What are Plato's classification of governments?

Answer 1

Plato brought to light the five types of government that existed at the time. He openly discussed aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. At the time, Plato was against democratic governments and favored aristocracy.

Answer 2

Plato classified Governments into 5 types - 1. The Regal (Monarchy) 2. The Ambitious (Timoarchy or Timocracy) 3. The Oligarchic 4. The Democratic 5. The Tyranic 1 + 5 = Rule of One 2 + 3 = Rule of Few 4 = Rule of Many

Answer 3

Plato believed that the people should be ruled by philosophers and that the people who wanted to rule the least were the best fit for ruling, because they were less likely to use their powers in selfish ways. He didn't believe in democracy because he believed that most people were not rational and shouldn't be trusted to make good decisions.

Answer 4

It is hard to know Plato's own views on government, for two reasons.

First, the works of Plato in which politics are discussed (chiefly, Republic, Laws, and Statesman), take the form of dialogues. Different characters in the dialogues express different points of view. One cannot easily pick the statements of a single character and say "that is Plato's own view." Potentially Plato doesn't have a simple, explicit doctrine on government, and he expresses the complex totality of his ideas in the multiple opinions of the various characters.

Second, to focus on the Republic, an important question can be asked whether the work is mainly about societal government, or rather presents an elaborate psychological allegory for the governing of ones own soul (cf. Rep. 2.368)

The fact that Plato, despite an aristocratic family background, devoted his life to teaching philosophy, suggests that he believed no form of government could succeed without virtuous and educated citizens.

Answer 5

republican