Dialectics of Essential Virtues in Plato's Good State: An Analysis

Abstract

Systematic investigations into the nature of and interface between the human person, the state and questions of relevant virtues and goals thereof; particularly in Western normative political thought, are oftentimes associated with three notable Greek political thinkers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Of the trio, Plato's treatise provides unique and inter facial profile. Besides the credit for documenting largely the thoughts of Socrates; the corpus of Aristotle's views appears to revolve largely on the body of knowledge canvassed or worked upon by Plato. This paper explores the personae and social context of Plato, his essential virtues and the essence of good state in the cosmology of Plato's political   thought. Our findings   reveal   that   despite   obvious shortcomings, particularly in his allegorical frames, a handful of the issues harped upon and views canvassed by Plato, over two thousand years ago, are by and large, still relevant in contemporary statecraft.