THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY2 The Lives and Opinions

PLATO 7
and boldly subpoenaed every creed and institution to appear before the
judgment-seat of reason. In politics they divided into two schools. One,
like Rousseau, argued that nature is good, and civilization bad; that by
nature all men are equal, becoming unequal only by class-made institu-
tions: and that law is an invention of the strong to chain and rule the
weak. Another school, like Nietzsche, claimed that nature is beyond good
and evil; that by nature all men are unequal; that morality is an invention
of the weak to limit and deter the strong; that power is the supreme
virtue and the supreme desire of man; and that of all forms of government
the wisest and most natural is aristocracy.
No doubt this attack on democracy reflected the rise of a wealthy
minority at Athens which called itself the Oligarchical Party, and denounced
democracy as an incompetent sham. In a sense there was not
much democracy to denounce; for of the 400,000 inhabitants of Athens
250,000 were slaves, without political rights of any kind; and of the
150,000 freemen or citizens only a small number presented themselves
at the Ecclesia, or general assembly, where the policies of the state were
discussed and determined. Yet what democracy they had was as thorough
as never since; the general assembly was the supreme power; and the
highest official body, the Dikasteria, or supreme court, consisted of over
a thousand members (to make bribery expensive), selected by alphabetical
rote from the roll of all the citizens. No institution could have been
more democratic, nor, said its opponents, more absurd.
During the great generation-long Peloponnesian war (430-400 B. a),
in which the military power of Sparta fought and at last defeated the
naval power of Athens, the Athenian oligarchic party, led by Critias,
advocated the abandonment of democracy on the score of its inefficiency
in war, and secretly lauded the aristocratic government of Sparta. Many
of the oligarchic leaders were exiled; but when at last Athens surrendered,
one of the peace conditions imposed by Sparta was the recall of these
exiled aristocrats. They had hardly returned when, with Critias at their
head, they declared a rich man's revolution against the "democratic"
party that had ruled during the disastrous war. The revolution failed, and
Critias was killed on the field of battle.
Now Critias was a pupil of Socrates, and an uncle of Plato.
II. SOCRATES
If we may judge from the bust that has come down to us as part
of the ruins of ancient sculpture, Socrates was as far from being handsome
as even a philosopher can be. A bald head, a great round face, deepset
staring eyes, a broad and flowery nose that gave vivid testimony to
many a Symposium it was rather the head of a porter than that of
the most famous of philosophers. But if we look again we see, through