A soul is independent of the body: Plato and Feminism

Plato’s claim that a person should be judged on the nature of his or her soul and not on their external appearance serves as the foundation for his favorable views on feminism. According to Plato, women should fill the jobs for which they are most talented. He says that talented women should not be withheld from any job within society just because of there sexual organs. In book 5 of the Republic, Plato engages in a conversation with Socrates’ where they discuss the notion of women making potential good guardians and philosopher-rulers of the state and that they should be educated the same way as men. (Cooper 1977, pg. 1087) Although Plato believes that women are not equal to men, his belief that the body and soul are independent of one another helps justify his reasoning that women can have just as much success as men within society.
Plato’s concept of a functional society rests on the notion that there are different classes of people and that it is in the best interest of both the people and the state that people perform the functions that coincide best with their natures. According to Plato, there are natural differences between all people and these differences are amongst groups of men as well as groups of women. (Feminist perspectives on reproduction and the family, Stanford)Plato’s belief that women have different natures and not different functions helps support his idea that women and men can share similar roles within society. Plato believes that all members of society should strive for virtue and that a man’s virtue is not brought about because of his sex. Therefore, the quest for virtue is the same for both men and women and thus they have the potential to be equally valuable members of society. Just as he believes that virtue is not based on gender, Plato contends that it is the strength of the soul that determines potential and that the gender of a person does not affect the soul. There is no reason that women should be granted a separate sphere of activity because both men and women have similar levels of talent that they can offer to society. (Disparities) Plato believes that women do not deserve to be exempt from the division of labor that exists in society and that they should be trained to excel in whatever area of society they are most suited for. Plato is regarded as a liberal feminist because of the importance he puts on giving liberty to women within a society. Liberal feminism is based on the idea that women should fulfill the job that they are most suited for in society and that they should be trained the way men are trained. This is a point that Plato stresses vigorously as he states that women “should be subject to similar or nearly similar regulations of education as men.” Plato’s feminist ideas also involve restructuring the traditional family concept. Due to the fact that women are able to achieve just as much success as men in society, this abolishes the traditional family model of women strictly being caretakers of the children. Plato proposes the idea that the offspring of the guardians of the state will be raised communally so that they can produce the best possible offspring. This will free women of their duties of raising children so that they can concentrate on being the guardians of the state alongside men. (mit source). By freeing women of their obligation to raise children, this allows women the opportunity to achieve the same success in society as their male counterparts. While Plato approves of the idea that women should be active members of society, he still holds the contention that women are less superior then men. Plato considers the disparity between man and woman to be quantitative, however he is opposed to any qualitative disparity in their capabilities. (Disparities). This means that although there may be no difference in the type of talent that men and women have, men still possess a greater level of talent than women. Plato is saying that there are some jobs in society that are better suited for men. While both women and men may share similar talents in becoming a soldier, men are better suited to be soldiers because they are stronger then women. According to Plato, women can have a similar function in society as men but whatever a man does will always be of a higher quality. “Their gifts of nature are alike; all the pursuits of men are the pursuits of women also, but in all of them a woman is inferior to a man.” (Classics.mit.edu) Even though Plato believes that the soul is not impacted by gender he still considers men to be superior to women.
Plato believes that the reason that men are superior then women is because of all the shortcomings that are associated with womanhood. Due to the fact that Plato thinks that the soul is more important than the body and that paying too much attention to the body can corrupt the soul, Plato therefore thinks that because women are more vain than men that they have corrupted souls. (classics.mit.edu) Plato uses this weakness to justify his claim that men are vastly superior to women. While Plato does believe that women are an important and integral part to a successful society, he stresses that men are better than women and that men should never imitate female behavior. “We will not allow those for whom we profess a care for and of whom we say that they ought to be good men, to imitate a women.” (Cooper 1977, pg.1048). Men may have similar potential as women but Plato is very adamant that men should still not imitate them and that they are more superior within society. Plato’s beliefs that women and men can have similar functions but that men are superior then women may seem contradictory but only if they are viewed upon as generalizations. The idea of classes of people being inherently better than other classes is an important component of Plato’s conception of society. According to Plato, there are people that are suited to be guardian-rulers and there are people who are only suited to become soldiers. This belief exists amongst groups of women as well as groups of men.(mit) What Plato means when he says that men are vastly superior to women is that all men that are in the same class as women are vastly superior. This claim does not speak to the concept of one woman that is a guardian of the state being superior to a man that is a mere soldier. Women have similar talent to men within their same class of people, but a woman who is in a higher class in society than a man may have greater talent. This means that making the claim that women have greater talent then men is only applicable when comparing men and women from different classes. According to Plato’s strict belief on the division of classes in a society, all people of higher classes are better than all those that dwell in the lower classes. Therefore a high-class woman has more talent within their soul than a man in a lower class because all people from higher classes have more talented souls than those in lower classes. Plato himself admits that to understand the contradiction he proposes is “the reverse of easy” (mit source), but the difference between all men in all social classes being better than all women in all social classes, as apposed to one woman in a high class being better than one man in a lower class makes Plato’s contentions plausible.
Plato’s conception of an ideal city-state hinges on the idea that women and men can have the same functions within a society. For Plato, the strength of the soul is what determines one’s success within a society. Since the soul is not impacted by gender, this makes it possible for women to have as much talent and as strong of a soul as men. While Plato does hold the belief that men are superior to women this does not mean that women are to be relegated to the bottom of society. Plato express the importance of there being different classes of people within a society and that women should have just as much opportunity to reach the top level society as men. Plato ‘s idea of society was one where women would stand side by side with men in ruling the city-state because within both sex’s souls lies similar talent and potential for great achievement.

Works Cited
Cooper, John M. Ed. Plato: Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hutchinson, 1997. Print.
"Disparities Between Man and Woman." Al-Islam.org by the Ahlul Bayt DILP - Home. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. .
"Feminist Perspectives on Reproduction and the Family (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. .
"The Internet Classics Archive | The Republic by Plato." The Internet Classics Archive: 441 Searchable Works of Classical Literature. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. .