12 Characteristics for a Ruler S Life: Guardianship in Books I-v of Plato S Republic

Abstract

This paper presents an exploration of the first five books of Plato's Republic to express the relevance of characterizing 12 traits for a ruler's life. Contemporary problems today center on education, so that the problem of teaching and learning in society becomes a crucial dimension of political life. It is in this sense that the problem posed by Plato is still relevant up-to-date. Seeing this problem as a quasi-impossibility, the paper opens up the space to discuss the training of rulers or guardianship as a craft that is teachable, unselfish, and monofunctional. To explain this further, the job of being an educated citizen is presented as laden with 12 interconnected characteristics that altogether forge the hope for a just order.