[445d]
are the characters of soul.” “How
many, pray?” “There are five kinds of
constitutions,” said I, “and five kinds of
soul.” “Tell me what they are,” he said.
“I tell you,” said I, “that one way of
government would be the constitution that we have just expounded, but the
names that might be applied to it are two.1 If one man of surpassing merit
rose among the rulers, it would be denominated royalty; if more than one,
aristocracy.” “True,” he said.
“Well, then,” I said, “this is one of the
forms I have in mind.
1 The true state is that in which knowledge governs. It may be named indifferently monarchy, or aristocracy, according as such knowledge happens to be found in one or more than one. It can never be the possession of many. Cf. 494 A. The inconsistencies which some critics have found between this statement and other parts of the Republic, are imaginary. Hitherto the Republic has contemplated a plurality of rulers, and such is its scheme to the end. But we are explicitly warned in 540 D and 587 D that this is a matter of indefference. It is idle then to argue with Immisch, Krohn, and others that the passage marks a sudden, violent alteration of the original design.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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