Why Did Socrates Hate Democracy?

Democracy is undoubtedly one of the most cherished issues since ancient times. When we go to the times when this form of management emerged, we see Socrates and his unorthodox views in this sense coming out.

In what ways did this philosopher, one of the founders of Greek philosophy, criticize democracy and When we think about the point that this form of government has reached from those days to these days. Could he really be right?

For almost thousands of years, we have considered democracy very important.

In Ancient Athens, the civilization that created this concept, it has been accepted as the greatest work of Ancient Greek architecture since ancient times. Parthenon has become a word almost synonymous with democracy.; many democratic leaders had also made it a tradition to take pictures there.

For this reason, one of the other great achievements of Ancient Greece, which is known to have made quite a splash in the field of philosophy, skepticism towards democracy quite surprising.

So, what was the reason for Socrates, the founding father of Greek philosophy, to approach this form of government so skeptically according to Plato’s dialogues?

Plato, StateHe states that Socrates started talking to a character named “Adeimantus” in chapter 6 of . the flaws of democracy depicts it by analogy with a ship.

Socrates to Adeimantus “If you were to travel in a ship, who would you prefer to decide who should be in charge of the ship??” asks a question and continues “Should everyone be asked for their opinion, or should only people who have been trained in the rules and requirements of shipping be given a say??”.

“Of course the latter,” says Adeimantus.

“In that case‘ replied Socrates, ‘From where everyone of the ageWe think that you have the ability to choose who will run the country.?” responds as.

The point that Socrates wants to draw attention in this direction is that voting in the election a talent rather than random intuition and that, like every skill, it must be taught to people in a systematic way.

According to Socrates, allowing people to vote without a certain level of education was as irresponsible as making a random captain a captain in a stormy weather.

Philosopher, He himself suffered the disgrace of the voters who voted with this wrong strategy. and in 39 BC he was on trial for disrupting and poisoning the Athenian order. The jury of 500 Athenians evaluated the case; Socrates was found guilty by a very small margin.

The death sentence given to Socrates with hemlock poison was just as tragic for Christians as the crucifixion of Jesus, and this punishment led to the philosopher’s death. On top of all this, Socrates was not in favor of giving the right to vote to only a small minority. Only those who can deal with issues rationally He argued that he should vote.

At this point, it is necessary to examine the difference between intellectual democracy and democracy that comes as a birthright.

Wisdom and suffrage How much we can establish the relationship between the two is quite open to discussion. Socrates foresaw where this might lead thousands of years ago with “demagogy,” a system that the Greeks were more worried about than anything else.

At this point, when we look at the bad experiences of the Ancient Greeks with demagogues, an anecdote draws attention. For example, Alcibiades was considered a wealthy, charismatic figure with a high level of speaking ability, and he himself ignoring fundamental freedoms and he was famous for organizing an expedition to Sicily that ended badly.

Socrates; He knew that the electorate could easily undermine our orientation to simple answers, so he asked us to imagine the conflict between the two candidates.

One of the candidates is a doctor and the other is a candy store owner. assumed it was. The owner of the candy store would say of his rival doctor:Look, this man has done terrible things to you. It hurt you, gave you bitter potions, and mixed with what you ate and drank. He will never offer you a feast like I did.”

Then to the votersDo you think the doctor will be able to give a tangible answer to this claim??” posed the question. The doctor’s answer is probably “I go against your desires to help you”, and of course, this answer would cause an uproar among the voters.

In this context, Socrates warned us thousands of years ago about the direction in which democracy would evolve.

Perhaps we have chosen to think of democracy as an obvious good rather than a process that is only as effective as the education system that surrounds it, and what this form of government actually means and how it should function we did not elaborate. Do you think our chosen one so far was the doctor or the owner of the sweet shop?