Chapter 652
"If the rulers of the city-states could learn through constant practice, instead of indulging in the pleasures of the flesh, they would be able to treat the people of the city with kindness. If they can treat the people of the city with kindness, and can see the essence of things with keen vision, and make laws about beauty, justice, and kindness that are beneficial to the citizens of the city, and guide the people to abide by it and protect it … Then of course they are philosophers, there's no doubt about it! "Plato said firmly.
Devers knew that Plato had expanded the concept of a philosopher, but he felt that there was no need to refute it directly. Instead, he changed the topic. "In the book 'The Republic', you said that a true philosopher should have love, truth but not falsehood, temperance but not greed for pleasure, open-minded, magnanimous, courageous and not afraid of death, fair and virtuous, intelligent and studious, born harmonious, and has a sense of propriety … In other words, he should be a perfect benevolent person. Only such a philosopher can be a true ruler of the country. Is that right?"
"Yes, that's basically it," Plato said calmly. He then added, "But it's very difficult to achieve now."
"Why is it difficult to achieve now?" Devers asked.
"Because there is no stage in the current city-states for philosophers to display their talents in governing a country!" Plato replied with a slightly agitated tone. "Some so-called 'wise men' only know how to please and cater to the people at the city-state's General Assembly, attacking philosophers who truly pursue the truth of things. Because truth is always more difficult for the people to accept than falsehood, philosophers are not welcomed by the people of the city. The harsh environment of the city tempted talented young people, causing them to become ambitious. They would rather learn flowery words to cater to the people to earn power and wealth, rather than go through the hard training of slaves to gain rationality.
As a result, there are fewer and fewer true philosophers. It's like falling into a herd of beasts. They are not willing to participate in evil, but they can't fight against all the beasts alone, so they can only remain silent and only focus on their own matters … "
"So you wrote 'The Republic', but it doesn't actually exist in reality," Devers said as if he had understood something.
"No, it will exist one day!" Plato said with determination. "For this reason, I built Academy of Academy! … "
Devers was shaken by Plato's words. Looking at the philosopher who was called a "great" in his previous life, Devers deeply felt his determination to fight for his ideas for the rest of his life. This reminded him of another great philosopher who was from the same era as Plato in his previous life, and had influenced China for more than 2,000 years. They were the same kind of people, which was why they could achieve greatness.
With that in mind, Dyvers no longer made things difficult for Lin Li in the book. Instead, he calmly asked for advice, "In the book, you mentioned that a strict division of labor is the first principle of establishing an ideal city-state. Rulers, protectors, farmers, and craftsmen should each perform their duties to ensure the order of the country and everyone's happiness …" However, you didn't seem to consider the slaves and foreigners who made up the majority of the population in the city-state. This may be a huge hidden danger.
This may be a huge hidden danger, because the slaves and foreigners also have their own political demands. If the city-state cannot give them what they want, they will bring great damage to the order of the city-state. During the War of Peloponnesus, Athens, which should have been united against foreign enemies, suffered a great blow when more than 20,000 miners and slaves escaped. When Syracuse under Dionysius fought against Diónia, the Free Citizens of Syracuse, who had been discriminated against, rebelled and overthrew Dionysius's rule …
In addition, if you divided the citizens of a city into several classes, farmers could only work in agriculture, craftsmen could only work in handicrafts, and guardians could only participate in war … Wasn't such a division too idealistic and rigid? Because most of the people have the desire to obtain a better status in the city-state. Farmers and craftsmen may also want to become guardians, and guardians also want to become rulers. Whether they can do it or not, you should give them the possibility to achieve their wishes in advance, so that the different classes of the entire city-state can maintain a kind of mobility. Only then will the people of the city-state be full of vitality. Don't you want to know the reason why Diónia became so powerful so quickly? This is one of the reasons! "
…
The Devers and Plato exchanged their opinions and views on the city-state system. Sometimes they argued fiercely, sometimes they discussed calmly. Both of them were very engrossed in the conversation.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye. It was not until the clerk, Henepolis, reminded that the Devers had no choice but to stop the conversation. He apologized to Plato that he still had important matters to attend to, so the conversation had to end here.
Plato showed a look of regret. From the initial inattentiveness when he was received to the present, he had indeed benefited a lot from this conversation.
At this moment, he sincerely requested, "Your Majesty Devers, can you promise me a request?"
"Go ahead."
"Can you allow me to visit the actual operation of the various institutions under the Kingdom of Diónia, such as the schools you mentioned just now, the inspection department, the construction department, and the Officials Management Committee that evaluates and recruits public officials …"
"Of course, that's not a problem." The Devers readily agreed and said, "This is my clerk, Henepolis, a senator of the Senate of Diónia. After your speech in the academy, Plato will lead you around Turií. "
Plato immediately expressed his gratitude.
After he left, Henepolis asked doubtfully, "Your Majesty, do you really want Plato to visit our administrative institutions in detail?"
"Of course. Plato is a well-known scholar in all of Greece, and he even built his own academy. I hope that he will promote the superiority of the Kingdom of Diónia in Greece and spread the name of Diónia, "the Devers said without hesitation.
"But this might allow the other city-states to secretly learn our system," said Henepolis with slight worry.
The Devers laughed, "Henny, you can secretly learn the crafting of weapons, you can secretly learn the crafting of handicrafts, but it's very difficult to secretly learn the political system, especially for the city-states that have been established for a long time. They have many traditional and powerful forces. If you want to change the political system, it will definitely harm their interests. When that happens, a bloody riot will be unavoidable. Harolis of Syracuse is a good example! That's why I say, different people wear different kinds of shoes. You can't just do whatever you want … "
… …
There was no official opening ceremony for the Greek Scholar Conference. This was considering that the scholars advocated freedom and did not like to waste their time sitting around listening to conventional speeches. However, coordinating the lectures and discussions of the invited scholars was a troublesome problem.
The conference was held in four places in the Diónia Academy: the Faculty of Mathematics, the Faculty of Liberal Arts, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Philosophy. Many of the invited scholars had made contributions in many fields. For example, Democritus' disciple, Cheyenne, had done research in philosophy, mathematics, and medicine. As an important figure in the Pythagorean School of Thought, not only did he have deep research in mathematics and physics, he also had his own unique philosophy … These few academies all wanted the scholars to come to their side to explain first, so they argued endlessly.
Fortunately, the Devers was also the chairman of the conference. He gathered the deans of the four academies together, and after a series of discussions, they quickly came up with a schedule.
When Plato's students arrived at the Diónia Academy, they discovered that it was just as Fostkada had said. The academy was huge, had many buildings, and had a beautiful environment that far surpassed the Academy of Academy of Diónia. They were slightly disappointed, but they were soon immersed in the profound knowledge.
They frequently traveled between academies to listen to the lectures of the scholars.
In the Faculty of Liberal Arts, they listened to Lysias' "The Application of Logic in Court Debates" and Isocrates' "How to Sculpt Your Speech";
In the Faculty of Mathematics, they pondered over Mattias' "Discussion on the Law of the Vibration Curve of Matter" and Mentoticeels' "Elementary Theory of Probability" (this was the knowledge that the Faculty of Mathematics had discovered and summarized after the Devers had entrusted the Faculty of Mathematics to calculate the odds for ball games for the past six or seven years.) ;
In the Faculty of Philosophy, they carefully distinguished the philosophy of Lysias' "Everything is Number", Androstini's "On the Existence of Things" (he was a student of the Parmenides of Elia and was also the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Diónia Academy) and the philosophy taught by Plato;
In the Faculty of Medicine, they stared wide-eyed at Helpes' presentation and demonstration of the function of the heart, Stesicordas' "A Preliminary Study of the Pathogenesis of the Common Disease of Mankind", and Hippocrates' medical view of "Obey Nature" (the human body itself is the best medicine against disease, and the main responsibility of the doctor is to stand on the side of nature and promote the physical and mental recovery of the patient) …
While learning and absorbing knowledge, Vesippus and the others also met many young talents. Most of them were students of the Diónia Academy. They were confident, generous, and diligent. When listening to the lectures of the scholars, they not only recorded the main points on papyrus, but also actively asked questions. Many times, they even stumped the speakers because of the depth of the questions.
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