Views of Goodness in Government

Views of Goodness in Government
Throughout human civilization, there have been various methods of governing. There have been monarchies, democracies, communistic governments, and a number of others. However, there has been a longstanding political debate among philosophers throughout history about how one should rule a state. Of these philosophers, Plato, Lao-Tzu and Niccole Machiavelli each offer advice in their writings to the one in power specifying exactly how one should approach his authoritative position. The views of these three philosophers are similar in some ways while different in others. Nevertheless, the most similar views are those of Plato and Lao-Tzu.
In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he expresses his idealistic view towards government. He believes that the government plays the leading role and must steer its subjects toward a world of intellect. Throughout the allegory, Plato expresses his strong conviction that only one who perceives the truth is fit to rule because just like the released prisoner, who is sent back into the cave, the one who rules has the duty of educating his people as to what is good and true. However, one can only do so, if he has a strong sense of what is right because he will be able to justify authority with wisdom and truth. He will not be blinded by matters such as, greed and ambition for power because it will be clear to him that they are trivial and are only important to those who live in the mere illusion of reality, not understanding the concept of what is good and true. Therefore, the underlying role of a governor is to be a guardian in society, who introduces spiritual good to his people.
In comparison, Lao Tzu also takes an idealistic approach towards government. His main belief is that one cannot take total control; therefore, one should just allow everything to take its natural course. Lao-Tzu expresses this opinion by stating “practice not doing and everything will fall into place” (Lao-Tzu 22). The way to...