Homework Question on Theory of Warfare
1: Explain:
- How Plato introduces the idea of warfare into his view of the city or polis:
- What is your personal theory of warfare;
- Since the time of Plato other societies/ states/ nations (including the United States of America) have used the reasoning proposed by Socrates (Plato); give some historical examples.
Homework Answer on Theory of Warfare
Question 1
Plato develops the idea of warfare by giving a positive image of the city positively in order to see where justice and injustice emerge. A significant observation is that in the first city, ‘justice’ has no place, precisely because of its simplicity and singularity. Justice is a relationship between classes in the polis, and this is the model for the elements in the soul. Plato argued that peace is just a word; by nature, every state is absorbed in a permanent, undeclared war with each other
From this ideology, the root of the disharmony is collapse of the need-based economy and its replacement by one driven by luxurious desire. Yet if this is to be genuinely a development, it must be produced from interior but not from one conditional external source.
Question 2
Warfare, whose fundamental nature is conflict, must ultimately come under its guidance. It has its characteristics, some of which can be equated with politics, while others cannot. However, influence of the warfare cannot be underestimated, reason being that it structures politics, altering the social and economic environment and influences individuals and entire nations.