When a civilization is spiritually developed, it can build an Ideal society.
What is an Ideal Society and how did the ancient philosophers imagine it? Let’s remember how the thinkers of the past defined society.
All these definitions have something in common. Society is an association of people and the relationship between them. Based on these definitions, it is possible to come to an understanding of how an ideal society of people should be arranged. Many philosophers have already reflected some aspects of this format of social relations.
The most frequently mentioned ideas are the «ideal society» of Plato and Aristotle. They have been popularized for 2500 years.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that the key to an ideal society is a equitable state. He claimed that:
Justice (according to Plato) it consists in the non-interference of one estate in the affairs of another. Everyone should be busy with their own business.
I want to say that if you “do not interfere in the affairs of others,” then they will very quickly begin to engage in unpunished spontaneity. That is, what many modern politicians and those in power are doing. Society should see everything, know everything, and control, if necessary, the actions of managers. No one should have the possibility of secret action, no matter what a person does. Otherwise, it leads to fraud, theft and other manifestations of lower moral qualities of a person.
That is, in fact, the philosophers-rulers in the model of Plato’s «ideal society» are today’s priests and politicians.
On the basis of what Plato believed that the rulers would give their lives to serve for the benefit of society? Several conditions should have contributed to this. I will give a small part of one of them.
Will they then be satisfied and happy? Plato did not answer this question directly, only evasively explaining that the good of the state is more important than the interests of an individual or class.
Aristotle, as a disciple of Plato, expressed similar ideas. His ideal society is a state that strives for the welfare and happiness of every citizen. But at the same time, there remains a division into classes and private property, including slave ownership. He said that the ideal state or society is the one in which the greatest number of people are happy. And why not all of them? And slaves – are they not people?
So what is this «ideal society» of Plato and Aristotle that has been popularized for 2.5 thousand years? Where it is not good for everyone, where the power of one person over another remains, where the interests of the state can neglect the interest of one person, for example, his life. Is it perfect?
He is a prominent philosopher, mathematician, scientist of Near East (872-950).
Having studied the works and ideas concerning the social structure of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, and relying on the philosophy of the ancient East, Al-Farabi outlined his theory of an ideal society.
So, Al-Farabi sets the number one goal of the state — the happiness of every member of society, and also highlights high moral qualities.
For the general designation of the state and society Al-Farabi introduces the concept of “city” (Al-Madi-na). There are two types of cities: “virtuous” and “ignorant” (This is what we now call Consumer and Creative formats of society)
Al-Farabi wanted everyone to strive for mutual respect, equality, cooperation and on the basis of these principles a perfect and free society of happy people would reign.
A detailed description of the ideal society of people is found in Confucianism.
Confucius wrote about the reign of emperors Yao (2356-2255 BC) and Shun (2255-2205 BC) the following:
The attitude of the rulers to the imperial throne was unusual. It was not their property and was not inherited by their sons. After the death of the emperors, the throne went to the most worthy person. Shun inherited the throne from Yao, and then passed it on to Yu (2205-2198 BC). The Chinese consider the reign of emperors Yao and Shun to be the “golden age” in the history of the country.
Revolving in the official environment, the famous Confucian scholar Nguyen Binh Khiem spoke about later times:
It is not surprising that Nguyen Binh Khiem called the state service “an abominable occupation.”
The Confucians of that time dreamed of a prosperous society in which calm and peace reigned. People’s relationships are built on kindness, friendship and cordiality. There is no place for wars in such a world. The emperor’s main concern is the well, fed and abundant living of the people and the prosperity of the country.
But the concept of an ideal society of Confucian scientists was doomed to failure due to serious contradictions in the teaching itself. On the one hand, they dreamed of universal unity and equality, and on the other, the division of society into estates in which the upper class had privileges and retained power was to be preserved.
As we can see, the philosophers of antiquity were quite far from understanding the ideal society. It was difficult for them to realize the possibility of a society based on self-government, without division into classes, with equal rights for all people, with equal responsibility for the fate of society as a whole. Perhaps this is because few of them understood that the highest value of a perfect society is the life of every person. After all, the ideal format of society follows from this value. And few philosophers mention the most important component of an ideal society – the desire of each person for spiritual development.
For many centuries, humanity has not managed to build an ideal society, because egoism, hoarding and thirst for power are strong in people. To create an ideal society, it is necessary first to build a Creative one – that is, to develop the best moral qualities in each person, to abandon power and division into estates, to be guided by the principles of mutual respect, unity, mutual assistance and equality. And then there will really come a “golden age” of happy people on Earth.
