-- The one who takes on Plato's "Above" and Aristotle's "Below"
“King” does not refer to a special lineage or title.
The king here refers to a position that assumes final responsibility for decisions.
In an organization, a company, or a family,
there is someone who ultimately “decides” and “takes responsibility.”
At that moment, that person becomes a king.
To understand this king, we need to look at the philosophies of both Plato and Aristotle.
1. Who is the king according to Plato?
Plato’s ideal was the “philosopher king.”
It is not those who desire power, those who pursue wealth, and those who seek recognition.
Just someone who knows what good is.
To him, the qualifications to be a king depended on whether or not one had seen the upper world.
What is right? What is justice? What destroys people?
The question was, “Do you know this beyond emotion or profit and loss?”
This king
doesn’t love the real world.
Rather, he knows it to be a “dangerous place.”
But they still come back.
Because
those who see it are held responsible.
2. What is a king according to Aristotle?
Aristotle, on the other hand, is different.
To him, a king was not one who spoke good things, but one who practiced good things.
People don’t behave the way we want them to.
They are swayed by their emotions, fear, and self-preservation.
That’s why we need systems,
we need roles,
and we need punishments and rewards.
A king is someone who designs a system that will not collapse even while taking into account this imperfect human society.
In other words,
Not someone who simply brandishes the ideals that come down from above, but someone who transforms them into something that functions in the world below.
is.
Here, tenacity and a sense of reality are required, rather than dreams or nobility.
3. What the King hates most is "ideals that don't take responsibility."
When you’re in the position of a king, you realize that some types of people are the most dangerous.
it is,
Someone who speaks the truth but doesn’t make decisions
Someone who has ideals but is not involved in the results
Someone who pushes responsibility onto the king and criticizes him when he fails
This is neither Platonic nor Aristotelian.
Pretending to look up, he dodges from below.
A king is someone who accepts the possibility of being wrong, not someone who speaks the truth from a safe distance.
4. A true king can endure being caught between superiors and inferiors.
The king is always caught in the middle.
From above,
ideals, justice, principles
will fall.
From below,
Reality
Dissatisfaction
Fear
Constraints
is thrust up.
It is the king’s job to take on both of these at the same time.
If you only look up,
the site will collapse.
If you only look down,
the meaning dies.
Therefore, the king does not fully cater to either side.
Even if you are not understood,
keep choosing.
Loneliness isn’t about not having any friends. It’s about not being able to make decisions for you.
5. Responsibility is not punishment, it's the ability to take responsibility
Responsibility is often spoken of as a burden.
But philosophically, responsibility is not punishment.
it is,
The ability to not run away from the results, the determination to take responsibility for the failures of others, and the ability to continually choose your next move.
is.
People who cannot take responsibility may appear free, but in reality they are always bound by others.
The king may seem restricted, but he is actually the most free.
Because
your own decisions can move the world one step further.
6. Being a king is not a title, it's an attitude
Kings are not born ordained.
When you didn’t run away when you could have, When you pushed the responsibility back, When you chose your words carefully when silence was the better option.
A man becomes a king.
It can be over in an instant or it can last a lifetime.
The important thing is whether you were looking both up and down at that moment.
Don’t forget your ideals, don’t run away from reality, and continue to stand in between
That is the king’s philosophy and the essence of responsibility.
Conclusion
Plato gave the king “eyes to see.”
Aristotle gave the king the power to endure.
And in today’s world, we are required to have both.
Look up, don’t lose sight of the meaning, walk down, don’t run away from responsibility
A king is not one who stands highest, but one who takes on the most.