[0:00]Assalam alaikum everyone. Welcome to my YouTube channel Dr. Tariq Abbas Avan. More than 20 2,000 years ago, Plato in his masterpiece The Republic, imagine such a state not as a fantasy but as a moral blueprint or the white and black copy of that state. He believes that or he says that imagine a state where justice is not a slogan where rulers are trained to love wisdom. Where education shapes the soul before it trends the body, and where power is not where power is a responsibility, not privilege. In introduction to Plato, Plato was a Greek philosopher. He was the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. His famous works, there are so many, but today we focused on The Republic. Is written as a dialogue where Socrates discusses justice, politics, education and the soul. Plato believes that just a just state mirrors a just human soul.
[1:18]In part one, uh, Republic, Book two and four. He suggested the 40 rules for the ideal state. And let me give you a brief background of that work. Actually, this uh work or these 40 rules actually give uh give way to Aristotle to discuss about poets and poetry because the ideal state which was suggested by Plato, there was a classification of different classes. And there was work assigned to every class according to their talent. So, later on, we discuss what happens to poets and poetry. So, in his ideal state, in 40 rules, the very first rule, he says that, 1: The purpose of the state is justice, not wealth or power. The second rule, 2: Justice means everyone performing the role they are naturally suited for. Rule number three, The state exists to fulfill human needs collectively. And rule number four, 4: Excess luxury corrupts both citizens and rulers. Rule number five, The ideal state grows only to the Size it can govern justly. So, in this part, if I put in simple words in Urdu, Rule number one is that the purpose of the state is to provide justice. This is its first purpose. In rule number two, he says that justice means everyone performing a role according to their. The person who has been given the natural talent by God, he will contribute to that state in the same way through his talent, whatever he knows, he will continue to support the state in that way, he will be useful for it. It will not be like that a person knows the work of a goldsmith and he is made to do the work of a blacksmith. It will not be like that. The natural talent will be utilized. In rule number three, he says that the state exists to fulfill human needs collectively. The human needs, it is the work of the state, as a welfare state, that the state fulfills all the needs of the citizens. In rule number four, he says that the excessive luxury corrupts both citizens and rulers. So, this is rule number four. And in rule number five, the ideal state grows only to the size it governs justly. The state will only flourish, it will only grow when there is justice in that state and that state will be based on justice. Now come to the part two. Plato also divided the whole society in three classes. In his book The Republic, while he was giving the idea of ideal state, He says that, rule number six. He says that, 6: Society must be divided into Producers, Guardians, and Rulers. So, the first layer is producers, and the second layer, guardians, and the third layer is ruler, rulers. The purpose of producers, rule number seven. 7: Producers provide food, trade, and crafts. Rule number eight. Guardians protect the state and maintain order. Rule number nine. 9: Rulers govern through wisdom not force. Rulers govern through wisdom and their senses. Not by force. Rule number 10. 10: No class should in the duties of another.
[5:36]Plato believes that education is the soul of the state. In uh in book one and book three, he believes that education is the heart of the state and education is also the heart of politics. Rule number 11. 11: Education must shape character before skill. Now, here he wants to say that the basic purpose of education is to develop human character. It is to build his character. If education cannot build your character, then education is useless. He says, believes that. And rule number 12, 12: Poetry and stories should promote virtue, not vice. Virtue and vice. You know virtue is good deeds and vice is bad things. So, the purpose of poetry should be to promote good deeds, good things, and not bad things, bad morals, or false things. And rule number 13, 13: Music trains the soul; gymnastics trains the body. He says that the purpose of music is to organize human soul, to train it, to discipline it. This is the work of music. Plato says. And the work of gymnastics is to train your body, to organize it, to bring it into proper shape. So, both these things are necessary. And rule number 14, 14: Education must be controlled by the state for moral harmony. Education, which is the basic thing, its basic work is that it will come under the state and the state will look after what kind of education is being provided and its basic purpose will be moral harmony. And apart from that, rule number 15 says that children must be taught to have truth, to love truth and hate injustice. Children will be taught, they will be educated, they will be made to understand that they should love wisdom, understanding, logic, reason, and philosophy. They should love arguments. And they should dislike injustice. This training will be given to children. And such training should be given to children, I believe so. And part four, the guardians and discipline. This is its title, part four.
[8:30]Rule number 16. Guardians must live simple lives without luxury. Soldiers who protect the state, who protect the borders, they should not live a luxurious life. If they live a luxurious life, they will not be able to protect the borders. Rule number 17. They must not own private property. And they will not have any private property. Whatever they have will belong to the state and they will serve the state. Their only work will be to protect the state, to defend it. And rule number 18. Gold and silver corrupt the soul of guardians. Gold and silver, again, this will come under luxury, under property. If they have love for these things, then their attention will be diverted from the borders, from the protection of the borders. Their proper work, which is to defend their country, to defend their borders, they will not be able to do that because their attention will be diverted and luxury, as he said earlier, corrupts. It makes you lazy. Your talent starts to disappear because you get habituated to luxury, you go towards it. So, he talks like that. And rule number 19. Guardians must show courage guided by reason. The work of the guardian is that their bravery, their courage, it should be subject to reasons and logics. Meaning, it should be logical. No blind emotions or such things should be talked about which are not realistic. Rule number 20, he says that discipline is the most the more important than punishment. He says that it is better to maintain discipline than to punish. If there is discipline, there is no need to punish. Punishment may not achieve the objective that discipline achieves, and the objective that discipline achieves is long-lasting, they remain forever. He believes, and that is I believe also fake. Apart from that, in five in part five, he says that equality and women in the state. Here is the most advanced and very modern point he raised or he proposed. He says that, until 21: Women should receive the same education as men. And today, we are still saying that women should be given equal rights, equality, education. But Plato said this two and a half thousand years ago, two and a half thousand years ago. So, rule number 21, I am repeating that. Women should receive the same education as men. Rule number 22, in this part, ability, not gender, determines one's role. Listen, ability, not gender, determines one's role. Here he says that talent, ability will decide what your role is. What role you will get, what will be your placement in the state, that will be decided by your talent, not gender. It is not like that if you are a man, you will get everything. If you don't have talent and the same talent is in a woman, in a female, she can run and manage something better. So, that character or that duty will be assigned to woman, not men. Rule number 23, he says that marriage among guardians serves the state, not personal desire. The marriages of guardians will be done keeping in mind the protection of the state. It will not be like that they will do whatever they want, wherever they want. So, there will be discipline and order in this also. 24: Children of guardians are raised Collectively. They will be trained collectively, they will be taught philosophy or whatever he wanted to say at that time. So, their training will be collective. Rule number 25. Families bonds must not weaken Loyalty to the state. He is saying in rule number 25 that family bonds must not weaken loyalty to the state. It will not be like that due to your relationship, due to your affiliation with someone, you support someone, which we call nepotism. If you support someone in kinship, that will not be tolerated because it will weaken the state. When you favor like this and there is no merit, then the state becomes weak. So, this is rule number 25. Part six, he says, the philosophy, the philosopher king. Book five and eight to eight. Plato's most famous idea about the rulers. Rule number 26. Only philosophers are fit to rule. This point is the most typical point. That only philosophers can become rulers. No one else can be a ruler. Rule number 27. Philosophers love truth More than power. Because a philosopher gives more preference to wisdom, understanding, than to power and comforts. Rule number 28. Rulers must be reluctant to govern. Rulers must be reluctant to govern. Rulers, who will be the rulers, they will have to govern the state carefully, keeping everything in mind, with caution and care, maintaining discipline. Not according to their desires, their wishes. Rule number 30. Knowledge of the good is the highest qualification for rule. If you want to govern, you want to become a king, you want to run a state, then the highest quality is that you should have knowledge about goodness, what is goodness. You should understand goodness. What is goodness, how it exists in society, and how it can be promoted. If you have knowledge about this, and this is the highest knowledge, fundamental knowledge, for any person, for any human being, to become a ruler, in Plato's ideal state, rule number 30. Now, part seven. The allegory of the cave. This is a very famous portion in his book, The Republic. And it is also taught. I think in language acquisition or language philosophy, in such things, these are also taught. So, in book eight, Republic, rule number 31. And the title is The Allegory of the Cave. Rule number 31 says that most people live in ignorance, mistaking shadows for reality. In rule number 31, he says that many people live in darkness, in caves, and the shadow, the reflection that falls in those caves, that shadow is considered reality, and nothing else. So, they consider the shadow as reality, they live in ignorance. Rule number 32. Education is the turning of the Soul towards truth. The basic work of education, besides building your character, is that it trains your soul for truth, for wisdom, for intelligence. It provides you with material, it creates love in your heart. This is the actual work of education, besides character building. Rule number 33. Philosophers must return to The cave to guide others. The work of philosophers is to bring those people back from those darkness, from those caves where they are imprisoned, in the world of ignorance. The work of philosophers is to bring them out from there by giving them arguments, by making them understand, by explaining to them. Bring them out of those darkness and bring them towards light. Rule number 34. Enlightened rulers must govern for duty, not reward. The enlightened ruler will not be hungry for any reward, he will not be hungry for any prize. What is his work? He will consider his duty as his reward. Meaning, he will not need any extrinsic motivation. No prizes, no awards, no money. Because he is running the state with wisdom and understanding, this is his reward. Rule number 35, he says that truth is often resisted by Those comfortable with illusion. These people who reject reality, who resist it, they are the same people who run after comfort, who run after luxury. There will be no place for such people in our state, he says. Part eight, decline of state. Now, he says in part eight that if an ideal state comes into existence, then if its decline starts, what could be the reasons for it? Plato has also shed light on that. And he says in rule number 37 that Plato warns decay, that this decline can come. So, in rule number 36, 35 we discussed. He says that timocracy values honor over wisdom. This kinship, and these things like nepotism, this brings decline to that state, to that ideal state, where wisdom is given preference, where intelligence, logics, reasons, reality are kept in front, and not those things that have nothing to do with reality. If this happens, then the ideal state will start to decline. Rule number 37, he says that oligarchy values wealth over justice. This greed, which we also call seven deadly sins, but in those seven deadly sins, there is greed, lust. These are desire-related things. And if you also run excessively towards this, towards bodily desires, then that will also bring decline to the ideal state. And rule number 38, he says that democracy values freedom without discipline. I will repeat this point again because democracy is also prevalent in our country, and runs. Whether in proper way or not, but this is how it goes. Rule number 38, I am repeating that. Democracy values freedom without discipline. In democracy, freedom is promoted. But that freedom is without discipline, there is no discipline in it. So, Plato wants to say here that if this happens, if there is democracy and there is no discipline in it, then the state will fall into decline. He is talking about the ideal state. And in rule number 39, he says that tyranny emerges from uncontrolled desire. These dictators who come or coups happen or democracy is destroyed, the reason for this is that tyranny emerges, it comes to the forefront because if your desire is uncontrollable, it is beyond logic and reason. The constitution tells you that you should not exceed your limits. But your desire says that no, this seat, this chair, this parliament, or whatever it is. The chair of the Prime Minister, or the chair of the President, it should be with us, we have the power. So, this brings tyranny, meaning dictatorship, and this is how the state declines. Rule number 40, which is the last rule in this. Only a just soul can Sustain a just state. Here he says that only a just soul, a just-hearted person, can create and support a just state. In the end, concluding, I would like to say that this discussion, or the criteria which was given by Plato, 40 rules for ideal state, while he was classifying the rules. When he reached to the role of poets, so here he finds that what the poets will be doing or would be doing in that ideal state. At that moment he thought that poets will not be the part of my ideal state because they are they are just, you know, doing for their fame. They are not doing that particular work. They are not doing any work that is good for society. And rather, they are spreading evil. They are promoting lies. They are telling unreal things. And they are taking people away from the truth, and they are very far from reality. So, these were three or four grounds. And these poets and poetry, they manipulate the youth. And because of this, society cannot run. So, these should be completely, meaning, they should be removed from society, they should be banned. Poetry and poets, both should be, you know, banned. So, this was actually the background of this of these 40 rules for ideal state. And based on this, Aristotle then had some discussions, delivered some lectures, in which he defended poets and poetry. And based on that, then poetry was born, which is the first book of literary criticism, we call it Poetics. From Aristotle. That is also not his direct composition, they are his lectures, discussions, which were compiled later. So, this brings me to the end of the lecture and I hope that see you in next lecture. And thank you very much for watching our channel. And if you like it, please, if you like our channel, please subscribe it and like it and share with your friends. And thank you very much. See you in next lecture.
