[421b]
and keepers of our liberties,
men least likely to harm the commonwealth, but the proponent of the other
ideal is thinking of farmers and 'happy' feasters as it were in a festival
and not in a civic community, he would have something else in mind1 than a state.
Consider, then, whether our aim in establishing the guardians is the
greatest possible happiness among them or whether that is something we must
look to see develop in the city as a whole, but these helpers and guardians
1 The expression is loose, but the meaning is plain. The principle “one man, one task” makes the guardians real guardians. The assumption that their happiness is the end is incompatible with the very idea of a state. Cf. Introduction pp. xxix f.ἑστιάτορας recalls μέλλοντα ἑστιάσεσθαι345 C, but we are expected to think also of the farmers of 420 E.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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