The Fragile Führers By Joshua Evers

Besides placing the leaders in this republic into a group with dictators who love censorship, I am so interested in the precise qualities Socrates is outlining in philosophers. Throughout the book, Socrates is going into great detail the trouble in establishing great leaders who censor music, art, and stories about their gods. They also must be equally trained in both body and mind to maintain a proper balance. Further, they are in charge of convincing the citizens and generations to come that everyone came out of the earth and that all their training was an illusion. In Book Six, this precision is amplified beyond belief as Socrates highlights the dangers and obstacles in raising up pure philosophers. He says how these philosophers must avoid the public opinion and continue to chase pure knowledge, and consequently, this pure knowledge found in the intelligible realm will greatly allow them to better understand and apply ideas to their perfect city.
In considering everything Socrates has forewarned and spoken about in regards to the leaders of this republic and how important their development is, I am certain that the leaders of this republic walk along a very narrow road. To be more accurate, throw out the road. These guys are tightrope walking as they are leading the city. All this time and energy is put into the leaders so that they avoid all the dangers necessary, but I question the possibility of this. Yes, I realize that Socrates was being theoretical and even states that his ideas are not practical, but I always attempt to envision ideas to better understand them. The leaders appear in my mind like a glass sword, amazing in beauty but it will not work for long. Not attempting to hint towards later books, but Socrates' extreme descriptions in leaders have already led me to question the proposed stability of the city from the start.




P.S. I commented on the posts of Moriah and Zelda