Rockridge High School
Taylor Ridge, Illinois
Teacher: Mrs. Downey
Ideal Society
12th grade
To strive for an ideal society everybody would have to agree on the same thing. In life people do not agree on everything. Why would a person want everything to be perfect in society? Philosophers, Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates have different ideas about this perfect society. For me an ideal society is not possible and not desirable.
Peter Gabel is similar to Plato in that he wants community in his society. He is against competition because it takes a person away from the community. The pain of isolation is in communities and Gabel does not want this. He wants people to be a community and connect with each other. Some people just stay home and do not talk to anybody and stay isolated. Not communicating with people is not living.
Roger Scruton bases his society on patriotic views and religion. Scruton, like Aristotle, believes in a social contract: separate church and state. He is very patriotic. For the Muslim society, worshiping God is their main concern. Pleasing another individual is not their main concern. There is no separation between church and state.
Aristotle is a philosopher who strives for an ideal society. Aristotle believes that people strive for goodness in life. Aristotle and Plato have many differences between them, because each has his own beliefs about society. Aristotle believes that the ideal society is possible. All that can be done is to try to improve on the existing one. The only way to achieve this is for each person to be perfectly happy and be at their finest. Aristotle believes in small governments; there should not be one government running the whole country. He also believes in an objective justice.
Plato is a philosopher who disagrees with most of Aristotle’s ideal society. Plato wants to achieve a perfect society, with one ruling class controlling the political power and all decisions that affect the entire society. Plato’s judgments are based on belief and not on knowledge. Both Plato and Aristotle agree that justice exists in an objective sense: a good life should be provided for all individuals no matter how high or low their social status. Also, they both had ideas on ways to improve existing society. Plato was a political philosopher, and Aristotle was concerned with the citizens in society.
Ayn Rand pushes away from the community for her ideal society. Rand is an individualist. She supports only her life alone. She does not think that pleasuring people should be a goal in her life. Rand, like Socrates, wants each person to achieve individually rather than as a community as Gabel does.
Socrates’ ideal of society focuses on people striving to do well. Socrates believes that in an ideal society, if one knows how to do something well, he should perform it. People need to live morally and to examine other people’s lives in society. A real truth cannot be determined by appearance. Knowledge is to be factual and concrete, not abstract.
I agree with Gabel’s view of an ideal society. My ideal society is for people to live in a community and suffer the pain of isolation. I would like everyone to communicate with each other and share their ideas. When people do not communicate, those individuals are cutting themselves and shutting themselves from their community. Sometimes a person needs to let feelings out; feelings keep building up, and then a person can go mad if they have no contact with people. The following are important in my ideal society: jobs available for everyone in need of one, taxes distributed fairly, laws and punishments equal for everyone, and people enjoying accomplishments in their lives and the pleasure of others’ company.
Specifically in my ideal society there would not be ACT or SAT testing. I believe that a test does not show a person’s knowledge to his or her best ability. A person can be smart and just be a bad test taker and do badly on the ACT. On the other hand, a person could be academically challenged in school classes and be a good guesser on the ACT, achieve better than the student who studies, and performs poorly on the ACT. The G.P.A should count when people go to college, because that is what is really important.
The perfect society will never work out because not everyone will agree on the same thing. Everyone has his or her own ideas on how they want an ideal society. My philosophy of an ideal society is be a community where everyone is equal, and where students are encouraged. All we can do is be a community, achieve our goals, and reach for our dreams.
Q.1 Number the “fault lines” mentioned in paragraph one, #1 to #7 according to your personal priorities.
A.1 My personal priorities are abortion, taxes, health care, the role of government itself, environmentalism, gun control, and welfare reform.
Q.2 In paragraph three, what is meant by “defeat of community”?
A.2 To defeat the community is to work by yourself. The community works independently, not with others.
Q.3 Do you sense “the pain of isolation” in the adult’s in your community? Explain.
A.3 Yes, I sense the pain of isolation in the adults in my community. In my community the adults keep to themselves and do not get around talking to their neighbors. They sit on their porch and sit in their chairs and hardly say a word.
Q.4 Discuss your feelings about the SAT in light of paragraph six.
A.4 The SAT is damaging to students. Some students are not good test takers but are smart. It is stressful and I think we could do without the SAT. We teenagers should not be judged on SAT scores, just our GPA. One student could be academically challenged, be a good guesser, and get a good grade on it. It does not seem fair or accurate for students.
Q.5 In considering a future career, what are your “prime motivations”?
A.5 My prime motivation for a future career would be making enough money, doing something that I enjoy, providing a service for other people that is needed, and working with others that I get along with.
Q.6 What do you think about a less “objectified” legal system?
A.6 I do not like a less objectified legal system. People are to be innocent until proven guilty, it doesn’t matter who you are. Even if you are rich, famous, or even a homeless person, there should be a more objectified legal system.
Q.7 Would you describe yourself as an idealist? Why or why not?
A.7 I would not consider myself to be an idealist. I like to base my life more on real things. I like to physically go out and achieve my goals rather than just think about
achieving them.
Q.8 Share an anecdote about a local idealist over the age 40.
A.8 Pastor Bob Schoolcraft is an idealist. Every time I see him, he has a bright outlook on life and brightens up people’s days. A bad thing happened to his family a while back and it was hard to forgive that person for what he or she did. But he forgave him or her because that is what we are supposed to do in life and he looked on the bright side of things. He believes that there is good in everybody and that people can change.
Q.9 How does Scruton describe the differences in political culture of Islam and the west?
A.9 Scruton describes the differences in political culture of Islam and the West by saying that the Islams have many obligations to God. Nationality takes a secondary role to religion. In the West, it seeks a unified national identity in favor of ethnic fragmentation.
Q.10 What does Scruton suggest are the prerequisites in Western societies for citizenship?
A.10 The prerequisites in Western societies for citizenship are a sense of patriotic public spirit and a commitment to the preservation of the social contract.
Q.11 What is the danger to the Western social contract that Scruton identifies in the last paragraph? Do you think the Western social contract involves “patriotic self-sacrifice”? Should it do so, in your opinion? Why or why not?
A.11 The danger to the Western social contract that Scruton identifies is the division of the union state. I believe that the western social contract should have patriotic self-sacrifice because you need to defend your country or else everything falls apart.
Q.12 Comment on the quote taken from Ayn Rand’s book, Atlas Shrugged. So you agree with it? Why or why not? Have you read Atlas Shrugged?
A.12 I disagree with Ayn Rand’s quote. I think having the pleasure of people’s company is part of my goal in life. It just seems that she is complaining and secluded in a way. But I do agree that you can achieve individually. I have not read Atlas Shrugged.