Was Lenin a Philosopher-king or a mere dictator who used an ideology to gain power? Can comparisons be drawn between Plato's Republic and the Soviet Union that Lenin built in the post-Russian Revolution era?
When we analyse and compare Lenin's idea of Communist State to Plato's Just City in the Republic, similarities have been found in terms of
- the ideas of equality among different classes in both societies ,
- the rule of a philosopher-king and the Communist philosopher-ruler (called the Proletariat),
- the allegation of being a totalitarian state in terms of curtailment of rights or liberty of citizens on propagation or expression of views which the State considers will destroy unity,
- the suppression of discord or revolt using force (for discord being considered the greatest evil and may lead to degradation or destruction of the society on the whole) in both,
Now the argument that philosopher-king follows the method of dialectics ,ie the decisions or conclusions are taken based on debating and the best argument is considered to be taken as the conclusion. Now the ruler who is also a philosopher is considered the best person to rule with intellectual capability usually higher than ordinary citizens. So he would participate in dialectics only with the small section of guardian class,all of whom have been leading an examined life. Same with that of Lenin, who had discussions within the party system or international meetings where views, concepts and even criticism on basis of different philosophical ideologies was allowed by Lenin even if it was directed against him. The best example for that would be quoting a paragraph from The Roy-Lenin Debate on colonial policy by John Haithcox : “M.N Roy , a young Bengali attending his first international communist gathering, eagerly responded to Lenin's request for criticisms(on Lenin's thesis). As a result, Lenin invited him to write an alternative thesis..... (which was) adopted by the Congress.”
After this event Roy rose rapidly in the Comintern hierarchy. Here M.N Roy even though is a non-Russian, coming from an mere colony of a capitalist master was allowed to give a better argument of his own even if it meant a rescinding or modifying the argument of Lenin.
The fact that criticism of Lenin's dictatorship was mainly propagated by the Mensheviks as an ideological tool in fragmenting his influence in their struggle for power. As a matter of fact , Lenin was against dictatorship. In early 1923, he issued what came to be called his Testament, in which a he expressed remorse over the dictatorial power that dominated Soviet government . Lenin was against dictatorial ambitions of Stalin and his method of amassing and concentrating power to himself.
Lenin's rule can be compared to be the philosopher-king in the Republic, both of which actually is criticised as totalitarian by different scholars in different contexts. But the answer to the questions , Did Lenin have a philosophy for ruling his country which drew parallels to that of Platonic philosophy in the Republic? Yes he did.
Can his rule of Soviet Union be considered to be a totalitarian state in the same context of the just city in the Republic? Yes it can.
Didnt his rule suppress discords or divergent forces in the society as, which was viewed detrimental to the state? And was'nt it similar to use of force or coersion in the just city to prevent discord, discord according to Plato was the greatest evil to the just city)? Yes, it is.
Thus Lenin can be considered a philosopher-king who ruled in ways that have parallels to Plato's Kallipolis or just city with all its totalitarian,undemocratic, censored ,coercive nature but with the intention to have citizens who were perfect in a perfectionist city.
Congratulations @vrramnath! You received a personal award!
Click here to view your Board
Congratulations @vrramnath! You received a personal award!
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!