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Philosophy could be defined as the highest level of true clarity and understanding human thought can aspire to. It would thus seem strange to compare the ideal philosophical kingdom of Plato’s Republic with George Orwell’s 1984. Plato’s writings form the cornerstone of Western philosophy, while Orwell’s text tells of a totalitarian society where all free thought is stifled. However, the two men’s versions of government, one utopian, the other horrific, spanning centuries of time, contain certain connections that will be elucidated over the course of this paper. Both writers focus on a society in which repression is one of the main functions of government. Plato views this repression in a positive fashion, Orwell in a negative fashion. Plato and Orwell both illustrate a society in which power is held by a few, by individuals deemed to be superior, and a place where truth, rather than encouraged, is stifled for fear of the discord and the danger it will bring to society. The greater good Plato attempts to uphold through this oppression, however, is higher philosophical understanding in the mind of the human animal. In contrast, the focus of the repression detailed in Orwell’s society is that of protecting the security of the nation against others. The repressive quality of Plato’s society is presented in an apparently reasonable fashion in the Second Book of the Republic. Plato, through the mouth of Socrates, suggests in an ideal society, all individuals should be relegated to doing what they are best at doing. "Well, we forbade our shoemaker to try his hand at farming or weaving or building and told him to stick to his last, in order that our shoemaking should be well done." (2.2.375.b-c, p.124) Those who are best at a certain occupation ought to be the only ones who do that occupation. This apparently reasonable justification, however, is really being used as a defense that those who are best at something, such as governing, ought to be the only ones who rule. Thus democracy is bad because it allows all to have a voice in the state’s future, as opposed to merely those who are deemed most fit to govern. Democracy, in Plato’s view is a bit like having individuals who are shoemakers herd sheep.
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