Socrates, Plato and Aristotle had virtually the same beliefs about man's relation to the State, although Plato's political theory of the State was more rational than Socrates or Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all believed thatman was not self-sufficient, they believed man would be mosthappy living in a State. They also believed that all men wantedto live the truly good life where they could be in tune withthe truth and achieve their ultimate goals. Although Socrates,Plato and Aristotle's political views of the State are similar,Plato's view is more rational than Socrates and Aristotle's inthe sense that he created an ideal State. Socrates, Plato andAristotle were three philosophers in ancient Greece whobelieved that no man was self-sufficient enough to live on hisown. Plato believed "a State comes into existence because noindividual is self-sufficing" (Stumph, 70). This theory ofPlato's was also shared by Aristotle who said "He who is unableto live in society or who has no need because he is sufficientfor himself, must either be a beast or a god" (Stumph, 103).These two views indicate the importance of a State to anindividual according to Plato and Aristotle. All threephilosophers believed that man would be much happier if he waspart of a State rather than on his own. Socrates once stated"We are all more productive if we specialize in one thingrather than try to excel at many things" (Stumph, 40). Withinthe State Socrates believed that there would be a division oflabour for the provision of food, shelter and clothing. Anindividual living outside of a State would have to providethems! elves with these necessities. As Socrates stated abovewithin the State you would specialize in one thing only, while adifferent individual would specialize in something else and this wouldallow the quality and the quantity of the product to increase. "Platoassumes that we are all born with physical and intellectual equipmentthat makes us suited to perform ...
