[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-39889-en":3,"doc-seo-39889-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},39889,2336464648322,"Aria","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2200025388227c56fec?_k=1778556882303663488",8,"Research & Report","Plato and Farabi Criticism of Democracy","A comparative study examines how Plato and Farabi analyze democracy as a deficient political regime marked by moral and epistemic failure. Plato frames democracy as a corrupt order where ignorant people claim authority over rulers, threatening justice, truth, and the education of citizens’ souls. Farabi likewise treats democracy as an ignorant regime, emphasizing the absence of metaphysical and epistemological grounding. The work compares each philosopher’s critique, including psychological and metaphysical backgrounds, and highlights the role of education in political life.","C o nt e nt s  \nINTRODUCTION • 5  \nI. Chapter  \nPLATO’S CRITICISM OF DEMOCRACY • 9  \nA. Democracy as a Corrupt Regime • 9  \nB. The Disagreement with Democracy in the Republic • 19  \n1. The Psychological Background of the Critique • 19  \n2. The Metaphysical-Epistemological Background of the Critique • 38  \nC. Education and Democracy • 54  \nII. Chapter  \nFARABI’S CRITICISM OF DEMOCRACY • 71  \nA. Democracy as an Ignorant Regime • 71  \nB. The Disagreement with Democracy in the Virtuous City • 88  \n1. Metaphysical-Epistemological Background of the Critique • 88  \nC. Education and Democracy • 106  \nIII. Chapter  \nCOMPARISON • 121  \nCONCLUSION • 127 BIBLIOGRAPHY • 131 INDEX • 137  \nINTRODUCTION  \nKnowledge and virtue are the basic elements in both Plato and Farabi’s political thoughts. Both examine the corrupt and ignorant rules which oppose the principles and virtues of their ideal states (“just city in speech” of Plato and “virtuous city” of Farabi), and democracy is categorized by both philosophers among the corrupt (in Plato) and ignorant (in Farabi) cities. This work concerns their consideration of democracy and critique of it. Plato and Farabi investigate the principles of perfect, rational, and virtuous government by exhibiting an ideal state-model in their treatises. Democracy is criticized by both in terms of its principles and moral conception. Democracy which is the current regime in Plato’s time is also discussed by Farabi who did not see any actual democratic pattern in his time. Accordingly, the direct inquiry to the comparison between Plato and Farabi’s critique of democracy is necessary in the intellectual realm.  \nDemocracy (demos-kratos: rule of people) is, on the other hand, the regime in which the principles of freedom, equality, and authority of the multitude are dominant in Plato’s eyes. One of the most prominent features which Plato sees in democracy is the problem of authority of the ignorant people over their rulers. This problem is not only political but also moral, since a moral content of political science is present in Plato. In other words, the rulers must be closely concerned with the behavior and moral attitudes of their subjects, and must prompt them into the goodness, truth, and justice. This political approach, with which the modern reader is not familiar, is available for Farabi as well. The statesman is responsible for the moral education of the people, and when considering the examination of democracy in both, this togetherness of politics-morality must be considered.  \nA COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DEMOCRACY: PLATO and FARABI  \nThe claim of the ignorant and incompetent people (Sophists) into the government is the head of their negative attitude toward democracy. As a matter of fact, this claim seems to render democracy ignorant and corrupt in both Plato and Farabi’s eyes. The authority of the people is then a serious problem for both from the political and moral standpoints, because the authority and rule of ignorance is not only unsafe for the education of the individual’s souls but also for the healthy and sound organization of the state. Both philosophers’ criticism of democracy has the common notion on the same lines, namely, the authority of knowledge and virtue in both souls and states, for ignorance and bad upbringing is the basic characteristics of (the corrupt and ignorant) democracy. Therefore, we argue that the content and the driving power of their critique is the same: The state must be established on knowledge and virtue, not on the shifting and unreliable appetites ofthe people.  \nIn addition to the Platonic elements in Farabi’s treatises; Virtuous City and Political Regime, the place of democracy in his peculiar system (Farabian metaphysics and epistemology) must be elucidated in itself. In other words, this question is inevitable in the comparison between their accounts of democracy: Is the principal background of Plato’s disagreement of (ignorant) democracy same as Farabi’s system or ","cbCairGucebjJqqS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairGucebjJqqS","pdf",4494104,6,1,142,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# Plato’s Criticism of Democracy\n## Democracy as a Corrupt Regime\n## The Disagreement with Democracy in the Republic\n## Education and Democracy\n# Farabi’s Criticism of Democracy\n## Democracy as an Ignorant Regime\n## The Disagreement with Democracy in the Virtuous City\n## Education and Democracy\n# Comparison\n# Conclusion\n# Bibliography\n# Index","[{\"question\":\"How do Plato and Farabi categorize democracy in their political thought?\",\"answer\":\"Both philosophers criticize democracy, but Plato treats it as a corrupt regime while Farabi treats it as an ignorant regime. Their shared focus links democracy to the absence of knowledge and virtue in governance and moral formation.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the central problem with democracy according to Plato’s critique?\",\"answer\":\"Plato highlights the moral and political danger of ignorant people holding authority over rulers. This undermines the education of citizens’ souls and disrupts the state’s healthy organization.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does education play in both critiques of democracy?\",\"answer\":\"Both accounts connect political legitimacy to moral education. The statesman must guide people toward goodness, truth, and justice, so education becomes a key measure of whether a regime supports knowledge and virtue.\"}]",1783087717,358,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"plato-and-farabi-criticism-of-democracy","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/plato-and-farabi-criticism-of-democracy/39889/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-16","2026-07-03",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"How do Plato and Farabi categorize democracy in their political thought?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"Both philosophers criticize democracy, but Plato treats it as a corrupt regime while Farabi treats it as an ignorant regime. Their shared focus links democracy to the absence of knowledge and virtue in governance and moral formation.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"What is the central problem with democracy according to Plato’s critique?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"Plato highlights the moral and political danger of ignorant people holding authority over rulers. This undermines the education of citizens’ souls and disrupts the state’s healthy organization.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What role does education play in both critiques of democracy?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"Both accounts connect political legitimacy to moral education. The statesman must guide people toward goodness, truth, and justice, so education becomes a key measure of whether a regime supports knowledge and virtue.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,102,106,111,115,120,123,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]