How Tyranny Can Revert to an Ideally Just Democracy

Abstract

Plato’s Republic proposes that in an ideal kallipolis, the citizens of a state are governed by an aristocracy–ruled by a philosopher-king–and provides a critique for why democracy is an inadequate form of government. Plato claims that the rule of a philosopher-king is just, for a philosopherking has succeeded in securing temperance in their soul by balancing the rational, spirited, and appetitive elements that comprise it. Plato disagrees with democracy, as he states that the masses do not have the proper knowledge to determine what is just and unjust in a state; thus, the people are more likely to choose beneficiaries who prioritize their appetite for intangible pursuits over their rational calculating element that would serve the people and state as a whole. Part of Plato’s critique
of democracy is that it leads to tyranny–the worst form of government; however, Plato fails to elaborate on how to restore an aristocracy from tyranny. In this paper, I will reconstruct Plato’s critique of democracy by addressing how a state can revert from tyranny to ideal democracy, which is the form of government I believe is the most pragmatic in modern-day society. First, I will reconstruct Plato’s critique of democracy; second, I will argue why a tyrannical ruler cannot transition into a just one; third, I will explain why the answer to a kallipolis is found in the people; and fourth, I will proffer that introducing Civic Education to the youth is a solution for preserving ideal democracy.