Philosopher Kings and Why Plato's Wrong

In Plato's ideal society there are three castes of people:

laborers/artisans
military police
philosopher kings

The laborers/artisans live with wages, marriage, possessions, etc but are corrupted with greed and unable to participate in philosophy.

The military police have no use for wealth or possessions because they do participate in philosophy somewhat and know that their virtues (courage and determination) are valuable.

The philosopher kings serve as the rulers of society because they are naturally capable of philosophy, according to Plato.

Both the military police and the philosopher kings participate in a eugenic genetic lottery in order to reproduce and do not take wives or hold possessions, the opposite of the working class.

However, philosopher kings shouldn't rule.

• They would have no practical knowledge
• They would have far too little restrictions on their powers
• Their status as philosophers does not mean that they are neccessarily capable leaders

The philosopher kings would be unlikely to have practical ongoing experience in important areas such as engineering, military strategy, or medicine. They would probably be born into a wealthy and well-off family and raised to be a philosopher king and nothing else.

The philosopher kings would be just that, kings. Traditionally, kings have very few restrictions on their powers and separation of powers would be unheard of.

Plato thinks that the philosopher kings deserve to rule just because they have studied philosophy and are capable of it, however he's wrong. Many great leaders can be inspiring and capable without having knowledge of philosophy and vice versa.

In conclusion, Plato is wrong in his belief that philosopher kings would be the ideal rulers because they would have no practical knowledge, their amount of power would be dangerous, and their status does not guarantee ideal leadership.

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