GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

654 ETHICS AND POLITICS: THB MODERNS
ofthe " natural ruled ".It it impossible to read the writings of
the apologists ofmodem Fascism* and, more particularly, of
Italian Fascism, without being continuously reminded
of the doctrines of Plato. Government, it is asserted, must
be carried on by an aristocracy of the good, who are dis-
tinguished by patriotism, sense of duty, and ability to
distinguish the moral law. With them rests the decision as
to the kind of laws which the other members of the com-
munity shall obey, the kind of things which they shall
value, and the kind of life which they shall lead. As in
Plato's State, the object of education is affirmed to be
the preparation for government of those who are by
nature equipped with the qualities of Will, discipline and
character which the role they are to fill demands. It is not
proposed to confine the recruitment of these potential
governors to any particular social or economic class in
the community. In theory, at least, they may be selected
from any class and from all, but their appointment to
the governing class will be made from above by those who
already belong to it, not by election from below. Thus
the governing class will ideally consist of different grades
of officers all of whom are devoted to the service of the
State, arranged in a hierarchy of power which is also a
hierarchy of merit, the higher grades being entrusted with
powers of appointment to the grades immediately beneath
them. Up to this point modern fascist theory has closely
followed that of Plato, but at this point there is a difference.
Plato's Guardians were selected according to a definite
and well-defined formula. His Guardians were philosophers,
and philosophers were those who knew the Good.
Plato described at length the training and characteristics
of the philosophers, and the effect of his proposals was to
place power in the hands not of those who desired it, but
of those who possessed wisdom and insight into the nature
of the Good.
Principles of Selection in the Fascist State. But apart
from the general recommendation that those should be