As I discussed Plato’s views on democracy as an unstable form of government with my classmates, a question came up in those conversations that I wanted to explore further. That question being “can you truly have equality at the expense of justice?” In this paper I am going to attempt to explore this question I posed, through the lens of Plato’s The Republic as well as my own conclusions from modern democracy in America and the Western World.

In the original response made on my discussion board post, the suggestion was made that, between the two current ruling political parties in American democracy, that “one values freedom more than equality, and the other equality at the expense of freedom”, to which I asked the opening question. This insinuates of course, that these two ideas (or Forms, as Plato would call them) are not only mutually exclusive from each other, but in direct war with one another’s success. I am going to muse over what perhaps, these two things may be said to be, and if this argument could possibly hold weight. First, the Form of Freedom. What would be defined in Plato’s Republic as Freedom? And how does that correlate to what we may consider Freedom to be in a modern representative democracy?

Freedom in the setting of Plato’s Republic, has both many hindrances as well as advantages to its success. If we look at Freedom arbitrarily as the freedom to do, to achieve, in regards to one’s life or career path, absolutely Freedom exists here. In Plato’s Republic, while those were to follow the path that best compliments their natural abilities, anyone was able to pursue the path they thought they could best succeed at. The example given during the first lecture on Plato’s Republic (The City and the Soul, 2/2/21), was that of a young man who was good with working wood with his hands. He was sent to work an apprenticeship with a local coffin maker, due to his natural abilities. However, he was not happy working there, and instead was more interested in becoming an Auxiliary (or, the armed protectors of the city). He was able to go to the Auxiliary training school, and be presented with an instructor challenging him. He could have either fled and gone back to his apprenticeship, or returned again for training if he truly wanted to go down that path. 

 

On the other hand, if we look at Freedom as a right to own property or the right to have a family/children, there is a clear lack thereof in the Republic. Only the Merchant Craftsman (general public artisans) are able to own property, accumulate wealth, or choose to have a spouse/children. Whereas the Guardians (in charge of overseeing the city) and Auxiliary have “mates” chosen for them, are stripped of their children, and are not allowed the same rights of family and wealth. 

 

In Plato’s critiques of democracy as a form of government, he actually states one of its fatal failings is an “overdose of Freedom”. This is an interesting phrase to me, as it feels similar to the comment my classmate made, suggesting perhaps that we give people an “overdose of freedom” when we raise them to equal status as others. Could, in Plato’s Republic, these extensions and successes of Freedom, exist without Equality? Or are their successes at war with each other’s realization? This is the question I am going to address next.

To further examine my previous examples, one of a success and one of a failing in the expression of Freedom, and one a success, I am going to look at their relation to Equality in each circumstance. With the freedom to do, to achieve, this Freedom is reliant on the ability of each person in the Republic to make their own decisions and follow their best suited paths that will make them happy. This is achieved by Plato, by, rather boldly for the time, by stating that women and slaves are allowed these same freedoms. This principle operates on the grounds that all citizens are granted equal opportunity. Otherwise, those freedoms would be impossible in the Republic. This Equality of slaves also reflects the inherent lack of class distinctions  in the Republic, without which the principle of Freedom to choose one’s own destiny would once again be impossible. In this example, it appears that the success of Freedom is dependent on its agreement with Equality.

In the second example, regarding the right to own property and the right to have a family/children, there is a clear failure of Freedom, as citizens do not have the ability to choose these outcomes to their lives or obtain any kind of material wealth. And it would appear, that this is due to a lack of Equality that stands in the way. There is a blatant lack of Equality between each of the different career distinctions when it comes to these matters. The Guardians and Auxiliary do not have equal right to do these things as the Merchant Craftsman class is, which therefore creates an imbalance that impedes on the process of Freedom. 

 

In both examples, it appears the relationship is one of mutual dependency rather than exclusivity. When there is a high amount of Freedom, there also is a high amount of Equality to support it. And conversely, when there is a lack of Freedom, a lack of Equality is to blame. 

 

Within our own representative democracy in America we of course place different values into the ideas of Freedom and Equality, but have comparably similar situations amongst our society at large. In the context of American democracy, I am going to look at similar examples in a modern setting. Specifically, to look at Freedom in regards to the country as a whole, as well as how Equality as a whole affects it.

I return again to the freedom to do, to achieve, but instead in light of past and present American laws and norms that relate to this Freedom. The Freedom of the populace to achieve and pursue happiness as outlined in our constitution, is dependent on many things. For example, access to education, which is one of the most essential building blocks to a successful life and career in the American workforce in accordance to the ideal “American Dream”. Historically if we look at access to education,  America has struggled to provide this to much of the population. For hundreds of years over half the population was unable to pursue an education, as women and slaves were barred from doing so. Even after the slaves were freed, they were only allowed access to separate education from the white dominating class, whose funding was substandard. Even though these segregation practices are no longer legally practiced, their impacts remain. Lower income classes, a large percentage of which are Black, still are largely underfunded when it comes to resources for education. This failing in regards to Freedom is directly related to the history of Inequality that ran alongside these events. The Inequality of women and Black slaves, later the general Black population, damages the overall functioning of Freedom within the nation in regards to education and ability to pursue one’s goals/happiness. Without Equality, it cannot be said that overall there is Freedom as far as access to education, a vital resource to success. 

 

But what of the Freedom to accumulate wealth, own property, or support a family? In America, homeownership is a primary way to earn wealth and is tied to the cultural idea of having achieved monetary success (again, the “American Dream”). One again however, historically half the population has been unable to achieve this Freedom, as women and slaves were not legally allowed to do so. Women were eventually granted the right to have ownership of property, but not without being married. It was not until rather recently in American history that women were granted the right to own a credit card without being dependent on a spouse, which is a near-necessity when it comes to buying a home. Even after Black slaves became free members of society, they too faced difficulties in owning property. Redlining of poor Black districts prevented Black prospective homeowners from obtaining the bank loans to do so. Even to present day, these same districts are reflected in bank loaning habits. Overall, this Freedom is damaged by a lack of Equality amongst the citizens of the country who have the ability to access these foundational channels to success, similarly to the previous example regarding education.

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I feel the conclusion to be drawn from my discussion of both the examples from Plato’s Republic and their modern day American/Democratic equivalents, is that Freedom and Equality are concepts that are inextricably bound together, and rely on each other for success. Far from the idea of the two being mutually exclusive, much less “at war” with each other’s existence as I previously questioned. After my exploration of this topic, I find my conclusions could be summed up rather well by this quote by philosopher John Rawl from his 1972 book A Theory of Justice: "...everyone should be allowed the maximum amount of liberty consistent with everyone else enjoying the same amount of liberty." It seems evident to me that, without the equal ability of all to enjoy the freedoms of a nation, the nation does not truly exhibit Freedom at all.