We Need To Talk
Since the days of Socrates, philosophers have argued over and written about the best form of society. The classic example is Plato’s Republic, his blueprint for an ideal state. The Greek title doesn’t actually mean republic in the modern sense; Politeia means something more like ‘constitution’. Whatever its title, and despite its matchless brilliance as a work on metaphysics, justice and the foundations of value, some later philosophers have suggested that its subtitle should have been “How not to organise a state”. Plato’s ideal society is rigidly divided into different castes, underpinned by a ‘Noble Lie’, poetry is forbidden and generally it seems the sort of highlyordered place that looks neat from a distance but might be less fun to actually inhabit. Karl Popper even called it totalitarian. His student…
