Plato

Chapter 2 is all about Plato.  There is a lot to say about Plato and Christianity, but for now I just wanted to point out one of the things Plato was wrong about.  Colin Brown mentioned his theory of government.  Now, if Plato's philosopher kings were truly wise and good the system might be plausible.  But apart from having truly godly men run the place, they are just men and bound to make a mess of things.  Even if godly men could pull it off for a while, it would be bound to fail.   Churchill was right (paraphrased), "Democracy is the worse form of government there is, except for all the rest."  I'm not aware that Karl Marx or any socialists have ever appealed to Plato to support their ideas.  But what Plato believes in regard to government, the family and education, sounds just like Marxism.  

But Plato was very prescient in recognizing some of the weaknesses of democracy.  In Republic, he said:

"It makes its way into private households and in the end breeds anarchy even among the animals...I mean that a father accustoms himself to behave like a child and fear his sons, while the son behaves like a father, feeling neither shame nor fear in front of his parents, in order to be free.  A resident alien or a foreign visitor is made equal to a citizen, and he is their equal...A teacher in such a community is afraid of his students and flatters them, while the students despise their teachers or tutors...What about the animals?...No one who hasn't experienced it would believe how much freer domestic animals are in a democratic city than anywhere else...horses and donkeys are accustomed to roam freely and proudly along the streets, bumping into anyone who doesn't get out of their way; and all the rest are equally full of freedom."

Can anyone say, children's rights, animal rights, open borders, constitutional rights for terrorists?  Plato failed to recognize what Churchill said, but he was still right about his criticism of democracy.  Have you heard how in Spain they have given rights equal to 'human rights' to all primates?  I haven't heard the latest details, but that has been going on.  Makes you wonder.

Aristotle, fortunately, championed the common sense of the common man.  Aristotle had a significant amount of influence on the founding fathers of our country.  But I'll have to finish that thought another time.