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

73 ETHICS AND POLITICS! THE GREEKS
taught frfrn^ to master the dialectical technique, and
endowed him with the leisure which the philosophic life
demands. This debt he discharges by undertaking, at
periodic intervals, the active duties of citizenship. As
Plato puts it in a famous simile, the philosopher from
time to time returns from the sunlight of reality into the
semi-darkness* of the cave in order to undertake the
governance of the State. This is not a duty which he
undertakes lightly, or even willingly; for who, as Plato
says, that has access to the world of reality, would willingly
busy himself with matters pertaining to the world of
semi-reality? But as a good citizen of the State, mindful
of the city's need of governance and of his civic duty to
respond to that need, the Guardian does not hesitate to
shoulder the obligation of ruling. As Plato is careful to
point out, a reluctant ruler is more likely to rule well
than an eager one, for there is a reasonable presumption
that the man who is eager to rule desires power in order
to serve some private interest, or to gratify *ome private
ambition. His main purpose, in other words, is the service
of himself and his friends, and not that of the State. But
the man who rules unwillingly, having no private interest
to serve, can be trusted to devote himself to the interest
of the community. Thus, in addition to the specific
excellence of the philosopher, a member of the Guardian
class has a subordinate excellence which consists in the
proper performance of his duties as a citizen. This excel*
lence he achieves like any other citizen by making his
specific contribution to the welfare of the whole of which
he is a part, and, since he is by definition a man in whom
the reasoning pan of the soul preponderates, his specific
contribution will consist in ruling or governing.
The Excellence of the Third Class in the State.
For a member of the third class there is one excellence
only, namely, the excellence of the citizen. His virtue, in
other words, is not only inseparably, but exclusively bound
up with his social position. Upon him, as upon the Guardian,