The effect that Plato's ideas have on decision making in todays society

Yesterday in class, we discussed Plato’s idea of selective breeding and the idea of a guardian class. At first, it seemed as though Plato’s ideas regarding these subjects were completely wrong, but my idea on the subjects completely changed once Dr.j explained Plato’s ideas. Dr.j outlined the idea that Plato felt that Humans can be either rational, or emotional. This idea immediately made sense because Humans have one thing that separates them from all animals, the ability to use rational reasoning. Dr.j explained that Plato felt that humans need to take advantage of their ability to be rational and avoid using their emotional side. Plato applied these concepts specifically within the leaders of a community. Plato felt that the leaders of a community should use rational reasoning when making decisions; they should use their intellect to make decisions that will help the community and not just help themselves. Plato did not want any leaders who cared about advancing their own property and wealth. Plato wanted a class of leaders, called the guardian class, which would be made up of people who only make rational decisions that are in the best interest of the community. The only reason Plato suggested selective breeding was because he wanted this type of ruling class to be created.

The classroom discussion regarding Plato’s ideas soon lead into the affect that Plato’s ideas could have on the leaders of the United States. At this point, I became extremely interested because it seemed like Plato’s ideas relate a lot to what is going on with the United States Government. I feel that there is a ruling class of America, and the majority of this class is made up of people who only care about their own property and wealth. I think that Plato’s ideas could be very helpful for the people of America. Humans have the ability to reason, and make rational decisions; we need to take advantage of this by evaluating the process that the government uses to elect our leaders. I think that if people put more thought into who is truly making the decisions for our country,then our country would work in much more of a fair way. It seems like most people care most about their emotions when they make decisions. People need to listen to Plato and use their ability to reason rationally when they make important decisions.

It seems that examples of people using their emotional side over their rational side are obvious in today’s society. In almost every election for government positions, people seem to care more about the people running themselves, rather than focusing on how the issues in their life would be affected by the people running. People make major mistakes by electing the wrong people, only because they used their emotional side to make decisions. It seems that most people do not realize how useful Plato’s ideas could be for our current society. Even though the emotional side of humans has its purpose, I feel that Plato may be right that this side is over used in Humans lives. I do not think that all of Plato’s ideas are correct, but I feel that his ideas regarding human’s use of rational reasoning is completely correct; humans in general need to use less of their of emotional side, and more of their rational side when making decisions.

Do you feel that people’s use of their emotional side in their decision-making is a major problem? And,
Do you think that the use of Plato’s ideas could make a positive impact on today’s society? In which ways?