal wealth, and food as obvious because if a leader, for instance, is obsessed with wealth, he/she will likely manipulate his/her authority and status amassing this wealth at the expense of his/her subjects.

A philosophical leader is virtuous by his/her education level. The difficulty arises in finding a person who satisfies all these requirements. It is also possible to find a person. However, it may be even more difficult to convince the person to take the leadership mantle, as not all “just people” are interested in being leaders. Therefore, Plato is right concerning this issue.

Reference

Kent, J. (2006). Philosophical Discourses on Just Leadership. Philosophy, 1(1), p. 23.

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Plato and Socrates on the Ideal Leader’s Virtues

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