An Ideal State

Is there an ideal state? Is it possible to have a government where the leaders are true Philosopher Kings? In this world…perhaps not. That utopia is currently just a dream and will only truly occur when Christ reigns personally upon the earth and all the wicked are destroyed. However, I do believe that the ancient philosophers reasoned through many great principles, which our founding fathers applied, and catapulted us quite close.

Ben Franklin was asked, “Well Doctor, what have we got – a Republic or a Monarchy?” to which he replied “A republic, if you can keep it!” In a republican form of government, men have the great opportunity to be involved in political councils and to develop and promote their abilities in an environment of liberty. Plato attempted to create this ideal state in his Republic. He soon realized that one of the governing principles in a republic was the matter of justice. For republics, while good in form and intention, are also open to dissensions, tumults, and faction: problems, which if not solved, will destroy the state.

Justice is an important human virtue. It is what binds the city together. When leaders and the polis behave justly, the political emphasis is on the common good where both the individual and the city benefit. It is vital for the just man to have wisdom and knowledge. He must be able to give to another exactly what is needed: the physician applies the medicine in correct amounts to the sick man, the pilot uses his skill wisely in navigation, and the ruler is just when he considers not only his own interest, but that of his subjects. In essence, the just man does what is suitable to his art.

According to Plato, one cannot achieve justice without taking the journey of the dialectic. In this way, one proceeds from the visual world of imagination and faith in things to the intelligible world of reasoning through mathematics and finally reaching pure intelligence or intellection. When one has reached this climax, then the soul is full of kalon (beauty) and aretê (virtue). He has found the perfect harmony in life and is just in all things. One must pay the price both intellectually as well as morally.

Very few people are able to complete this path. Those who do, become the leaders or the guardians of the society because they are the only ones virtuous enough and wise enough to govern. Plato attempted to ensure a perfect society. He believed that if he could create the perfect man, then societal bliss would naturally follow.

“I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue.” These are the words of Richard Henry Lee. Aristotle would have heartily agreed.

Aretê or virtue is true excellence. It is a person or thing fulfilling that which it was created to do. It is its essence. Virtue is defined not only in the doing of something, but also in how it is done; it is doing it well and beautifully. Everything created by God has a purpose: an end. Trees, flowers, fruit, bees, birds, dogs, the eye, the heart, and the human soul; each creation has a specific work to do. Virtue is that special end; it is the mastery of which it was made.

Aristotle posed the question “What is the purpose of the soul?” to which he answered that it is two-fold, “to govern and command the body; and to live.” He then stated that there is no purpose in life unless it is a virtuous life. Congruently, Plato suggested that the purpose of life is happiness, but that the only way to obtain this happiness is through virtue. This is why both philosophers argued that the development of children’s habits is so important. It is easier to obey and to develop good habits when young. Plato’s inclination was to manifest this through laws. However, Aristotle knew that a state couldn’t legislate virtue; the people must choose it. Aristotle hoped to establish an environment where virtue is the norm.

“Virtue is not hereditary”, according to Thomas Jefferson and he is correct. Each generation must choose it. Aristotle believed that a person could only become virtuous through three ways: nature, habits, and training. He believed that the state had the responsibility to instill those practices. I believe it’s in the family. The family is the smallest governmental unit of society. Parents have the duty and responsibility to train and teach their children. While we hope that as a nation the people will choose virtuous principles; in the family we must in order for it to function properly. If virtue is not found in families, it will not be found in the state.

Without virtue, Aristotle knew that justice could not happen in society. Because virtue comes from agency, if force is at play it is no longer virtue, for the soul has not changed. It must be a personal, daily choice. Aristotle reminded us that virtue is an active state. We obtain virtues by continually keeping them within site and working toward them. Character is the result of habit. Habits don’t complete the process of virtue, but they initiate it. From there we continually press forward being proactive in achieving the desired virtue.

The closer one comes to virtue, the farther away he is from slavery. For without virtue, we easily fall prey to the whims, dictates and power of other men. When we take control of our own life and habits, then we will not become a slave to others. It is impossible to enslave an individual who knows what he ought to do, when he ought to do it, and in the manner that it ought to be done.

As a promising young statesman, Polybius, came to believe that the greatness of Rome was not because of the handful of exceptional leaders or military prowess, but because of the magnitude of high political standards and practices. He thought that its health was in the principle of a mixed constitution. He saw kingship, aristocracy, and democracy as the three chief forms of government. He also believed that each structure held the seeds of degeneracy within it. However, when a balance is set up between those formats, then the government is more likely to be stable and without interrupting factions. In Rome, that balance was represented in the consuls as the monarchical principle, the Senate held the aristocratic mold, and the popular assemblies functioned as the democratic form. In this situation, the natural tendency of each was to check and balance the others.

This mixed government is only good when the true forms of kingship, aristocracy and democracy are used. A true monarch will become king because of his valor and goodness. His subjects will voluntarily accept him. An aristocracy is really only true when government is in the hands of a few wise and virtuous men. Likewise, a democracy can only be great when following set rules of freedom, such as; religious practices and reverence for God and equality among men.

Polybius warned that Kingship changes into tyranny; Aristocracy degenerates into oligarchy; and Democracy, because of licentiousness and lawlessness, turns into mob-rule. Apparently, this always comes because of offspring. Those ancestors who fought the fight, and put in the great leaders had children who did not understand the conflict and the reasoning behind the governing body. Therefore, they began to make changes.

Initially, a king will live just as simply as his subjects. However, eventually his children will give in to pride and want of power. They will begin to dress differently and to enjoy luxuries at the expense of the governed. These habits will create a conflict between the rulers and the people, who will in turn rise up against the king who has become a tyrant.

Because of this uprising, the people then put into place aristocracies: a few good men who will rule virtuously. At first these men uphold the standards of virtue and justice and adopt the common interest of the people, but again, as children inherit these positions of authority, they abandoned those governing principles to greed, gain and indulgence. Thus the aristocracy turns into oligarchy.

The people now throw out the oligarchs, but fearing to reinstate a king, they depend upon themselves as the only safe government, and thus it becomes a democracy. After some time, the common interest of the people yields to the poor masses who realize that they can feed upon the government and everyone else; ultimately forcing democracy into mob-rule.

By having a mixed form of government: the consul acting as a king, the senate as an aristocracy, and the assembly as a democracy, Polybius believed that each branch of government would automatically check and balance the others, thereby negating the inherent destruction of each.

Proper distribution of powers was the key to our successful Constitution. After studying many of the great philosophers and wise men through the ages, our founders understood the importance of a mixed government. They gave specific and enumerated powers to each branch in order to carefully check and monitor other branches.

In talking about this perfect balance of powers, Polybius said, “For when one part having grown out of proportion to the others aims at supremacy and tends to become too predominant, it is evident that…none of the three is absolute, but the purpose of the one can be counterworked and thwarted by the others, none of them will excessively outgrow the others or treat them with contempt. All in fact remains in status quo, on the one hand, because any aggressive impulse is sure to be checked and from the outset each estate stands in dread of being interfered with by the others.”

In Federalist Paper number forty-eight, James Madison said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” This is where the brilliance of a written law, a documented constitution, comes into play.

Law and administration are the two great contributions of Rome to the practice of government and politics in the western world. Cicero was not a philosopher, but a lawyer and statesman. He studied law in Rome, and philosophy in Athens and other Greek centers of learning. He understood that imperial unity could be attained only through liberty and self-government of the constituents. While governance comes through law, it does not come through compulsion. “True law is right reason in agreement with nature”, said Cicero. He successfully harmonized Greek philosophy with Roman law and the Christian application of virtue. There are natural, God-given laws of the earth of which mankind is not the author, nor in a position to make alterations…these laws are eternal and unchangeable.

He believed, like Polybius as well as Aristotle, in a mixed constitution for the safety of the state. Furthermore, his view of freedom extended to the people: “Liberty has no dwelling place in any State except that in which the people’s power is the greatest, and surely nothing can be sweeter than liberty; but if it is not the same for all, it does not deserve the name of liberty.”

Our founding fathers were guided by the philosophical and political studies of these wise men. They pulled the best ideas and principles together to create a new nation: one based on justice, virtue, distribution of power, and law. Truly, the American experiment and its Constitution are the closest things to an ideal state that has ever been formed. Because of the moral decline of the people, liberties are being lost and her greatness and glory is wavering.

John Adams warned, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Collectively, as a people, when we begin to put aside our morals, we consequently begin to put aside our liberty. And when the people become corrupt in a republic, the leaders will be as well. Chosen by the populous, our leaders cannot rise above the level of moral decline from which they come. That is why, if we ever hope to create an ideal state, with true philosopher kings as guardians, the people must be educated in the four guiding principles handed down through the ages: Justice, Virtue, Mixed Governmental Forms, and Law.