Plato's Republic: Books I-Iii

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Reflection Assignment: Plato's Republic Book I-III __________________ Benjamin Leon Hawkins October 2nd, 2013 Reflection Assignment: Plato's Republic Book I-III In Plato’s Republic, book three, the discussion builds on the nuances of creating the perfect city. The discussion turns to the issue of healthcare and more specifically, how to handle the mentally unstable, chronically ill, or as stated in book five, those born sickly1. Plato hits upon a train of thought that would later be called eugenics. Eugenics is described as “...the science of improving the inherited stock, not only by judicious matings, but by all other influences ..."2 These seemingly cruel ideas come from the idea of breeding a superior race of people to support a so called perfect society/city. Whether or not Plato actually believes in eugenics or not, I believe his dialog is to get the reader thinking on the issues that he argues for. This essay will be doing exactly that, evaluating the argument of eugenics and how it can apply and affect modern Christian values. Eugenics and Euthanasia Eugenics is a modern term for the idea of breeding the perfect human. It was coined by Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin. Francis wanted to apply Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to human beings.2 Using this train of thought, one can reasonably come to the conclusion that human kind can be improved if we bred out bad genes in order to fill future generations with a strong, if not perfect gene pool. Plato, in his argument for a perfect city, uses the same conclusion. In order to run a perfect city, one must make the perfect man, and to make the perfect man. Plato also touches upon euthanasia, which coincides with eugenics almost naturally, by explaining that if “…the offspring of the inferior, and any of those of the other sort who are born defective,
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