Abstract

Gerasimos Santas aims to extract lessons from Plato’s criticism of democratic principles such as private property, knowledge, and freedom. He divides Plato’s theory into abstract/formal theory and empirical assumptions (or practical applications). This results in a reading of Plato’s _Republic_ where we can take lessons from Plato without accepting (or even acknowledging) his theory of the soul. This is puzzling considering how much time Plato’s Socrates devotes to exploring the timocratic, oligarchic, democratic, and tyrannical souls in _Republic_ 8 and 9. I offer a reading of _Republic_ 8 which takes Plato’s criticism of the democratic soul as his criticism of the psychological pressures innate in the democratic constitution. Democracy fails because it encourages unnecessary appetites. These appetites breed anarchy and ignorance under the guise of freedom. Section two reviews Santas reading of the _Republic_ and his interpretation of Plato’s treatment of democratic principles: private property, knowledge, and freedom. Section three provides a reading which takes the soul into consideration. Reading the descent to democracy and the birth of the democratic man as indicative of the pressures of the democratic system, we gain insights into the psychology of democracy. Section four concludes.