Irrationality is seen as a dominant element in human nature. An example of this view can be found in Thucydides's account of the Corcyraean revolution.
Plato, however, saw man's true nature as rational and believed that civilized society must be organized, and civilized life conducted according to rational principles.
Doesn't this sound too familiar. From the age when Plato's Republic was played out, to this day, we have the same tug of war between the two forces.
The debate continues...
Then, with the ordinary conventions of civilized life thrown into confusion, human nature,...showed itself proudly in its true colors, as something incapable of controlling passion, insubordinate to the idea of justice.
Plato, however, saw man's true nature as rational and believed that civilized society must be organized, and civilized life conducted according to rational principles.
Doesn't this sound too familiar. From the age when Plato's Republic was played out, to this day, we have the same tug of war between the two forces.
The debate continues...
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