Short notes on Plato's communism : Introduction , Property , Wives : Aims of Communism , Criticism.

 Introduction: Plato's communism

One of the most novel features of the Republic is Plato's plan for communism in the upper classes. This, like education, is designed essentially to maintain the status quo. Plato's communism is different than that of Marx. It is not designed to improve a standard of living; it does not apply to the entire community; and it is more comprehensive where it does apply because it extends to the family as well as to property. His communism has a political or moral view rather than an economic end.

Communism of property:

Plato understood the disruptive force in the society of disagreements over property holdings. The struggle for political power between haves and have-nots was well known to him. If skirmishes over property were to be permitted in the perfect state, they would unquestionably upset the delicate balance that Plato was so careful to create. Such a danger could be forestalled by the elimination of private property. It could not be completely abolished or eliminated among the majority of citizens. The artisan class would be permitted to hold property because they are dominated by appetite urges. But for the upper classes, in whom appetite was subordinated to the forces of reason and spirit, communism was both possible and necessary. There would be no competition for power among the members of the ruling and military classes and to use his power for economic aggrandizement.

Communism of wives:

The scheme of communism in the republic was not only confined to private property. It extends as well to family relationships in the upper classes. Neither marriage nor any form of monogamous union in the upper classes. Neither marriage nor any form of the military class. Breeding was to be regulated so as to produce offspring from the best possible stock. The offspring of these controlled unions were to be reared by the state. No individual parent-child relationship was to be recognized, for parents were parents of all, and children were the children of all. Abortion, infanticide, and neglect of the chronically ill and unfit are devices recommended by Plato to maintain the size and quality of the community.

Aims of communism:

1. Efficiency
2. Honesty
3. Devotion to the state
4. Concentration of attention
5. Selflessness
6. Unity and Harmony

Criticism:

• Impracticable
• Ignores fundamental human parental instincts
• Ignores the importance of family
• against human psychology