We are used to thinking
very highly of democracy and by extension, of Ancient Athens, the civilization
that gave rise to it. The Parthenon has become almost a byword for democratic values,
which is why so many leaders of democracies like to be photographed there. It’s
therefore very striking to discover that one of Ancient Greece’s great
achievements, Philosophy, was highly suspicious of its other achievement,
Democracy.
The founding father of
Greek Philosophy Socrates – is portrayed, in the dialogues of Plato, as hugely
pessimistic about the whole business of democracy. In Book Six of The Republic,
Plato describes Socrates falling into conversation with a character called Adeimantus
and trying to get him to see the flaws of democracy by comparing a society to a
ship. If you were heading out on a journey by sea, asks Socrates, who would you
ideally want deciding who was in charge of the vessel? Just anyone or people
educated in the rules and demands of seafaring? The latter of course, says
Adeimantus, so why then, responds Socrates, do we keep thinking that any old
person should be fit to judge who should be a ruler of a country?
Socrates’s point is
that voting in an election is a skill, not a random intuition. And like any
skill, it needs to be taught systematically to people. Letting the citizenry
vote without an education is as irresponsible as putting them in charge of a
trireme sailing to Samos in a storm. Socrates was to have firsthand,
catastrophic experience of the foolishness of voters. In 399 BC, the
philosopher was put on trial o trumped-up charges of corrupting the youth of
Athens.
A jury of 500 Athenians
was invited to weigh up the case and decided by a narrow margin that the
philosopher was guilty. He was put to death by hemlock in a process which is,
for thinking people, every bit as tragic as Jesus’s condemnation has been for
Christians. Crucially, Socrates was not elitist in the normal sense. He didn’t
believe that a narrow few should only ever vote. He did, however, insist that
only those who had thought about issues rationally and deeply should be let near
a vote.
We have forgotten this
distinction between an intellectual democracy and a democracy by birthright. We
have given the vote to all without connecting it to wisdom. And Socrates knew
exactly where that would lead: to a system the Greeks feared above all,
demagoguery. Ancient Athens had the painful experiences of demagogues, for example,
the louche figure of Alcibiades, a rich, charismatic, smooth-talking wealthy man
who eroded basic freedoms and helped to push Athens to its disastrous military
adventures in Sicily.
Socrates knew how
easily people seeking elections could exploit our desire for easy answers. He
asked us to imagine an election debate between two candidates, one who was like
a doctor and the other who was like a sweet shop owner. The sweet shop owner would
say of his rival: Look, this person here has worked many evils on you. He hurts
you, gives you bitter potions, and tells you he not to eat and drink whatever
you like.
He’ll never serve you
feasts of many and varied pleasant things like I will. Socrates asks us to
consider the audience's response: Do you think the doctor would be able to reply
effectively? The true answer – ‘I cause you trouble, and go against your desires
in order to help you would cause an uproar among the voters, don’t you think?
We have forgotten all about Socrates’s salient warnings against democracy.
We have preferred to
think of democracy as an unambiguous good – rather than as something that is
only ever as effective as the education system that surrounds it. As a result,
we have elected many sweet shop owners and very few doctors.
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