Quotessence
Home / Books / The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato

The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato

Book by Karl Popper · 2 quotes · Platonism, Totalitarianism, Plato

Filter quotes by topic

AllPlatonismTotalitarianismPlatoClass WarfareCollectivismAnti IndividualismPolitical PhilosophyMarxismNationalismState OppressionAnti Democratic ThoughtAuthoritarianismCaste SystemFar RightPoliticsRousseauRuling ClassTyrannyAlienationAltruism

The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato Quotes

“We see here that Plato recognizes only one ultimate standard, the interest of the state. Everything that furthers it is good and virtuous and just; everything that threatens it is bad and wicked and unjust. Actions that serve it are moral; actions that endanger it, immoral. In other words, Plato’s moral code is strictly utilitarian; it is a code of collectivist or political utilitarianism. The criterion of morality is the interest of the state. Morality is nothing but political hygiene. This is the collectivist, the tribal, the totalitarian theory of morality: ‘Good is what is in the interest of my group; or my tribe; or my state.’ It is easy to see what this morality implied for international relations: that the state itself can never be wrong in any of its actions, as long as it is strong; that the state has the right, not only to do violence to its citizens, should that lead to an increase of strength, but also to attack other states, provided it does so without weakening itself. (This inference, the explicit recognition of the amorality of the state, and consequently the defence of moral nihilism in international relations, was drawn by Hegel.)”

PoliticsNationalismTotalitarianismCollectivismDictatorshipsAmoralityState ViolenceAnti IndividualismAnti Democratic ThoughtState Oppression
Book:The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato
Create image

“The internal disunion of human nature, the schism of the soul, leads to the schism of the ruling class. And as with Heraclitus, war, class war, is the father and promoter of all change, and of the history of man, which is nothing but the history of the breakdown of society. We see that Plato’s idealist historicism ultimately rests not upon a spiritual, but upon a biological basis; it rests upon a kind of meta-biology of the race of men. Plato was not only a naturalist who proffered a biological theory of the state, he was also the first to proffer a biological and racial theory of social dynamics, of political history.”

PoliticsRacismPlatoPolitical PhilosophyTotalitarianismAuthoritarianismFar RightPlatonismRacial TheoryIdealist Historicism
Book:The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato
Create image