Shadowing Practice: Why Socrates Hated Democracy - Learn English Speaking with Video
Les maken...
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What is the most important thing to think about democracy?
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We're used to thinking very highly of democracy, and by extension, of ancient Athens, the civilization that gave rise to it.
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The Parthenon has become almost a byword for democratic values, which is why so many leaders of democracies like to be photographed there.
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It's therefore very striking to discover that one of ancient Greece's greatest achievements, philosophy, was highly suspicious of its other achievement, democracy.
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The founding father of Greek philosophy, Socrates, is portrayed in the dialogues of Plato as hugely pessimistic about the whole business of democracy.
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In Book 6 of the Republic, Plato describes Socrates falling into conversation with a character called Adimantus
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and trying to get him to see the flaws of democracy by by comparing a society to a ship.
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If you were heading out on a journey by sea, asks Socrates, who would you ideally want deciding who was in charge of the vessel?
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Just anyone or people educated in the rules and demands of seafaring?
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The latter, of course, says Ademantus.
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So why then, responds Socrates, do we keep thinking that any old person should be fit to judge who should be the ruler of a country?
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Socrates' point is that voting in an election is a skill, not a random intuition.
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And like any skill, it needs to be taught systematically to people.
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Letting the citizenry vote without an education is as irresponsible as
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putting them in charge of a trireme sailing to Samos in a storm.
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Socrates was to have first-hand catastrophic experience of the foolishness of voters.
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In 399 BC, the philosopher was put on trial on trumped-up charges of corrupting the youth of Athens.
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A jury of 500 Athenians was invited to weigh up the case and decided, by a narrow margin, that the philosopher was guilty.
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was put to death by Hemlock in a process
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which is for thinking people every bit as tragic as Jesus' condemnation has been for Christians.
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Crucially, Socrates was not elitist in the normal sense.
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He didn't believe that a narrow few should only ever vote.
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He did, however, insist that only those who had thought about issues rationally and deeply should be let near a vote.
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We have forgotten this distinction between an intellectual democracy and a democracy by birthright.
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We have given the vote to all without connecting it to wisdom.
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And Socrates knew exactly where that would lead, to a system the Greeks feared above all.
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Demagoguery.
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Ancient Athens had painful experience of demagogues.
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For example, the loush figure of Alcibiades,
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a rich, charismatic, smooth-talking, wealthy man who eroded basic freedoms and helped to push Athens to its disastrous military adventures in Sicily.
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Socrates knew how easily people seeking election could exploit our desire for easy answers.
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He asked us to imagine an election debate between two candidates, one who was like a doctor and the other who was like a sweet shop owner.
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The sweet shop owner would say of his rival, Look, this person here has worked many evils on you.
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He hurts you, gives you bitter potions and tells you not to eat and drink whatever you like.
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He'll never serve you feasts of many and varied pleasant things like I will.
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Socrates asks us to consider the audience's response.
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Do you think the doctor would be able to reply effectively?
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The true answer, I cause you trouble and go against your desires in order to help you, would cause an uproar among the voters, don't you think?
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We have forgotten all about Socrates' salient warnings against democracy.
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We have preferred to think of democracy as an unambiguous good rather than as something
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that is only ever as effective as the education system that surrounds it.
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As a result, we have elected many sweet shop owners and very few doctors.
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Thank you.
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