Philosopher-Kings: Ancient Term for the Modern Era

Intro

Plato’s Republic consists of ten “books,” each reflecting on his beliefs, such as the allegory of the cave, the ideal society, and the philosopher-king. The Republic is written in dialogue involving Plato’s mentor, Socrates. Plato explains his reasoning through the Socratic method of finding answers through questioning. I read a decent portion of this in college, but I decided to reopen it to take a break from Aristotle. I would like to define the philosopher-king and identify modern day implementations.

Definition of a Philosopher-King

First, Plato questions Glaucon (Plato’s older brother) who should lead a society. Socrates asks: “should a guardian who is going to keep watch over something be blind or keen sighted?” (Reeve 485c) Any reasonable person would reply with keen sighted. Duh! Plato…or Socrates, rather, goes on to provide attributes to philosophers. They are lovers of education, truthful, temperate, and just. 

The dialogue continues, as Socrates and the others figure out who a good philosopher is. They decide that most people who might make good philosophers become misguided or corrupted by society. Wealth, power, and societal pressures weed out possible good philosophers. Plato goes on to have Socrates state that “it is impossible, then, for the majority to be philosophic” (Reeve 494a). While many will not qualify to lead, there should be a few candidates that fulfill the qualities of a philosopher.

Plato wrote about  the necessity for philosophers to rule: “Until philosophers rule as kings in their cities, or those who are now called kings and leading men become genuine and adequate philosophers… there can be no cessation of evils” (Reeve 473d). Plato felt that only the just, truthful, and lovers of education should lead a city. In context for today, he most likely would refer to a country as well. However, he would certainly be concerned by the overly materialistic society that lacks critical thinking. 

Modern Philosopher-Kings

Plato felt that there is “only a very small group who associate with philosophy in a way that is worthy of her” (Reeve 496b). I hope that there might be more now with the much larger world population. However, our time is also vastly different from Plato’s Greek world in the 4th century BC. Our connections to one another and the way we work would be utterly foreign to Plato. He noted that there “good forms,” which are defined as timeless qualities like beauty, truth, and justice. He might question if those exist now. At least in some of the politics in certain countries. In everyday life, beauty, truth, and justice are essentially the same. Although Plato believed in the good of society over an individual, he’d still agree to the golden rule.

Is it possible that there might be even one philosopher out there worthy of the king’s role? I will argue that there are plenty of good people in the world, even people capable of intelligent thought and discourse, who would be excellent leaders. Most of the people I associate with would be excellent leaders. They echo Plato’s belief in justice and temperance. The downfall is I find few philosophers heading into office. In Book I, Plato wrote “good people won’t be willing to rule for the sake of money or honor” (Reeve 347b). Good people serve their peers, while poor leaders serve themselves. This is where we often find ourselves.

Decent people (those philosophers who should be kings) are not inclined to run for a political office. They are content to live their lives. If good people avoid power, who fills the void? US Senators and Representatives make $174,000, enough to survive in the DC area. However, many Congress(wo)men’s net worth exceeds $1 million. Their outside income is not allowed to be more than 15% of their congressional pay (Blease). Yet this does not include income like dividends and stocks. Indeed, the majority of Congress are very wealthy, one of the aspects that Plato found to disqualify philosopher-kings. 

Despite laws to prohibit insider trading and other investment schemes, Congress is a very profitable endeavor. While we complain often about those in power, “the greatest punishment for being unwilling to rule is being ruled by someone worse than oneself” (Reeve 347c). This is one of my favorite Plato quotes. Many are concerned with our (the US) current state of affairs. Apparently, a majority are extremely happy with the newly elected president. I am not overly happy, but I know that it’s just four years (unless this ridiculous amendment gets passed allowing a third term).

I might not consider myself a philosopher-king. I am interested in running for an office of some sort. That in itself limits my philosophical nature. But, as the ancient Chinese did, I would like to surround myself by intelligent and philosophical people. That’s food for thought for another time. Plato was an idealist. The idea of a philosopher-king is one who serves the populace in a just and temperate manner. The philosopher-king is not prone to vices or social pressures. Who among us is such a person? 

Works Cited

Blease, Elsa. “The Wealth of U.S. Members of Congress: Laying the Foundation — SnoQap.” SnoQap, 14 May 2024, https://www.snoqap.com/posts/2024/5/14/the-wealth-of-us-members-of-congress-laying-the-foundation. Accessed 28 January 2025.

Plato. Republic. Translated by C. D. C. Reeve, Hackett Publishing Company, 2004.