Plato on Intolerance as a Threat to Freedom of Speech and Democracy

English

Event
GKA HUMAN 2020:     9th International Conference on Humanities
11/02/2020

Keywords
Clásicos Griegos Polis Política Democracia

In the eighth book of the Republic Plato characterizes democracy as a “miscellaneous garment” («ἱμάτιον ποικίλον», 557c5) and a “bazaar of constitutions” («παντοπώλιον πολιτειῶν», 557d6), in an attempt to point out the pluralistic character of this constitution. Democracy as a pluralistic constitution promotes tolerance and educates the citizens how to live in a diverse society. However, Plato supports that when freedom, which is the ultimate good of democracy (R. 562b-c), becomes unlimited, a degeneration in all levels of social life happens. One of the detrimental results of this degeneration is the intolerance that affects the souls of the citizens (563d), which eventually weakens the public spirit and the sense of «συζῆν», common life in the democratic society. In this paper I will try to show how both excess freedom and absolute equality in association with the lack of a proper education eliminate, according to Plato, the tolerance of diversity, weaken the public spirit of the citizens and finally threaten the freedom of speech and democracy.