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Platos Republic is not inherently Sexist


Platos republic is one most significant foundational philosophical
texts in the history of western philosophy (McPherran, 2010, 1). This book
is of such a great degree of significance that it is taught at a wide variety of
educational levels (McPherran, 2010, 1). This content of this book has a
dialogue format and it tells the tale of Socratess discussions and debates
concerning the nature of justice and injustice and the respective benefits
and pitfalls of them both (Santas, 2006, 1). Interwoven in this elaborate
narrative are a series of myths and allegories that have been employed to
facilitate the many complex ideas that exist within this text (Santas, 2006,
2). The thesis that Socrates is defending with the republic is the claim that
it is good to live a just life (Santas, 2006, 2). As we will see this book calls
for women to take on a leadership role equal to men, thus making it a good
target for feminist analysis. The thrust of this particular essay will be
focusing on discussing the interpretation of this classic work of western
philosophy by a feminist named Arlene Saxonhouse. The Republic,
according to Arlene Saxonhouse, is a sexist document based on the many
cases of the disparagement of women within the text (Saxonhouse,1976,
196). Her argument is that the forcing of women and philosophers into
politics undermines them both as this would require the undermining of
their particular natures (Saxonhouse,1976, 196). This essay will not be
concerned with her views on how philosophy is affected but only on how
women are affected. I will be arguing that the treatment of females in the

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politics of the republic are not denatured but rather made to complement
the state with a feminine approach. In this essay will start with a general
summary of Platos general metaphysics in a manner that is relevant to
women then what Arlenes arguments are then I will introduce the counter
arguments.
Before one can discuss the role of women in political roles in the
Republic one must first understand over arching political philosophy and
metaphysical basis thereof within that book. One of Platos goals in this
producing this book is to create a vision of what the just city would look as
part of his larger ambition to determine what justice would look like at the
individual level (Plato,1991,45). The envisions the city being run by an elite
class of warriors known as guardians (Plato,1991,51). This elite class would
be further divided into two groups: the rulers and the auxiliaries
(Plato,1991,91).
The need for the guardian class arises as part of the natural evolution
of human society (Plato,1991,50). This evolution starts with the coming
together of individuals to form society due to the fact that no one can lead a
self sufficient lives thus creating the need for a community of specialists in
order to survive (Plato,1991,46). This specialization isnt just the division of
labor but rather the engagement in form of work that best suits the given
individuals dispositions (Plato,1991,46).The inevitable result of this
gathering of people is the first city or the city of producers (Plato,1991,48).

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This city is only composed of those people who crate products like farmers
or craftsmen and it will only aspire for necessary goods (Plato,1991,48).
Eventually however this city will advance to the next stage of its
evolution known as the feverish city (Plato,1991,49). Unlike its predecessor
the feverish city is driven by a demand for luxury goods (Plato,1991,49).
Furthermore another significant difference between the feverish city and
the first city is that the feverish city will have a second non producer class
that will come into existence to facilitate the provision of these luxuries like
barbers and beauticians (Plato,1991,50). As this citys population and need
for new resources expands there will be a need for military expansion in
order to meet these needs (Plato,1991,50). It is at this point that a class of
specialist warriors are needed and that is where the guardians will come in
(Plato,1991,51). The guardians will also be responsible for ensuring that
justice is provided for within the city (Plato,1991,102).
The next issue about this system is that of determining what exactly is
the basis of the legitimacy of that gives the guardians their right to rule.
Socrates in this book explicitly states only philosophers have the right to
rule (Plato,1991,163). This is important as the Socrates states that the
guardians will rule as philosopher kings (Plato,1991,135). The basis for
claiming that philosophy is the gives the sole right to rule is that it is the
only source of knowledge (Plato,1991,161). The reason why this is so is that
it is only through philosophy that one can have access to the forms

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(Plato,1991,160). The forms are the perfect, unchanging universals that
underlie all of reality (Plato,1991,160). One example of this is that there is a
form of beauty from which the beauty of all of the beautiful things are in the
world extended (Plato,1991,160). This of course means that only
philosophers can truly appreciate justice as only they have access to the
form of justice (Plato,1991,161).
The next issue concerning the guardians is the process by which one
becomes a guardian. The first step in the creation of a guardian is the
selection of a child who has what are considered to be the right dispositions
(Plato,1991,54). These dispositions are balance of toughness and gentleness
(Plato,1991,54). Other dispositions also include courageousness, quick
learning and high mindedness (Plato,1991,54).After this point the recruit
would be given physical and mental training (Plato,1991,54). The mental
part of the training is teaching of philosophy (Plato,1991,54).The reason for
why only the people with a right dispositions should learn philosophy is that
those who lack them will become vicious as Socrates puts it (Plato,1991,
169).
In order for any of this preparation to work one must look at the role
of the soul. What I mean by this is that the only way to acquire wisdom is to
have a harmonized soul (Plato,1991, 267). A harmonized soul is one in
which all of the souls three parts are in order (Plato,1991, 267). These three
parts are the rational, honor and desire (Plato,1991, 114). A harmonized

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soul is one that put in charge but the rational part in charge and the honor
related part in second place (Plato,1991, 114).
With all that said the aspect of the book that deals with the role of
women can be best understood. In book five Socrates states that men and
women should be recruited as guardians and be trained alongside the men
as equals (Plato,1991, 129-130). He argues that this should be the case as
the differences between men and women are only superficial (Plato,1991,
131). To make this point he compares the differences between the genders
with the differences between bald men and men with hair (Plato,1991, 132).
The reason for why he argues along that men are of the same fundamental
nature (Plato,1991, 134). He proves this point by stating that women have
the same variety of preferences and tendencies that men do (Plato,1991,
134). An example of this that he says that women can have a strong sense of
honor just like men (Plato,1991,134). Basically what he is saying is that
women have a soul that is composed of the same parts as that of men thus
allowing them to have a harmonized soul and attain enlightenment just like
a man can. This means that there is no reason for why a woman cant
ascend to the top of Greek politics.
The first criticism that Saxonhouse has of the republic is prior to
chapter are seen as the objects of sexual temptation (1976, 197). This is
first seen when the elderly Cephalus states that one of the advantages of
growing old is that the sexual temptations of youth no longer affect him

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(Saxonhouse, 1976, 197). Another example of this is when Socrates says
that the physical training for the guardians should be geared towards
freeing the male warriors of the strong physical temptations that would
undermine their performance like sex food and drink (Saxonhouse, 1976,
197). Furthermore the male guardians should also be kept away from
Corinthian girls as they might become his mistresses (Saxonhouse, 1976,
197). To top it off one of the reasons why guardians are to be prevented
from having a salary is to keep them from giving gifts to mistresses
(Saxonhouse, 1976, 197). More evidence of this is of the tale of Gyges who
seduces the wife of the King of Lydia (Saxonhouse, 1976, 197). Another
example is that in the fevered city there will be courtesans along with other
luxuries like fine food (Saxonhouse, 1976, 197).
Saxonhouses second complaint is that the women who become
guardians are completely de-sexed in book five (1976, 197). By this she
means that these women are stripped of all sexual desire or agency
(Saxonhouse, 1976, 198). The significance of this is that it robs a woman of
her phuris (Saxonhouse, 1976, 198). Phuris is the Greek term referring to
the skill that one is best at (Saxonhouse, 1976, 198). This is based on the
concept of Arete, the virtue of a given thing (Saxonhouse, 1976, 198). A
person expresses their Arete via the engagement in his or her specific
phuris (Saxonhouse, 1976, 198).

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Together these concepts form the basis of Platos concept of
specialization in society (Saxonhouse, 1976, 198). The argument is that by
disregarding the sexuality of women, Plato disregards the phuris of the
woman, the ability to have children, and thus demeans them (Saxonhouse,
1976, 199). She argues that this ability is the phuris of the woman as
women can do this better than any man (Saxonhouse, 1976, 199). She
argues that Socrates does acknowledge that women have children as a
passing remark but actively undermines the value of motherhood of
guardian women by minimizing their time with their children (Saxonhouse,
1976, 199).
She argues that the result of this failure to recognized this vital trait
that women possess results in Plato making women out to be inferior to men
by creating an unfair comparison with men (Saxonhouse, 1976, 199). One
way in which Socrates does this is by focusing on the fact that females are
generally weaker than males which means that the female guardians will be
given lighter tasks (Saxonhouse, 1976, 199). This is significant as Socrates
argues this point by stating that skill cant be divorced from physical
strength, except philosophy, and since the only jobs that he recognizes as
actual crafts rely on strength like sailing or farming (Saxonhouse, 1976,
200). In addition to that he states that the only task that women do better
than men is cooking and weaving and that there is no aspect of governance
that is uniquely suited to women (Saxonhouse, 1976, 199).

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The next argument to mention is her disgust towards the way in which
the procreation of the guardians is controlled (Saxonhouse, 1976, 201). This
system has three components. The first is that guardians will only be
allowed to have sex on specific times of the year (Plato,1991, 136-137). The
second is that the babies upon birth will be taken from their parents and
raised elsewhere (Plato,1991, 139). The second is that guardians would only
be allowed to mate with other guardians within a calculate age range in
order to avoid incest (Plato, 1991, 140-141). She considers this system to be
like breeding dogs (Saxonhouse, 1976, 201). The big problem that she has
with this system is that as a reward for glory in battle, the finest male
guardians are given the reward of sleeping with multiple females rather
than one (Saxonhouse, 1976, 201). This she argues, dehumanizes the
guardian woman to the status of a mere prize to be won (Saxonhouse, 1976,
201).
It is at this point that she begins to make the case that the Republics
approach to women and philosophy denatures them both (Saxonhouse,
1976, 202-203). She starts with the premise that both philosophy and
women are incompatible with politics in their natural states (Saxonhouse,
1976, 206). Women in their natural state are unsuited to war (Saxonhouse,
1976, 207). This is due to the fact that war is an inherently masculine
activity (Saxonhouse, 1976, 206). This is important as war and politics were
inherently the same in the era that Plato wrote the Republic (Saxonhouse,
1976, 206). In any case neither one naturally gravitates to politics

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(Saxonhouse, 1976, 203). Women tend to stick to family life as wife and
provider (Saxonhouse, 1976, 202). The philosopher tends to want to stick to
his or her own thoughts (Saxonhouse, 1976, 206).
With regard to philosophy and politics, philosophers are incompatible
with politics as philosophers seek the truth and politics is an inherently
dishonest field (Saxonhouse, 1976, 203). In order for either of them to be
denatured both of them will have to be denatured (Saxonhouse, 1976, 202).
Philosophy will be denatured in terms of the soul and women will be
denatured in terms of the body (Saxonhouse, 1976, 202). Women become
denatured with regard to the body by becoming de-sexed to become more
like men (p196).
The counter argument that I would use to tackle the argument that
prior to book five women are depicted as nothing more than sexual
provokers is that Saxonhouse is putting too much emphasis on the women
and not enough on what Socrates is saying about men. What Socrates
seems to be saying about men is that they tend to be more excessive when it
comes to revelry in general and sex in particular. The reason why I say this
is that when Cephalus mentions that growing old caused his body to lose
interest interest in reveling in sex he also said that it caused him to lose
interest in other forms of revelry like partying and drinking (plato, 1991,5).
The training of guardian recruits by Saxonhouses own admission
made special mention of keeping the males from temptation, sexual or

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otherwise. The reason why I say that he believes that men are particularly
drawn by sexual temptation is that Socrates uses the opportunity to have
sex with more women as an incentive for men to fight harder as opposed to
some other reward. The overall point I am trying to make is that at no point
does Socrates specially mention the women as being particularly likely to
succumb to. It would seem then that he is implying that women do not
succumb to the desire driven aspect of the soul to the same degree as men
on average.
With regard to them being de-sexed in the sense of not acting her
argument that child bearing is the phuris of women is incorrect. The reason
why I say this is that ability of the woman to bear children in no different
from the mans ability to impregnate women. After all men can impregnate
women better than any woman can impregnate another woman. In any case
if the goal of bearing children is to replenish the population then men are as
indispensible as women. This means that de sexing them does not do away
with the womans phuris. The point is that there are plenty of rudimentary
biological functions that one gender does better than the other because the
other one cant but we would not label them as phuris just because that
gender can do it better by default.
It could be counter argued that Socrates is a sexist against the
guardian women by denying them motherhood. However I would retort that
they are not being discriminated against to any greater of a degree than the

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male guardians as the children being born to the guardians are to be taken
away from both of the parents. This is because the goal of raising a
guardian is make sure that all familial ties are cut in order for that
individual to become completely devoted to the city (p.141).
Next I will argue that Socrates, based on his own logic, is wrong
about his idea that the only work that women could ever be better at than
men in is weaving and cooking. The first point to make is that even though
men are naturally stronger than women, women are less prone to excess.
This means that means that women will be less prone to having the quality
of their work in a given craft undermined by the negative effects that are
associated with an excessive lifestyle like drunkenness or serious injuries.
The result is that women can do just as good as men at any craft by being
more consistent on average than men. This argument shows that the logic
that drives the metaphysical thought within the pages of the republic
transcend even the cultural biases of Socrates.
When it comes down to the issue of the procreation of the female
guardians I do not agree with her point that that it makes it demeans the
women any more than it demeans men. Yes it is true that the woman is
reduced to the level of a mere prize is it any better for the man who is
reduced to the status of a breeding stud? A good way to make this point is
to describe in a Caribbean context. If a slave master tells his black slaves
that whoever cuts the largest amount of cane will get to sleep with more

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female slaves than the others who is better off: the male slaves or the
female slave? The intuitive answer would be neither as both of them are
slaves. It is in this sense that both male and female guardians are equally
valued. If anything it might be worse for the male guardians in this instance
as the only way to get this reward is to risk dying to a greater extent than
one would have done otherwise.
The last counter argument to deal with, that of politics destroying the
woman, is incorrect as it represents only a surface level analysis. Yes to
some extent the women in the guardian class would taken on masculine
tendencies when acting in that capacity but that does not mean that these
women would be completely stripped of their femininity of that none of this
femininity would not come to influence the nature of the state. As stated
earlier the female guardians are more tempered than their more spirited
male counterparts according to Alan Blooms logic (Saxonhouse, 1976, 201) .
This means that they would in their capacity as guardians, work to restrain
the excesses of the male leaders thus bringing a state of metaphysical
balance to the city. This makes sense based on the notion of the female
guardians being less prone to excess than the male guardians.
Arlene Saxonwoods case for the Republics system of thought seemed
very compelling at first. Her arguments were quite rational and even
involved the use of some of Socrates own biases. However all of her
arguments were ultimately proven to be false as they were rooted in an

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overly slanted and superficial analysis of this classical text. The result is
that a thorough metaphysical investigation like the one I have done
revealed the truth. One can therefore comfortably conclude, based on the
evidence at hand, that the female guardians were not depicted by the
Republics system of metaphysical thought as having been completely desexed of their distinctive feminine features but instead rather as
contributing their femininity to compliment the masculinity of its male
counterparts.

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