Toward the end of Book V of Plato's Republic, Socrates begins to discuss the "third wave" that would be necessary to bring about a "sea of ​​change" for the establishment of an ideal society. The first wave dealt with the inclusion of women in the ruling class, while the closely related second wave articulated the radical idea of ​​the abolition of the private nuclear family in favor of communal education. As radical as these floods may be, it is the third that is “the greatest and most difficult” (472a4). So difficult and so subject to ridicule in fact, that it takes two whole pages before Socrates, in 473d, can express it clearly and fully: "Philosophers govern like kings or those who today are called kings and leaders philosophize truly and adequately, and political power and philosophy coincide in the same place. There are two main statements across the Republic that introduce skepticism about the realization of this idea. First, as early as Book I, Socrates argues that in a just city we would find an aversion to governing, in contrast to the propensity to govern that we find in dominant societal formations (347d). Second, in Book VII, it becomes clear that this aversion of the philosopher king to the idea of ​​governing is an integral part of the reason that makes members of this class ideal candidates for governing: they are only interested in disinterested pursuit of knowledge and knowledge. goodness for its own sake (519b-520b). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe enduring conundrum caused by the third wave has been widely taken up by scholars in the following form: why would philosophers accept willingly to govern, when a life spent pursuing the divine knowledge of the Forms is far superior to them? There are three possible answers, which overlap somewhat, and which will in turn be explored in the first part of this essay. (1) The idea that philosophers govern motivated by altruism. (2) The idea that philosophers govern motivated by the Form of goodness. (3) And the idea that philosophers govern motivated by their aversion to being ruled by inferiors. While the riddle of the philosopher king's motivation is one of the most enduring questions to emerge from Plato's Republic, its chiral opposite is often taken for granted. This is the question of the response of the governed, and the subject of the second part of this essay: what pushes the citizens of Kallipolis to follow the philosopher king in order to avoid the emergence of factions in the city ​​? Who is most likely and inclined to persuade the philosopher to govern? Since Plato launches a scathing criticism of democracy, it is not a question here of an explicit consent of the governed, but rather a question of implicit consent, that is to say the acceptance of the leaders without demanding their reversal. More importantly, it is the citizens who bear the burden of compelling the philosopher to rule, for, as Socrates says, "it is not natural for a pilot to beg sailors to be ruled by him" (489b). . Together, these enigmas underline the fragility of the ideal city: leaders who respond only to an abstract principle of responsibility and citizens who may not be easily influenced by the superiority of the philosopher king. We know, thanks to the arguments put forward in Book I, that philosophers are neither lovers of honor nor of money. Therefore, they cannot be forced to rule by ".