Question

Why does Plato believe that the State is the individual writ large?
A) Because the individual can think of perfection individually.
B) Because the individual can think of perfection only in a State.
C) Both A and B
D) Neither A nor B

Answer 1

Hint:
The assumption underlying this is that the consciousness of the state is the consciousness of the individuals composing it. Its justice is the justice of the citizens, and its courage or wisdom their courage or wisdom.

Complete answer:
Plato holds that Justice is the same thing in the State and an individual, but it is written in larger letters in the former and in smaller letters in the latter. It is, therefore, more clearly visible in the State than in the individual. The State is thus the individual writ large; the inner principles of the human mind work themselves out in social institutions and are manifested there in a more concrete and visible form; there they can be studied more easily. The minds of the individuals and the mind of the State are identical; the life of the State is the life of the men composing it. The individual is the State in miniature; he is the microcosm, the State is the macrocosm; therefore, the essential nature of Justice in the individual is the same as it is in the State. Thus, the individual cannot think of perfection outside the State.

Thus, option (B) is correct.

Note:
Plato, whose real name was Aristotles, was born in Athens in 428 B.C. He wrote many books like the Apology, the Crito, the Republic, the Politicus or the Statesman and the Laws and many others. His political thought is mainly found in the Republic, the Statesman and the Laws, though the Apology and the Crito also deal with the problem of the relation of the State to the individual. The State is the individual writ large is found in his Republic.