Concept in Definition ABC

The philosophers of classical Greece, especially Plato, reflected on the different forms of government. Democracy, oligarchy, tyranny or timocracy are concepts that are part of the approaches of the philosophypolitics of the Greeks.

The origin of the term and the philosophical and historical context in which it arose

Timocracy comes from the Greek timé, which means honor and from krátia, which means government. Thus, timocracy is the form of government based on the idea of ​​honor, as opposed to other forms organization, such as democracy (the government of the people) or the oligarchy (the government of the powerful).

From a philosophical point of view, thinkers such as Socrates, Plato or Aristotle reflected on the most appropriate forms of government to be applied in society. Curiously, none of them sympathized with the idea of ​​democracy, since they understood that the government of the people could lead to corruption. When Plato refers to the timocracy he is thinking of the government of the military, who act guided by a sense of honor.

According to Plato, timocracy is not the ideal form of government, since it would be desirable for a philosopher or a wise become ruler, since his motivation is the truth and the Justice. For Plato, timocracy is a possible form of government with advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the honor of the military is something noble and respectable, but the disadvantage is that honorability as an idea does not have the same rank as another superior concept, justice. Consequently, Plato understands that timocracy is an imperfect form of government and a deviation from what a government should be. just for citizens.

The origin of Platonic reflections on timocracy must be found in the figure of Solon, who in the Vl century BC. C introduced a series of laws that provided rights to citizens based on their social class or its economic power. Thus, wealthy people had rights and warriors had theirs. Somehow, the military became a special "caste" that could come to power.

The idea of ​​timocracy has not disappeared

We should not understand timocracy simply as Plato's reflection on the possible government of the military and the idea of ​​honor as a motivation for this section of society. It must be remembered that military governments have existed throughout history, as has happened not many decades ago in countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Spain or Chile. In all these cases, the military's seizure of power had a relationship with honor, since the sense of honor of the military establishment was one of the arguments used to seize power by the weapons.

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