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P.Dancdk,FamilyandPolisł
9
AccordingtoPlato,polishasadivinenatureandensuresfulllifeaswell
assatisfactionofone’sneeds.Amanisnotself-sufficient;thereforeheorshe
associateswithothersandcreatesacommunitywherelaborisredistributedand
individualsspecializeincertainfield.Platodevelopedamodelofaperfectpolis
whichhadthreefunctions.
1.Provisionoffoodandprofitforcitizens.
2.Protectionofthestatefromtheoutside.
3.Rationalgovernmentofthestate.3
Accordingtothestatedfunctions,Platodividedcitizensintothreesocial
classes:producers,auxiliaries-guardians,andguardians-rulers.
Theaimofthestateistosecurehumanwelfareandneedsofpeople,while
moralityplaysanimportantroleinitsactions.AccordingtoPlato,communities
ofpeoplearedestroyedmainlybecauseofmaterialistintereststhatinfluence
humanbehaviorandaction.Therefore,theprimaryroleoftheruleristoensure
educationforguardiansandotherpeople.Guardiansdidnothaverighttopri-
vateproperty,whichwassupposedtoprotectthemagainstmaterialistinterests
andthedamagingeffect.Platoclaimsthatcommunitywherepeoplearedivided
intotherichandthepoorisnotone,buttherearetwocommunities.4Women
canalsobepartofthearmyiftheyaresuitableforthejob.Thereisnofamily
inthemilitarysociety.Thereisonlyaconnectionofmanandwomanwhichis
supposedtobringchildren.Itisa“marriage”thatdoesnotleadtothefamily.
Itisforyou,then,astheirlawgiver,whohavealreadyselectedthemen,to
selectforassociationwiththemwomenwhoaresofaraspossibleofthesame
naturalcapacity.Nowsincenoneofthemwillhaveanyprivatehomeofhis
own,buttheywillsharethesamedwellingandeatatcommontables,the
twosexeswillbetogether;andmeetingwithoutrestrictionforexerciseand
allthroughtheirupbringing,theywillsurelybedrawntowardsunionwith
oneanotherbyanecessityoftheirnaturelnecessityisnottoostrongaword,
Ithink?5
Thisconnectionispreparedbyrulerswhoaimtoconnectonlythebest.
Itfollowsfromwhatwejustsaidthat,ifwearetokeepourflockatthehighest
pitchofexcellence,thereshouldbeasmanyunionsofthebestofbothsexes,
andasfewoftheinferior,aspossible,andthatonlytheoffspringofthebetter
unionsshouldbekept.6
3Cf.HansJoachimStrorig,Malédejinyfilozofie(Praha:ZVON,1995),125.
4Cf.JanPatočka,Aristoteles(Praha,Vyżehrad:Vyżehrad,1994),23.
5TheRepublicofPlato,trans.withintroductionandnotesFrancisMacDonaldCornford
(Oxford:OUP,1945),157.
6TheRepublicofPlato,159.
