Plato's Communism
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Context
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When Plato gave his theory of Justice and implemented his justice he also gave the idea of an education system. With his education system, we got three classes: Artistians, Milirary, and Philosopher Kings.
Plato’s Communism
In order to the governing principles and the behaviour of the three classes, Plato introduced his scheme of communism. The communism of Plato is the rules and principles that are applied to the three social classes.
Types of Plato’s Communism
There are two main types of Plato’s communis:
- Communism of Property
- Communism of Family
1. Communism of property
The communism of property only applies to the upper two classes (Military and Philosopher Kings). So the upper two classes rulers and the military shall not have any property with their name. It means that they are not allowed to own any kind of property (land, cash, property, etc). This is also called common renunciation of property. According to Plato, this rule is compulsory for the two upper classes.
2. Communism of Family
Communism of family is also called common ownership of family. According to Plato communism of family means the upper two classes (Rulers and Military) shall not allowed to have private families.
According to Plato, the military and ruler class shall be allowed to choose a partner with similar intellect. So they will be allowed to meet together for some time, and when a woman gets pregnant, she will be separated. So when the child is born he/she will go towards the state-appointed mother for education.
According to Plato, if a child was born with a disability then he/she must be executed. This is because Plato believed that he/she was not productive for the state. So he/she cannot work for the state. Therefore, Plato says that he/she is useless.
Plato’s Theory of Communism VS the Modern Era:
- Plato was the first one to introduce the concept of examination.
- Plato was the first thinker who provided a systematic theory in Political Science.
- He made education compulsory for both men and women.
- He is considered to be one of the pioneers of feminism (education for women).
- He was the one to allow women to join artisans, the military and the philosopher king.
- Plato was the one who wanted to ban early child marriages (the minimum age for marriage was above 20).
Conclusion
For Plato’s philosophy, the state is the end because for him state interests are the most important than anything in the world. Therefore, he does not allow the upper two classes of society (Rulers, Military) to own any kind of property or private family. Hence for Plato, the state interest is the end, and the remaining things are the mean.