Ethical Politics: Can Power Truly Serve the People?

🧠 Introduction:

In today's world, where politics often feels like a playground of self-interest, corruption, and image-building, it’s hard to imagine politics as an ethical pursuit. But over two thousand years ago, Socrates, through his powerful dialogues, posed a radical question: READ MORE

“Can politics be ethical?”

And not just that — he argued that it must be.

📜 Socratic View: Art Should Serve Its Subject, Not Its Practitioner

In Socratic dialogues, particularly in Plato’s "Republic", Socrates discusses the idea that every true profession (what he calls an "art") has a higher purpose. It must serve the interest of what it governs — not the personal interest of the person who performs it.

He explains it through examples:

• Medicine exists for the health of the patient, not the benefit of the doctor.
• Shoemaking exists to make good shoes, not to boost the shoemaker’s reputation.
• A shepherd tends his flock not to exploit the sheep, but to care for their well-being.

So, extending this logic:

Politics, when truly practiced as an art, should serve the people, not the politician.

🏥 The Doctor Analogy: Wisdom, Ego, and Intervention

Let’s break this down through a more relatable, modern analogy — imagine a cardiologist in an operating room.

Scenario 1: The Skilled Doctor

A heart patient is being operated on by a qualified cardiologist. Another cardiologist walks in, observes silently, and sees that everything is going well.

Would he interfere?

No. Because he trusts the skill of the one operating, and both doctors share the same goal — the well-being of the patient. There’s no ego, no competition — just service to the art of medicine.

Scenario 2: The Impostor Doctor

Now imagine the same heart patient is being treated by a quack — someone with no real knowledge of cardiology, doing things that will endanger the patient’s life. A qualified cardiologist walks in.

Would he intervene?

Absolutely. Because real knowledge cannot let ignorance harm the subject it is meant to protect.

🏛️ From Medicine to Politics: Who Should Rule?

Socrates argues that politics should be the same as medicine — an art that serves people, not politicians.

The Ethical Politician — What Should He Do?

Let’s apply the doctor analogy to politics:

✅ Case 1: The City is Well-Governed

A city has a wise and just ruler. The laws are fair. The people are flourishing.

Should a good politician come in and overthrow that leader?

No. Just like the good doctor doesn’t interrupt another skilled surgeon, the ethical politician respects leadership that serves the people well.

❌ Case 2: The City is Misgoverned

Now imagine a city run by ignorant, self-serving, or incompetent rulers.

The laws are unjust, the public is suffering, and the structure is falling apart.

Here, Socrates argues, a true statesman — one with political wisdom — must speak out.

He must intervene, challenge, and replace ignorance with knowledge, not for his own gain, but for the well-being of the citizens.

This is the equivalent of the real doctor removing the quack to save the patient.

🧭 The Core Socratic Argument:

“The knower must act only to correct the ignorant — and only for the good of those who suffer because of that ignorance.”

Ethical politics, then, is not about winning elections, dominating others, or building a career.

It is about protecting and serving — just like any noble art.

🔍 Why This Matters Today:

In an era of media spectacles, political rivalry, and image-first governance, Socrates’ vision seems idealistic. But it’s exactly what ethical leadership requires:

• Leading not for power, but for people.
• Speaking up not to defeat others, but to protect society.
• Governing with the humility of a healer, not the ego of a ruler.

This is not just about ancient philosophy — it’s a framework we can apply in modern politics, business, leadership, and decision-making.

💡 Final Reflection:

Socrates doesn’t just ask us “Who should rule?”

He asks something deeper:

“Why should they rule?”

And his answer is clear:

Only those who know, who care, and who are willing to act selflessly for the good of others.

That is how politics can — and must — be ethical.