Blog 2 - A noble lie

 

In this passage, Plato is explaining how Socrates describes the needs of lies in order to maintain the structure of the just city in its place. It is particularly emphatic on indicating that the rulers are the ones entitled to lie to the commoners only if such lies are protective of the whole population. 

I agree with Socrates' view but I would change the word 'lie' for the word 'secrets'. The responsibility of the modern-day public servants and politicians (which we can compare to the rulers of Socrates) is to ensure that we are all happy and we have a well-lived life (in theory). The rulers hold a high degree of responsibility and it is their job to keep us safe and sound; the existence of secrets in a modern society ensures that the commoner citizen has less concern and anxieties over its safety and well-being.

I think that the best association to this concept is the existence of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) in the United States government. Both agencies are in charge of keeping certain secrets that if not hidden would jeopardize the security of American society. They work as independent organisms that help regulate government from the outside, while at the same time, ensuring that the basics principles of democracy are protected. A noble lie could be when a foreign country gets a hold of a new nuclear weapon. This is hidden from the general public, but these two organizations become aware and can act faster and more effectively than the 'official' government. 

There are other kinds of 'noble lies', the ones that we need in order for society to function. One of them would be the idea that 'everyone is created equal. This principle helps us provide equal opportunities in different areas (like employment) but the same principle diminishes the fact that there is a huge advantage called 'privilege' that puts us all on the same race but at different distances from the goal. 

Another necessary 'noble lie' is the laws each society puts in place. In reality, laws do not have a physical form (and therefore we could argue that they do not exist in the material) but we all have this abstract idea that laws regulate society, and laws are what stops someone from committing a crime. The noble lie that we are all subject to the law and that no one is above the law is what helps us cross the street without fearing that a car would hit us as we walk. 

I personally think that a well-adjusted individual is not one that believes all the noble lies of its society but one that is aware of the contrasts and the diversity of experiences that people encounter in all the social classes. I do not think that we are all one man - one job, as Socrates indicates. I think that a modern human being needs to be aware of its surroundings and of the stories of others, the knowledge that is out there to be found and the peculiarities life can bring to all of us.